Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Public School Proud | Dear Public Schools, Here’s Why I Love You
Dear Public Schools: You are a place where people who look different and think different and act different and believe different can come together every day to be together and learn together and learn to be together.
Ecumenism – The Path Forward to True Christian Unity
The path to unity lies not in Christians from various denominations converting each other, but in each of us living the gospel more faithfully so as to grow closer to each other in Christ.
March 27, 2019
Kamala Harris Spreads the Gospel of Truth, Leadership and Optimism at Ebenezer Baptist Church (The Root) New Muslim Lawmaker in Pennsylvania Says Christian Prayer was an ‘Attack’ on Her Swearing In (Penn Live) 20...
Good stuff a-comin’
By John D. Pierce “Original” has a much nicer sound to it than the uppity word “exclusive.” Therefore, I refer to the many unique stories and columns that fill each issue of Nurturing Faith Journal as original content....
Public School Proud | Half-Full Ministry to Your Schools
There are no TV cameras. There is no celebrity. The Dow Jones doesn’t rise and fall based on ministry to neighborhood kids. But your church makes a difference with a half-full attitude when you minister to your public schools.
Will Religious Education Fit in Changing World of Church? – Part 2
Patterns of worship and ministry continually evolve in response to the currents of culture and emerging understandings of the faith pilgrimage. No matter how the Christian community evolves, here are seven thoughts to consider.
These 6 Nations Treat Women Fully Equal to Men
An assessment of 187 nations revealed women are fully equal to men under the law in only six nations, a new report said. They are Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg and Sweden.
March 26, 2019
Dispensationalists Delight in Trump’s Golan Heights Statement (Baptist News Global) How Trump’s Base Responds to a Terror Attack Against Muslims (Washington Monthly) Evangelicals Show No Decline, Despite Trump and...
Public School Proud | 5 Ways They Protect Religious Liberty for All
Although public schools do not advance religion nor are they hostile to it, many misconceptions exist about religion in public schools. Here are five ways America’s public schools protect everyone’s religious liberty.
Will Religious Education Fit in Changing World of Church? – Part 1
A few generations ago, Sunday School and related programs began to lose their centrality for the nurturing task within church fellowships. Today, prospects for a thriving future of healthy churches are not promising.
How Your Church Can Care Effectively For Retired Ministers
By Paul Beasley-Murray – Not all retired ministers feel welcomed when they try to settle in a local church. Most feel God still has a call on their lives. Here’s how your church can help them find outlets for their gifts and experience.
March 25, 2019
South Dakota Governor Signs ‘In God We Trust’ Bill into Law (Baptist Joint Committee) Revelation, not Rebranding: Why the Mormon Church Changed its Name (CNN) LGBTQ United Methodist Church Leaders Gutted by Church’s...
3 Pointers to Read Good Sources of Information About Islam
A lot of bad information is out there about Islam. How can you separate the good from the bad? To reclaim the discourse about Islam in the church, these 3 pointers will help you find sources motivated by love, not fear or anger.
Making the Case Against Empathy
There are times when being empathetic doesn’t help people. We need to use our heads more than our hearts and adopt a more rational approach to intervening positively in the world.
Look Back | ‘None of Us is Truly Free While Anyone is Bound’
Every time we make a purchase, we are making a moral judgment. For some of our purchases, we need to face the moral consequences of what we do. We buy our luxuries at the cost of human misery.
March 22, 2019
Paul Simmons, Outspoken Baptist Ethicist, Dead at 82 (Baptist News Global) Religion’s Health Effects Should Make Doubting Parishioners Reconsider Leaving (USA Today) Christian Financial Planner Praised by Robert...
Beneath the Church: Two Responses to the Darkness
A church basement serving as a stop for freedom on the Underground Railroad. A dungeon in Ghana where Africans were chained before enslavement far from home. Both dark places, but one offered a light of hope.
Emerging Voices | Welcoming Your Muslim Neighbor
With anti-Muslim attacks on the rise in the U.S., Christians must offer a more loving way by unconditionally extending radical hospitality to all people of all faiths, in all places, at all times, throughout all of creation.
Most U.S. Protestant Churches Small with Declining or Stagnant Attendance
More than six out of 10 U.S. Protestant churches are experiencing decline or stagnation in weekly attendance, a report found. Conversions are becoming rarer with 54 percent of pastors reporting less than 10 in 2018.
March 21, 2019
LifeWay to Close all Stores (Publishers Weekly) Religious ‘Nones’ as Big as Evangelicals in the U.S., New Data Shows (Christian Post) Tennessee Clergy Opposes Attempts to Reverse Gains by Sexual Minorities (Baptist...
3 options for uncomfortable evangelicals
By John D. Pierce Any honest assessment of white American evangelicalism reveals a religious/political ideology or civil religion largely absent the life and teachings of Jesus. Just look at how evangelicals poll and...