Through deeds of kindness and love, progressive Christians will have a chance to redeem the good name “Christian” during the harsh era to come. This restoration is needed as never before in our lifetimes. But it is not unprecedented. Early…
My quest to find the origins of the term ‘conservative resurgence’
A few months ago, a former colleague published a video blog in which he confessed he fears he accidentally coined the term “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention. That sent me digging into the depths of the internet and…
30 years ago, we warned Southern Baptists about rising Calvinism
Thirty years ago next month, Marv Knox and I warned Southern Baptists about the rising influence of Neo-Calvinism in their ranks. To most, this was shocking news at the time. Our words were more prophetic than we possibly could have…
Attending church — even liberal ones — makes Americans more conservative, Ryan Burge shows
Regular attendance at church — almost any church, even the liberal ones — makes people more conservative, Ryan Burge, an analyst of religion and politics, reported. In a recent post on his Substack column, “Graphs About Religion,” Burge demonstrated the…
Liberty University and former President Falwell settle ‘all outstanding disputes’
Liberty University and its former President Jerry Falwell Jr. have ended their ongoing battle, “settling all outstanding disputes on both legal and personal matters,” according to a statement released by the Lynchburg, Va.-based school. The fight between Falwell and Liberty…
Pressler’s power ensnares an unlikely victim, Al Mohler
Poor Al Mohler. He’s Paul Pressler’s latest victim. “How can that be?” you ask. “Nobody has enjoyed Southern Baptist Convention prominence as famously and magnificently as Al Mohler.” That’s true, of course. Mohler came along at just the right time…
If you bet on how many churches the SBC will kick out, take the ‘under’
Southern Baptists will not excommunicate as many churches with women pastors as you might think. They won’t even get the chance. In fact, if Las Vegas oddsmakers set an over/under bet on how many churches the Southern Baptist Convention will…
Why did it take 20 years to learn my most far-reaching life lesson?
How does a moment morph from repeatably mundane to irreversibly transformative? That question has echoed through my mind countless times across more than 46 years — since an unrecorded lecture in an unremarkable classroom on an otherwise unmemorable autumn morning…
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…