By Jeff Brumley A gay, married man in Springfield, Va., believes his childhood Baptist roots and conservative Christian upbringing will help him convince homosexuals estranged from the church that the Bible isn’t out to get them. Dave Farmer says his…
Thinking outside the seminary
Seminary on $3 per day? I had a great seminary experience in the 1970s. I matriculated for nine years, and earned three degrees. The total cost I paid for my seminary education was under $10,000, which was just less than…
At the Table of Christ
Two rituals, sacraments or ordinances lie near the heart of the faith: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism marks the start of one’s journey with Christ and one’s welcome into the great family of Christ followers. The Lord’s Supper reconnects…
The birds, the bees and the Baptists
By Ken Camp The fear of offending diverse church memberships understandably causes many pastors to shy away from open discussions about sexuality, said Christian ethicist David Gushee. “I would fault churches for their silence on these issues, but having witnessed…
Jesus’ pacifism is not passive
By Joe Phelps I visited recently with a young man who is part of a crew remodeling our house. When I learned that he is an Army reservist who is home for a while from the Middle East and will…
SBC leader confronts ‘gender confusion’
By Bob Allen While gay marriage is now “perfectly OK” with the United States Supreme Court, the Bible labels homosexual acts as “shameful,” the president of a Southern Baptist seminary reminded students and faculty in a chapel sermon Sept. 4….
Baptist group to ‘wage peace’ in Palestine
By Bob Allen A pastor who ministers among a shrinking Palestinian Christian population in the city where Jesus was born is the scheduled keynote speaker for a Nov. 8-10 conference titled Waging Peace and Justice in Palestine at Calvary Baptist Church…
Infants-in-hell question concerns editor
By Bob Allen A Baptist state newspaper editor has questioned whether the report of a Calvinism study committee implies that some high-profile Southern Baptist leaders believe that infants who die before reaching the so-called “age of accountability” are destined for…
Things that make for freedom
By Bill Leonard “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last.” We recall the words of that spiritual a half-century after Martin Luther King Jr. sounded them across the Lincoln Memorial, a hallmark of the…
Things that make for freedom
By Bill Leonard “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last.” We recall the words of that spiritual a half-century after Martin Luther King, Jr. sounded them across the Lincoln Memorial, a hallmark of the…
“Same Love” and theology at the VMAs
I watched the VMAs Sunday night, in their entirety, and I’m pretty sure that’s a first for me. The show created a significant amount of buzz on social media platforms for a myriad of reasons. There were the rumors of…
spare your face the razor
*Author’s Note: For maximum poignancy, please listen to The Oh Hello’s The Truth is a Cave repeatedly whilst reading. You’ll thank me later. A few mornings ago, as I stood staring groggily into the poorly complected face stubbornly greeting me each…