If the speech were a hard-hit baseball, it was high, deep and down the baseline. Some say it was a home run. Some say despite feeling and looking great to many of the “home-team fans” (aka Christians), it went foul….
Stephen A. Smith shoots straight about his life and faith
Say the name Stephen A. Smith to just about any sports enthusiast, and you will likely see a wide range of emotions or hear a variety of comments. This may explain why Smith wants to set the record straight in…
The volatile concoction of social justice and sports
Mix sports fans, professional athletes, coaches, politics, race and social justice and you have a volatile concoction. Several years ago, ESPN’s The Undefeated reported on a poll exploring the “racial divide” in the NFL. The poll measured attitudes of fans…
Is sports gambling any more immoral or risky than the stock market?
I love a good side hustle. I have a job I enjoy, but one of my favorite things about it is that I often have the flexibility to explore other opportunities in my free time, such as writing for Baptist…
The dangerous demands of uncritical loyalty
It is worrying that valueless loyalty has achieved a stranglehold on much of the American psyche, having really ratcheted up in this current era of cable news. But even more concerning is that It has also firmly taken hold of evangelical Christianity and propelled it to unsightly levels of hypocrisy.
Pastor’s wife says for girls, modesty more important than sports
Muslim-American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad made history last summer as the first U.S. Olympian to compete wearing a hijab, but Muslims aren’t the only ones worried about immodest attire in women’s sports. Kara Barnett, pastor’s wife at Faith Baptist Church of…
Baylor can go further in addressing sexual assault
The world of college football was rocked last week — at least that’s what they tell me — when Baylor University demoted president Ken Starr and fired football coach Art Briles after the university’s board of regents received the results…
Churches need to be less concerned about labels, more about being faithful
When we announced to the first church we served, in South Carolina, that we were moving to Alabama, someone came up right after church and said, “Here’s the question if you’re moving to Birmingham: Are you gonna say, ‘Roll Tide’…
Baptist woman breaks ground — into coaching football
By Jeff Brumley Some women are called to break barriers by becoming deacons, senior pastors and denominational leaders. For Aleena Garcia, 20, it’s coaching football. And while it’s not a church ministry, Aleena said her Baptist faith, plus an early…