In the last chapter of the last book he wrote titled, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, Martin Luther King recalled the Washington Irving story of Rip Van Winkle who fell asleep for 20 years on a…
In addition to the ethical mandate, immigration is ‘a short-term way to boost economic growth’
Legal immigration can help offset projected declines in the American workforce due to ongoing Baby Boomer retirements, aging workers and diminishing birthrates, a U.S. economist said in a recent episode of the “Good God Project” podcast with George Mason. “We’re…
BYKOTA people and COVID vaccines
Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler was a Baptist icon of her generation. For 15 years, she served as executive director of Woman’s Missionary Union, an auxiliary organization to the male-dominated Southern Baptist Convention. When she retired in 1989, she was tired of…
Where’s the line between finding inspiration in another pastor’s sermon and plagiarizing it?
“Borrowing” someone else’s sermon is one of the top four ways pastors get fired from churches, according to Thom Rainer, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s publishing arm and a noted interpreter of modern Christianity. Rainer made that statement…
On Epiphany, tend the light of Christ with truth and love
On Epiphany, which the worldwide church celebrates today, we should ask ourselves how we, the church, will rise and shine in these dark days of discouragement so that we will be a light to the world. The answer has to…
Dallas pastor pitches ‘Good God’ podcast toward the common good
George Mason describes his “Good God” podcast as a way to connect the dots between religion and just about everything else. “It’s educating, inspiring and creating civil discourse. It’s helping people bridge faith and public life,” said Mason, senior pastor…
In this election season, I am partisan to the gospel first and last
It’s always about power, don’t you know? If that hasn’t become obvious to you in the past week, then you suffer from hardening of the categories caused by hyper-partisanship. I was on three calls just Wednesday asking me about how…
On church buildings reopening: Let love be your guide
Mark Twain put it pithily: “It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse races.” The novel coronavirus is not, however, a horse race. Opinions may differ, but we should not…
Virtual General Assembly evokes memories of CBF’s foundation, formative role
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s pandemic-induced move to online spaces cannot replace the family reunion function that so many love about the annual event.