Inflamed racial tensions, a divisive election season and alarming climate events — all during a pandemic — have stretched American psychological well-being to the limit. But there also are some potential spiritual positives from the coronavirus era, according to five…
Let’s help evangelical Christians break free of the shame that drives them
As a child, I possessed a somewhat fearful disposition toward the world. After a few years of tearful late-night sit-ins outside my biological father and his new wife’s locked bedroom door, or screaming near-weekly announcements to the employees of my…
BNG to present free webinar on pandemic mental health
Baptist News Global will host a webinar Sept. 14 at 6 p.m. Central Time to address the mental and emotional impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The event follows recent BNG news reports about the effect the COVID-19 outbreak is having…
Coronavirus presents a challenge to mental health as well
The physical effects of coronavirus aren’t the only cause for concern as churches — and the whole nation — navigate COVID-19. With much uncertainty over the virus itself, professionals report increased anxiety and stress due to health concerns, unemployment, social…
Listen to the teenagers: Things are not right
I work in public education, but I’m not a teacher, administrator, custodian, social worker or a member of the cafeteria staff. I’m something far stranger, or, according to at least one student I met during the course of my work…
The revolution will be standardized
“It’s like I’m expected to have this internal PR department quickly craft ‘a statement’ every time something like this happens. I can’t tell you how long I spent staring at a blank box at the top of the news feed…
The president is correct: there IS an insanity gripping our nation
Trump is correct that we are experiencing a frightening dis-ease in America. Insanity – moral disorder – imperils our people, our nation, our earth. What he doesn’t seem to recognize is that he is the source of much of the chaos, the claims of many evangelical leaders notwithstanding.
The economics of belief: Does morality come down to nothing more than, ‘Can we afford it’?
Our ability “to afford” is a moral compass we use to navigate an incredibly complex milieu of decisions. Affordability isn’t just a component of our moral decision making; it has become the very whole of our morality.
If it does, then it is
When I quit my job as a pastor eight months ago, I had very different expectations as to how my time as an unprofessionally religious grocery clerk would unfold.
unprofessional christianity VII: calling.
Ultimately, calling has nothing to do with who hears you, and everything to do with who you hear whispering to you to keep going, even in the dark. Calling isn’t about all the things you’re willing to go through until…
unprofessional christianity VI: believing
When I stopped hiding, defending, answering, and protecting myself from followers of this God using God’s name to justify things they were already going to do regardless of the answers I stammered about the Bible’s place in American society, I…
Unprofessional Christianity V: Doing
On the other side of getting paid to pray, I’ve found church has typically very little to do with how middle class white people desperately organize themselves in small groups to have stifled and awkward conversation about the Biblical text,…