A couple of years ago, in response to President Biden’s 2021 State of the Union speech, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott gave an eloquent speech that earned him the admiration and support of many conservatives while catapulting him to serious…
Russell Moore is preaching to the choir with an ‘altar call for evangelical America’
Russel Moore’s Losing Our Religion is at least six books in one. It’s part jeremiad, lamenting the crisis in American Christianity and describing the “collective trauma” evangelicals — including battling Southern Baptists — have inflicted on themselves and the nation…
There is no center
Some among us want you to believe they represent the “center” politically or theologically — or both. Which causes me to ask: The center of what? This mythical center is wielded as a means of saying to others: “You’re an…
The whole gospel of God for a church and nation in crisis
In a piercingly truthful and honest op-ed in The New York Times titled “What Christian Nationalism Has Done to My State And My Faith Is A Sin,” Susan Stubson, a prominent Wyoming Republican, for whom her conservative politics and her…
Does the defense of Tucker Carlson stand a prayer?
Mixed messages galore follow in the wake of Tucker Carlson’s abrupt firing by Fox News. The latest theory is that Carlson was fired for giving a speech to the Heritage Foundation filled with religious overtones and a recommendation for people…
Struggling to believe
I’m struggling to believe. Not in God. Not in Jesus. But in the church. I’m wondering if we’ve gotten it all wrong, the songs and sermons, altar calls and Bible studies, missionaries and seminaries. You see, I’m finding little evidence…
Stuck in the middle with Jesus: The future of C.S. Lewis evangelicalism
Since the 2016 election, pundits, preachers and politicians have been asking why more than 80% of white evangelical voters threw their support behind the most corrupt, ill-informed, vulgar and intentionally divisive politician in American history. Gradually, a consensus emerged. Donald…
Tom Ascol has the wrong apostates in mind
In a recent article titled “Some Will Apostatize,” Tom Ascol breathes fire and brimstone over those he is certain will desert the Christian faith as he defines it. 1 Timothy 4:1 seems to be the text of his sermonic outburst:…
Bar fights and honest conversations: How do we bridge the gap?
Confession: I’m a drinkin’ Baptist. That’s a dangerous combination, because Baptists love to argue, and alcohol loosens our tongues. Recently I almost got into a fistfight at my favorite bar with three guys — count ’em, three — at a…
Fundamentalism and politics are hampering SBC’s moral witness, Leonard says
The Southern Baptist Convention’s continued embrace of fundamentalism and conservative politics is undermining its ability to “moralize to American culture,” church historian Bill Leonard said during a lecture at Baylor University. “How did a once engaging gospel of grace, repentance,…
‘He Gets Us’ is feeding information to data analysts and, ultimately, conservative political groups
“He Gets Us,” the “biggest faith-related campaign in history,” showcased two commercials at this year’s Super Bowl. But it’s what’s happening after the ads that really matters for the campaign’s creators and backers. While capturing the attention of 113.1 million…
The great breakup in the American church and the political uses of religion
In a recent article in Politico, Joshua Zeitz begins with the decision of 400 Methodist churches in Texas alone to leave their parent denomination, The United Methodist Church, to join the new, more conservative Global Methodist Church. This reflects the…