Transition Is Not the End of the Story
(WW) In 2 Kings 2:1-14 we are provided with an example of how working closely with others through the leading of the Holy Spirit can make a season of transition or change bearable and honorable to those experiencing and participating in the change.
Can We Find a New Meaning in the Word Evangelical?
Writer Jason Byassee notes that in that mania, “evangelical” has come to mean something bizarre: white, bigoted, angry, retrograde, idolatrously devoted to God and country, cozy with dictators and rude to historic friends. Is the word irretrievably lost?
Baptists Need to Know Jack
We celebrate many early Baptist giants. Thomas Helwys. Roger Williams. John Leland. Adoniram and Anne Judson. Luther Rice. But there’s one we generally don’t know: Jack.
How the US Military Has Embraced Growing Religious Diversity
In 1917, when the United States entered the World War I, chaplaincy was a majority white and fully Christian organization. No law specifically stated the acceptable religious backgrounds of military chaplains, but only mainline Protestant ministers and Catholic priests wore the insignia of the military’s religious officers.
The Rise of Fundamentalist Catholicism
(RNS) — It is normal and customary to identify Pope Francis's conservative critics as "traditionalists." But much of what they say is a far cry from Catholic tradition — not least their criticism of the pope itself. We need a new way to identify them.
In the Sacred Stillness of Arlington National Cemetery
(RNS) — While many Americans perceive Veterans Day as just another holiday that features special sales at countless shopping malls, that is not my view of November 11th. It has always been a solemn season of remembrance.
Homeless
“You did what?” my wife asked. “I sold our house.” It was then that it hit me: For the first time in 37 years, we did not have a house to call our own.
Returning to Our Litigious Vomit
Throughout much of the book of Judges a consistent pattern emerges: the Israelites disobey God, find themselves oppressed for many years, a judge arises to bring peace for a few decades, and then they start the cycle all over.
Crying for Justice
Over the weekend, U.S. Special Operations forces trapped terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who then killed himself with a suicide blast. The world is safer with al-Baghdadi no longer planning terrorist activities. But that doesn’t mean we should cheer his death.
For Our Own Sake, No One Should ‘Die Like a Dog’
(RNS) — Sometimes, it is necessary to kill. But, you should never be happy about it. That was precisely my feeling in the aftermath of the assassination of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.