As I have adjusted to the life of a minister, I wonder if there are some assumptions that are attached to being a female pastor. In discussing with another female pastor, we both commented as to whether there would be…
SBC leader says don’t talk to press
By Bob Allen There’s no room in the church for whistleblowers, a Southern Baptist seminary president said in a chapel sermon Oct. 15. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson said the prohibition in First Corinthians 6 on church members…
Crafting a disciplined life
By Molly T. Marshall A recent book by Mason Currey on the daily rituals of artistic people has captured wide attention. He chronicles the patterns — some odd and eccentric — that empower creativity of writers, painters, inventors, musicians and…
What kind of Baptists are we?
In the 1950s and 60s, the unofficial public theology of America was dominated by theologians associated with what we now call “the Protestant Mainline”. A public theology makes biblical teaching relevant to the pressing political, economic and social issues of…
Who owns the land?
By Miguel De La Torre Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata coined the slogan, “la tierra es de quien la trabaja” — the land belongs to those who work it. The Bible seems to agree. The story of King Ahab, Queen Jezebel and…
The new (de facto) Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, And I am against abortions, And I am against homosexuality, And I am against women in leadership in the church, And I believe every word of the Bible,…
Locating the church
By Molly T. Marshall Identifying the true markers that locate the church has been an ongoing debate since the early centuries of Christianity. Unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity were the classic marks distinguishing the new expression of the people of…
Baptist leader says pope soft on sin
By Bob Allen The head of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission says Pope Francis is soft on sin. Russell Moore, president of the moral-concerns agency for the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Catholicism, criticized the pope’s…
Worn-out strategies in sexuality debate
By Cody J. Sanders It matters which questions we choose to ask, and for a long time now, churches have been asking a very limited set of questions about sexuality. Nearly every denomination in the United States — from the…
Learning to lean — on others
By Vicki Brown Many Christians today view the church as being God’s hands and feet to the world in ministry to others, but don’t allow God to minister to them through the hands and feet of others. “Unfortunately, our culture…
Weeping over violence
By Molly T. Marshall The most recent shooting in Washington, D.C., reached in to our seminary community. Early Monday morning I received a phone call from a treasured board member whose son was in the building adjacent to where the…
Syria prompts end-times thinking
By Bob Allen A third of Americans believe recent conflict with Syria fulfills Bible prophecy about the end of the world, according to a telephone survey conducted in early September by LifeWay Research. With the threat of U.S. airstrikes against…