Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Engaged Advocacy: Working Together for Racial Justice
There is little doubt we are experiencing a moment of heightened racial tension. The easy access of video recording has unveiled multiple instances of police violence as well as acts of overt racism that many of our...
June 5, 2018
Narrow Ruling in Favor of Christian Baker Prompts Varied Reactions (Baptist Standard) Supreme Court Avoids Addressing Core Question in Masterpiece Decision (Baptist Joint Committee) Most Americans Do Not Support...
Don’t disrespect the donkey
Donkeys get little respect in this world, but ancient civilizations depended heavily on the stubby beasts of burden. The earliest evidence of horses being used in the ancient Near East is from around 2000 BCE, in tombs...
When Will Churches Begin to Reflect Racial Diversity?
When I walked into the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, I was excited to find an exhibit focusing on southern art. After spending some time in the exhibit, I stumbled upon a piece titled "High Yella...
Recognizing Hidden Racism’s Grip on Our Society
I have a slight preference for white persons over black persons. That's not a confession; it's a diagnosis. According to the online Implicit Association Test, which measures the unconscious biases associated with...
Honest Questions to Ask About Some Christians’ Vitriol
There are times when I read what another Christian has written or said, and I wonder whether I am reading the same Bible as them because I can't justify their behavior based on what I read in my Bible. Now, I realize...
June 4, 2018
Younger Evangelicals Waver in Support of Israel (Wall Street Journal) Separating Families: Evangelical Leaders Plead with Trump to Address Border Concerns (CBN) Promoting Religion on Public Property is Costly for New...
Break ‘it’ down: SBC won’t fix the problem by removing a bad man
By John D. Pierce Paige Patterson’s decades-old assault on Baptist institutions and women in the name of biblical fidelity ended formally this week with revelation that he sought to isolate a female seminarian rape...
4 Reasons to Re-Interpret Your Average Sunday Attendance
He's been our stable and reliable friend for so long, that "Average Sunday Attendance" (ASA) metric. We knew what he meant and maximized his role. We accepted his gift of reliable information, integrating him into so...
Do You Reflect the Paradox of Unaffordable Love?
The Christian lives under the imperative of love. That starts in the heart of God because the Christian knows that the one fundamental reality in the universe is a love that creates, redeems, sustains and will renew a...
Faces of Displacement: Closer Than We Realize – Part 2
Human displacement is a faith dilemma. As I discussed previously, the Bible at no point diminishes the physical, psychological and spiritual severity of being "out of place" but rather validates it as a predicament par...
June 1, 2018
Southern Baptist Seminary Leader Paige Patterson Out Completely for Mishandling Rape Claim (Charlotte News & Observer) Patterson Firing Met With Strong Reactions, Cancellations (Baptist Press) The Evangelical...
Together We Can
By: Ginger Hughes I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals in recent months. A LOT of time. And while I spent most of that time in my mom's room, I still had ample opportunity to notice some things, one of which is how...
Missing Children and Missing Politicians
The hashtags #MissingChildren and #WhereAreTheChildren were trending on Twitter and Facebook last week. Citizens were outraged at the Trump administration for potentially losing track of 1,475 unaccompanied immigrant...
Why Your Seemingly Futile Protest Makes a Difference
Dreaming is sometimes the most realistic thing we can do. Or is there still something else we might do, like public protest, or something else? In his book on prophecy, "Commandments for the Long Haul," Daniel Berrigan...
Faces of Displacement: Closer Than We Realize – Part 1
We tend to put faces on unfortunate things. It is not a good practice, but we do it anyways. Famine has African faces, terrorism Muslim faces, the drug trade Latino faces, and on it goes. So it is with human...
May 31, 2018
The Baptist Apocalypse (New York Times) Biblical Counselors Association Pulls ‘Abuse’ Conference From Seminary Over Paige Patterson Controversy (Christian Post) A Christian University is Helping Make a Film That...
Profiles in Goodwill: Curtis Ramsey-Lucas
Curtis Ramsey-Lucas is editor of The Christian Citizen, a publication of American Baptist Home Mission Societies. 1. Where did you grow up? Easton, Connecticut. 2. What is your favorite verse, book or story in the...
5 Ways Evangelicals Can Improve Muslim Relationships
At the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in March, a man sitting next to me was writing in Arabic the statement that he would be reading to the council. Adel was a Tunisian head of a nonprofit. I said hello...
Missionary Activity Still Legitimate, Important Work
There have been missionaries to "foreign" places and ethnic groups from the time of the Apostle Paul to the present. The modern Protestant missionary movement, however, began with Englishman William Carey in 1792....
May 30, 2018
White Nationalists Protest Outside Tennessee Church (The State) North Carolina Legislators Budget Funding for Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Clinics and Christian Hunting Clubs (Charlotte News & Observer) How Evangelicals...