Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
February 10, 2018
CBF Governing Board Receives Illumination Project Recommendation, Adopts Christ-Centered Hiring Policy (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship) The Michigan Town Where Only Christians Are Allowed to Buy Houses (The Guardian)...
The Crucial Step Often Missing from True Compromise
When it comes down to actually doing it, the devil is in the details. This seems to be the central challenge amid a lot of talk in Washington, D.C., these days about the importance of compromise as well as assurances...
What Astronauts Can Teach All of Us About Big Picture
We've lost three U.S. astronauts in recent months. Paul Weitz died on Oct. 22, 2017. He piloted Skylab II, which was the first manned mission to the first U.S. space station, in 1973. He was also the pilot for the...
If You Want to Change, Start With Your Character
Character is the primary arena of change. We can't change the DNA we inherited, the circumstances into which we were born, the families that shaped and misshaped us, or the wounding events we've undergone. Some things...
February 9, 2018
South Africa: Baptist World Alliance President Denied Visa to India (India Today) India: Indian Christians Upset as BWA President’s Visa Rejected (Morung Express) CBF Partners With Australian Baptists, Global Relief...
You Don’t Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield coined the phrase, "You don't have to be wrong for me to be right," in his masterful book on radical inclusion. In Western culture, we have decided that the only way to solve complicated issues...
Spiritual Amnesia: When We Judge Those Who Differ
We all would acknowledge that recently our country has experienced a great deal of turmoil, pain and stress. What are we witnessing? A lack of civility in both discourse and behavior cuts across all strata of our...
5 Caveats While Watching Super Bowl Spectacle
I must confess: I rarely watch the Super Bowl. I am usually on a plane (with very few others, mercifully) when the big game comes on. I am used to hearing the score from pilots, and I always wonder if they are really...
February 8, 2018
Five Facts About the Religious Lives of African Americans (Pew Research) Why Repealing the Johnson Amendment Would Harm Houses of Worship (BJC) 400 Muslim, Christian, Jewish Leaders Sign ‘Washington Declaration’ for...
Profiles in Goodwill: Gus Reyes
Gus Reyes is director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission. 1. Where did you grow up? Corpus Christi, Texas, and Rialto, California. 2. What is your favorite verse, book or story in the...
8 Dimensions of Health to Achieve a Life of Well-Being
Bible study or home group meetings are part of the life of many churches between Sundays. In preparation for a shared time of prayer, group members often talk about health concerns of individuals and lift these people...
South Sudan May Spur Africa’s Largest Refugee Crisis
Ongoing violence in South Sudan is projected to result in "Africa's largest refugee crisis since the mid-1990s," the United Nations announced on Feb. 1. "The human cost of the South Sudan conflict has reached epic...
Coming soon!
By John D. Pierce Soon the next issue of Nurturing Faith Journal will roll of the presses — and there is time for you to subscribe right here. Some highlights of the March-April issue — along with the superb weekly...
How Mental Illness Advice Turns into Spiritual Abuse
The biblical texts related to unclean or evil spirits, like a recent lectionary gospel passage from Mark 1:21-28, are often avoided. Yet, it's important for us to spend some time discussing and reflecting on these...
Welcome the Stranger? Not So Fast, Some Christians Say
I come from a family of refugees. My grandfather fled Germany in pre-World War I to escape the political oppression of Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany. The family came after the war, sponsored by my grandfather and after...
5 Values to Help You Master Life’s Mundane Middles
The long expanse of ministry in which you are pursuing an idea or program that you were excited about starting a while ago - what I call "The Middle" - is rarely addressed at the conferences or meetings I attend. No...
February 6, 2018
The Christian Right's Willful Faith in Trump (New Yorker Magazine) Poor People's Campaign Launches at Capitol (Washington Times) Roscoe Jones Cheated Death During Freedom Summer (Meridian Star) An Actual Nazi is About...
RAIN & CHANGE: A conversation with singer/songwriter Ken Medema
By John D. Pierce For decades musician Ken Medema has moved audiences toward meaningful worship, thoughtful reflection and a lived-out faith with a wide embrace. His music comforts the weary while challenging the...
What ‘Boxtrolls’ Teaches Us About Immigration Debate
The animated movie "The Boxtrolls" offers insight into the ongoing U.S. debates over immigration. I watched the film, which is based on the novel, "Here Be Monsters," by Allan Snow, some time ago with these immigration...
Meme Streak: When Christians Spread Internet Hate
It's become so easy in our society to spread hate. The rise of the meme has been an interesting phenomenon. This past year, it has become something that has caused me deep concern. For the uninitiated, memes are...
Pope Francis Calls Out Violence in the Name of Religion
"Violence promoted and carried out in the name of religion" must always be condemned, Pope Francis stated on Feb. 2 at a conference focused on this subject. "The religious person knows that among the greatest...