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…
Once ordained, always ordained?
Long ago, Carlyle Marney, an irascible Baptist preacher of blessed memory, praised Ralph Waldo Emerson for leaving the ministry because his conscience prevented him from serving the Lord’s Supper. Marney noted if he ever left the ministry, it would be…
One malignant tumor, 2 surgeries and 6 weeks of radiation — never felt more blessed
Just as my eyes fluttered open, Joanna looked over the side of my gurney and said words on which my life pivoted: “Dr. Steckler said you won’t die from this.” Even through the fog of anesthesia, I realized that brief…
Surviving this election season and repenting of idolatry
This election season has been a hard spiritual journey, as well as a grimy political slog. Rancor ran rampant, spilling out of campaign rallies and whistlestops, bounding onto our screens. Candidates mongered fear, amplified animosity and spewed indignation. Now, we…
Most Republicans want U.S. declared ‘Christian nation,’ even though they know that’s unconstitutional
A solid majority of Republicans favor declaring the United States a Christian nation, even though almost as many acknowledge the U.S. Constitution does not allow such a declaration, according to the latest Politico/University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll. Zeal for…
Evangelicals’ hypocrisy is sending their neighbors to hell — and they don’t care
American evangelicals’ most besetting — and most damning — sin is hypocrisy. “Evangelical” has taken on a political connotation, of course. But at their core, modern-day evangelicals are Christians who actively pursue the conversion of sinners, believe the Bible is…