Recent Articles
Goodbye, Granddad
Herbert Maxwell Sheffield, my grandfather, passed away last week from complications related to COVID-19. Born in 1926, he grew up with the conviction never to let his family go hungry. He was the greatest man I have ever known.
Facing Some Early-Morning Choices
Early to bed, early to rise makes one – ever more susceptible to infomercials and local news seeking to keep viewers from changing channels. While the coffee brews, some early-morning channel surfing reveals not a lot to watch.
Bringing Your Crumpled Hope to Advent
Even as we have pieced together safe ways to gather as the people of God during the pandemic, it doesn’t feel the same. As we enter the season of Advent, we need to find hope. It may be crumpled in the corner, but it’s there.
Sense of Smell Brings Memories of Joy, Grief
Broccoli casserole. Fresh pies. Newly popped bottles of wine. And mom’s bag she took to the hospital – with the clothes she never got to wear home. Smell is an amazing scent, transporting me back to precious memories of my mother.
November 24, 2020
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: 400 years after the ‘First Thanksgiving,’ the tribe who fed the Pilgrims continues to fight for their land amid a new pandemic; San Antonio Church founded by free slaves celebrating 150-year anniversary; Ethical reflections on Australia’s fires; and more
What the ‘I Won’t Live in Fear’ Crowd Gets Wrong
Many won’t change their lifestyle during the pandemic because they refuse to live in fear. Their reasoning is rooted in the idea that God tells us to “fear not.” Their blind belief that nothing bad will happen to them is misplaced.
Emerging Voices | How to Stand in Solidarity with People of Color
God has called white Christians to stand in solidarity with their Black brothers and sisters instead of sitting on the sidelines. Many pastors want to minister to their congregants of color, but they do not know where to start.
How Prayer Can Help You with Despair
Prayer leads us to call upon God for help and comfort, sharpening our spirits in the time of suffering. While depression is often a chronic illness that’s tough to treat, prayer can help with the lesser evil of despair.
9% of Young Children in US Live in Deep Poverty
Nine percent of all US children under the age of 9 – nearly one out of 10 – live in deep poverty, a report says. Another 10% live in poverty and 22% in low-income households. Mississippi had the highest deep poverty rate at 17%.
November 23, 2020
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: Evangelical doctors’ group with churches to stay home; President-elect Biden gives new hope to refugees fleeing religious persecution; Most ‘Fox News Republicans’ believe Christians face most discrimination; and more.
People of Good Faith: Bill McConnell
Bill McConnell is retired after a more than 40-year career as a manufacturer’s agent. He had the privilege of serving the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in governance for nine years and was the 23rd national moderator.
Is Your Life Composed of Seasons or a Journey?
Is life composed of seasons? They have an orderliness that point to the structure of life itself. Or is life a journey? It starts somewhere and goes somewhere. An odyssey with an end, a goal. Perhaps a full life requires both.
Look Back | A Reality That Should Haunt, Help, Humble
Selective memory can cause many conservative Christians to wonder why their proclamations about what seems right to them are not readily accepted by others. Maybe it has to do with being on the wrong side of history so often.
November 20, 2020
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: Some faith leaders defiant, others transparent over COVID-19 outbreaks; Catholic diocese and Orthodox Jewish synagogues ask Supreme Court to block New York’s Covid limits; Energized religious left vows to keep up pressure with Biden; and more
Permission to Hope
The global pandemic is far from over, but a flicker of light illuminates hope. It would be easy to give in to the despair we all feel. However, after an excruciating and exhausting year, let’s give ourselves permission to hope.
Good Faith Media to Host Virtual Holiday Gala Dec. 20
Mark your calendars! Good Faith Media invites you to celebrate the holiday season with us through a virtual gathering on Dec. 20 that we’re calling Good Faith Holiday Cheers! Enjoy music, comedy and good conversation.
Teachers Need Your Support Now More Than Ever
Education has been hobbled by the ongoing pandemic. We need to find ways to support our teachers in their work and encourage them as day by day they strive to teach, care, challenge, motivate and keep our children safe.
November 19, 2020
In today’s news and analysis headlines: Trump has changed the way evangelicals think about the apocalypse; A beloved Fort Lauderdale Christmas pageant is no more, and the church is divided; Baptists in Virginia get two new theological options; and more
On the Horns of a Dilemma
A meaningful archaeological find recently turned up in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria. Israel’s claim of sovereignty over the territory has been denied internationally except by the US. Politics are everywhere.
Who Mothers Us When We’re Alone for Holidays?
With COVID-19 curtailing family gatherings at Thanksgiving, we will miss the physical contact the most, like the mothering embraces from those we love. But we’re never alone. We’re always held close by a mothering God.
Baptists Plan Out Pilgrimage: The Reality – Part 2
A journey to historic Baptist churches that began as a way to get some different scenery for Sunday morning worship turned into lessons about building use, community, public witness, identity, courage and so much more.
November 18, 2020
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: Most Christians want churches to defy COVID restrictions; Why women make way less than men do in more religious places; a former right-wing media create on how a “Different Reality” became so prominent; and more
Whites Don’t Get to Define Christianity for Others
White evangelical Christians see it as their prerogative to define what Christianity should look like for others. They can no longer filter the Bible for others and need to stop trying. It is not their story to own, shape or sell.
Baptists Plan Out Pilgrimage: A Dream – Part 1
It began as an idea to preach in historic pulpits but morphed into something greater. For two weary ministers, this pilgrimage became a chance to help their church – and those they visited – feel less isolated during the pandemic.
Good Faith Media, Baylor’s C3I Form Partnership
Good Faith Media and The Center for Church and Community Impact at Baylor University have established a formal partnership to create educational opportunities for students of the center.
November 17, 2020
In today’s curated news and analysis headlines: Religious intolerance is “Bigger Cause of Prejudice Than Race,” study says; ‘Religious Freedom’ arguments give rise to executive order battle; How robots could save one of the world’s most unusual cathedrals; and more
Emerging Voices | Hospitality: Easier to Give Than Receive
Christians focus on hospitality solely in the form of giving it, but each of us needs help sometimes. When we are in a place to receive hospitality, we must give up our power. We enter a frightening space of vulnerability.
Emerging Voices | LGBTQ+ Group Needs Baylor Recognition
Baylor University is in a unique position to assist and love its LGBTQ+ students. What better way to live and love like Jesus than to allow those students to officially organize on campus and find support in their peers.
Pew: Gov’t Hostility to Religion Up, Social Hostilities Down in 2018
The number of countries in which religious groups faced high levels of restrictions or hostility from the government increased to 56 nations in 2018, a Pew report said. The 56 nations are 28% of the 198 analyzed for the report.
November 16, 2020
In today’s curated news and analysis: Staying apart, praying together; How religion can hamper economic progress; The evangelical reckoning begins; Thinking about shared sacred spaces; and more