Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
What Would Ethical Biopsies of Christianity, U.S. Reveal?
"Please pray for my friend. She's having an autopsy tomorrow." That was the voicemail message I heard on our church's prayer line one morning. I will neither confirm nor deny that I laughed out loud. I will confess to...
June 11, 2018
Evangelical Group Plans Nearly $20 Million Push for Republican Candidates Ahead of Midterms (The Hill) What’s Next for Evangelicalism? (The New Republic) Rapture-Ready: How U.S. Policy Meshes With Armageddon (Truthdig)...
Dangers and delights of risky dining
By John D. Pierce Anthony Bourdain’s tragic death has drawn attention to how he not only enjoyed the exotic food he encountered while filming his CNN show but how comfortably and deeply he engaged those with whom he...
The adventure begins . . .
Adventures come in many forms. For an intrepid group of travelers with Campbell University Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Experiences, adventure these next two weeks comes in the form of a trip to Israel, where...
June 9, 2018
This Evangelical Minister Helped Build the Religious Right. He Now Believes He Made a Terrible Mistake (Mother Jones) Actually, the Baker in Supreme Court Masterpiece Ruling Lost, it Only Looked Like He Won (USA Today)...
Bruce’s western presence more than peaks and perks
By John D. Pierce Often I tell people there’s a big difference in visiting Yellowstone and visiting Yellowstone with Bruce Gourley. Those who’ve participated in one of our small-group Nurturing Faith Experiences to the...
Take a Bite Out of Discrimination
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker at Masterpiece Cakeshop, on June 4, 2018. In a 7-2 judgment, the justices weighed the merits of this specific case, ruling that the Colorado...
A Bad Hombre’s Angry Musing on White Christian Racism
A significant issue that inhabits the white Christian imagination is the distorted idea that racism is somehow something foreign to Christianity. Racism is often perceived as an external threat that can taint "true"...
Negative View of U.S. Moral Values Hit All-Time High
Nearly half of U.S. adults (49 percent) rate the moral values of the U.S. as "poor," according to a Gallup survey released on June 1. Only 14 percent rated the state of the nation's moral values as "excellent / good,"...
Reviewer: Jim Dant’s ‘biblical defense’ is a needed, helpful resource
[Editor's note: Meet Jim Dant at the Nurturing Faith exhibit during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly June 13-15 in Dallas. The first 1,200 will receive free, signed copies of This I Know; A Simple...
While We Worried about 2 Comics’ Language … Puerto Rico
The headlines of U.S. news outlets last week seemed to be all about crass language used by two comedians. Liberals and conservatives were up in arms about remarks tweeted by Rosanne Barr and voiced by Samantha Bee....
Charlottesville Faith Communities Respond after Aug. 12
The first anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, is approaching. I want to reflect on that event and highlight what the faith communities in the Charlottesville area have been doing...
How Martin Luther King’s Focus Changed in His Last Years
Are the differences between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X as big as some make out? Personally, I don't think so. About three years before his death, King underwent a conversion. Agreed, it did not parallel...
Oh, wait …
I was sitting in a second-floor conference room overlooking a nicely landscaped office park when I saw the saddest looking man I'd come across in awhile. In a pool of shade beneath a small tree, a youngish man was...
Profiles in Goodwill: Mary Alice Birdwhistell
Mary Alice Birdwhistell is senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. 1. Where did you grow up? Lawrenceburg in central Kentucky. 2. What is your favorite verse, book or story in the Bible? Why? I am...
Lynching Memorial’s Haunting Reminder of Present Brutality
"Son, if you hear someone talking about the president, I want you to keep walking," my grandmother instructed me. "Why, grandma?" I asked. "I don't want anything to happen to you," she explained. I've always found...
Royal Wedding Lesson: Becoming an Intercultural Church
The world witnessed a beautiful example of a truly integrated and diverse worship experience through the wedding of Prince Harry and now Princess Meghan Markle. Each element of the service was beautifully and uniquely...
June 6, 2018
Decades of Marginalizing and Silencing Women Has Left Southern Baptists Morally Compromised (Dallas Morning News) Liberals May Win Control of the Largest U.S. Protestant Denomination (The New American) Reese to Become...
Wise rebellion
By John D. Pierce Authoritarianism rules. And, boy (gender intended), do we live in a time of emboldened authoritarianism from the White House to the church house. Calvinist Baptist John Piper, who pushes...
From the Pews: The Danger of Power and Prestige
Paige Patterson, former head of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS), is receiving criticism and being challenged on multiple situations. His comments counseling a woman who was being abused by her husband...
The Church Will Never End Racism by Ignoring It
Race and its progeny - prejudice, racism and stereotypes - are the elephants in our pews. It's a jungle in here on Sunday mornings and more than a tight squeeze as we attempt to lift our hands in worship, to fold our...