For those of us who follow the liturgical calendar in our churches, the season of Advent is the time where we focus on the virtues of hope, peace, joy, and love – perhaps lighting a candle on an advent wreath…
Balancing a congregation’s spiritual diet
By Doyle Sager Is your congregation receiving all its spiritual vitamins and minerals? We all know how crucial a balanced physical diet is; our spirits also need a healthy mixture of “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). But before…
Ayn Rand, the reluctant apostle of the Religious Right
How did Ayn Rand become an icon of the Religious Right? It’s not what she would have wanted, Lord knows, and yet, there it is. Ayn Rand despised Jesus, and would have despised him all the more if she had…
What happens when life and scripture diverge?
As I suspect has been the case with many BNG readers, I have been following Dr. David Gushee’s recent series of articles making what he sees as the case that homosexual relationships should be given a moral status that is…
It’s not time
It must be nice to live in a black-and-white world in which people either embrace “evolution” (more on that in a minute) or are science deniers who are committed to a view of Scripture that is quaint but utterly foolish….
On baptism and peace
Baptism was abused and used violently as a form of capital punishment in 16th century Europe, a time of significant Anabaptist persecution. The death method of choice was drowning in order to mock believer’s baptism. Water has the amazing capacity…
‘Most Bible-minded city’ status doesn’t impress Baptist pastors
By Jeff Brumley Leading a church in a city recently described as the most “Bible-minded” in America does have its advantages, Thomas Quisenberry said. Mainly: not a lot of necessity to explain the backstory during sermons and Scripture discussions, said…
LEGO theology
LEGO building blocks are a wonderful toy. My grandchildren love them. Each kit comes with detailed illustrations to show the builder how to create a particular item. The real fun comes, however, when the builder departs from the instructions to…
April Fools: a treatise on the most un-Christian holiday of all times, ever
Now, Now, Children On the way to school this morning, the following conversation was heard from the back seat of my vehicular transportation, upon which were seated three young ones en route to their daily training at the local school…