Before there was Barbie, there was Lilli. Lilli originated in 1952 Germany, just a few years after the end of World War II. The doll was introduced as a call girl, a comic-strip character in Bild-Zeitung, the newspaper in Hamburg,…
NAMB wants to exclude damning testimony from upcoming trial
The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board wants to exclude from evidence in an upcoming trial the testimony of eight witnesses along with a controversial amicus brief that portrayed the SBC as a connectional hierarchy. The July 28 motions…
Rick Warren wants to talk about the Great Commission
Rick Warren thought he was going to be late for our appointment, but with good reason. The best-known pastor in America had been to the grocery store. He knows most of the workers there by name, but this checker was…
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…
Given opportunity to affirm women in ministry, BGCT punts
The Baptist General Convention of Texas — once considered a supporter of women in ministry — declined to give full blessing to the idea when presented the opportunity at its annual meeting July 18. Motions affirming women in ministry and…
Woe to modern-day Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes
I’m sure some Southern Baptist Convention Christians are wolves in sheep’s clothing, but my hunch is 99% of all SBCers want to be good and think they are good. They are not delusional enough to believe they are perfect, but…
J.D. Greear calls on Southern Baptists to slow down on constitutional amendment
A recent president of the Southern Baptist Convention published a 3,500-word explanation of why he believes the so-called “Law Amendment” is unwise, even though he personally agrees with the theology behind it. That amendment, proposed by Virginia pastor Mike Law,…
Critics say this SBC missions agency appears to be in the real estate business
Rob Wilton may not be a household name to Southern Baptists. But he’s been given nine houses by a Southern Baptist Convention mission board, as documented by public records. Wilton comes from a legacy family within the SBC, which might…
My obituary for the Baptist General Convention of Texas
Losing something that once was valued and respected is painful. It doesn’t matter if it’s been circling the drain for years. When death finally comes, the grief is real. Such was the case for me recently with the Baptist General…