The experience of traveling in space is life-changing. For all of the reasons that immediately come to mind – the years preparation, the level of commitment required, the danger and fear that must be overcome, the isolation and extreme conditions…
We need covenant parenting in covenant communities
Often, as we discuss sexuality and marriage, the word covenant comes up—specifically whether marriage should be a covenant between a man and a woman or whether LGBT friends have the right to enter into such a covenant. When we limit…
Ebola, race, marriage and Obamacare top stories in 2014
By Bob Allen Following is a summary of some of the year’s major headlines. Baptists and race. Will Baptists remember 2014 as a sea change in race relations? Fifty years after the civil rights movement and nearly 20 years after…
BJC lawyer examines church’s role in civil marriage
By Bob Allen A Baptist religious-liberty lawyer says recent debate over the definition of marriage reveals a long-overlooked mingling between church and state. Hollyn Hollman, general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, noted in a recent article…
36 things I know after 36 years of marriage
This week, my husband and I will celebrate our 36th anniversary. Some years we’ve gotten dressed-up and gone out to dinner. Other years we’ve simply marked the day with a kiss. Once, we were both sick with the flu and…
Pastors, stop signing those marriage licenses
By Kyle Henderson Pastors should stop signing state-issued marriage licenses. They should stop immediately. Individuals and organizations whose agenda is murky at best are hijacking the marriage debate. We have stopped asking the right questions and started reacting to the…
‘The Theory of Everything’ offers unflinching view of marriage
Relationships are hard. Forces at work within them bring stress and strain, making it difficult for relationships to work and last. Add that stress and strain to an incurable disease and you have the formula for the docudrama, The Theory…
Half of Americans want separation between church and state in marriage
By Bob Allen About half of Americans and a quarter of Protestant ministers believe clergy should say “I don’t” to the tradition of solemnizing marriages as agents of the state, according to a new poll by LifeWay Research. The research…
Thanksgiving Day, 2060
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee My wife Jeanie displays a famous Norman Rockwell painting every year around this time. It depicts the patriarch and matriarch of a large clan gathered around the Thanksgiving table preparing to tuck into a…
SBC leader speaks at Vatican conference on the family
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top ethicist, speaking at a Vatican interfaith conference to support traditional marriage, said Christians cannot afford to capitulate to demands of the sexual revolution. “Many would tell us that contemporary people will not…
‘Gone Girl’: Money, marriage, madness and media in Missouri
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee So, what else shall we talk about? How about a tame little movie/book review? Well, perhaps not so tame. My family has recently spent far too many hours watching, reading and talking about Gone…
Baptists seek guidance as same-sex marriage expands
By Jeff Brumley The widening legality of same-sex marriage has ministers and churches across the nation scrambling to respond. And Baptist pastors are right in the thick of what is in some quarters a frantic search for the right theologies…