This is the final column written by David Ramsey before his untimely death Dec. 11. This submission was sent to BNG on Dec. 9, less than 48 hours before his death. See the related obituary also published today. In…
BNG columnist David Ramsey dead at 61
BNG columnist David Ramsey died at his North Carolina home Sunday, Dec. 11, after a brief illness. He was 61. “BNG greatly mourns the loss of this beautiful life among us, someone who courageously chronicled his own journey from cradle-roll…
An important conversation about ordaining and unordaining
Our motto here at BNG is to inspire you, dear readers, with change-making conversations. We’ve hit a nerve with one of those conversations this week, which tells me it is extremely important that we talk about this. The “this” is…
Heaven and hell: Trick or treat?
Mallory Challis’ recent analysis — “Most Americans believe in heaven or hell, but their ideas aren’t always biblical”— of what people believe about the afterlife begs a question: Which works better to incentivize behavior, heaven or hell? It’s a variation…
Why you should be wary of preachers who are certain about everything
The minister of my Southern Baptist childhood church was a study in contradictions. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of my alma mater, Wake Forest University, he was an evangelical conservative; however, before my meeting with the ordination council of the…
The brutal honesty of The Book of Mormon
I’ve seen the hit Broadway musical The Book of Mormon twice. Deliciously blasphemous, it is as profound as it is profane. It’s also brutally honest and theologically instructive. Written by the creators of South Park (Matt Parker and Trey Stone),…
What I learned at Wake Forest Baptist Church
I was saddened, but not surprised, at the announcement that the Wake Forest Baptist church, whose members met in Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University for 66 years, is dissolving. I am sad because I’m a graduate…
Reflections on my mother’s funeral: The heart has reasons
While I was writing my first book, my 85-year-old mother died unexpectedly. She was in an assisted living facility, but she had no serious health issues. She entered the hospital severely dehydrated and was in acute renal failure, although she…
What could the church learn from Amazon?
In 1994, Jeff Bezos left a lucrative job as an investment banker on Wall Street to start a company selling books on a new technology called the internet. Two years later, I left a non-lucrative career in ministry and entered…