By Seth Vopat Advent is a season of tension for me. Not because I struggle to proclaim “Immanuel” — God with us — in a season marred by tragedy and violence. The tension is not the result of Christmas consumerism…
Winter’s here, but Christ is near!
By Elijah Zehyoue My friends, I hate to be a downer, but someone must say it: It’s December, and for where I live that means winter is here. Prepare yourself for winter. Prepare yourself for the snow, the cold weather,…
Religious leaders urge faithful to action in wake of Calif. mass shootings
By Jeff Brumley Wednesday’s shooting massacre in California was more than tragic news for Julie Pennington-Russell. It was personal. The former pastor of First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., Pennington-Russell shared with Facebook friends on Thursday that a relative was…
Apologies
By Bill Leonard In an essay posted on Christianhistory.net on July 1, 2007, Scott Manetsch writes: “Before dawn on the morning of August 24, 1572, church bells tolled in the Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois quarter of Paris. Just moments earlier, soldiers under…
Three steps your church can take to confront gun violence
By Amy Butler Often when people comment about living in New York City, they say something along the lines of, “That’s a dangerous place!” or, “I hope you’re being careful!” It’s true that Gotham City is the largest city in…
Guns, violence, and Christian faith
In June we were at the General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship when we received news of the shooting at Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston. Yesterday I was at a denominational leadership meeting when we received word of…
Debates on racism, gay rights take toll on pastors
By Jeff Brumley Stressful times for the nation, it turns out, translate into especially stressful times for pastors. That fact was the focus of Tuesday’s Baptist News Global column — titled “A humble plea: Go easy on your pastor” — by Corey…
Does God hate our sympathy? The AME massacre and social media
In the wake of the AME massacre in Charleston, S.C., I’m beginning to wonder if sympathy is a sin. Everywhere I turn I hear sympathy: “Our hearts go out to the victims and their families” or “Lord, have mercy!”
Be informed, not ignorant on Baltimore
Baltimore is a great city. It is home to the sports teams I follow, universities, churches, an inner harbor, and more importantly where people live. My mother was born and raised in Baltimore. I was born outside Baltimore in Maryland…
More than body cameras needed to stop police violence, Baptist clergy say
By Jeff Brumley Body cameras for police, it seems, are what the nation needs to ensure justice in the wake of last Saturday’s officer-involved shooting death of Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C. Christianity Today published a story Wednesday citing numerous…
What would King say about Ferguson?
Fifty years ago today, on Dec. 10, 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr., was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was 35 years old, and at the time was the youngest person ever to be given the Peace Prize, which was…
The problem of violence
I remember when the Columbine High School shootings happened in 1999. Schools across the country went into lockdown. Most of us were left mouths open watching news reports, trying to process and understand what happened and why. Schools and other…