Recent Articles
Educational Opportunity Correlates to Longer Life Expectancy
The level of education a student attains is one of the most ‘powerful predictors’ of life expectancy, a report found. Educational opportunity contributed to 6% of the difference in life expectancy between neighborhoods.
February 4, 2020
A Nashville Art School Will Purge Non-Christian Faculty Now That it Has Been Taken Over by Belmont University (ArtNet News) Art School’s Merger With Christian University Stokes Uproar (New York Times) Christianity’s Influence on Human History is Real but Easily...
Stuck in the Swamp: When Evangelicals are Enmeshed in Politics
While Christians absolute loyalty is to God’s kingdom, we are not called to withdraw from the kingdoms of the world. We can celebrate the good accomplished by a political system, but not to the exclusion of exposing evil and injustice.
Our Churches Must End Sin of Neglecting Next Generation
Churches are gifted with multiple generations, all at different paths on the journey, with so much to give each other. Yet, we often don’t know each other’s names. We must stop neglecting the next generation within our walls.
Highest High School Dropout Rates in Southern, Western US
The states with the highest high school dropout rates, with one exception, are located in the southern and western U.S., a report revealed. Louisiana had the highest dropout rate at 9.6%.
February 3, 2020
Montana’s Original Sin: The Battle for the Constitution (The Atlantic) SBC Leader’s Tweet Renews Scrutiny of Pastor’s Past and Shows Limits of Sex Abuse Reforms, Activists Say (Houston Chronicle) Ebenezer Baptist’s Rev. Ralph Warnock Enters Georgia Senate Race (BET)...
Fear rules
By John D. Pierce It would be hard to overestimate the impact fear of losing white male cultural dominance is having on America and American churches. It is strong enough that many who consider themselves good, even Christian, will willingly cast aside basic ethics in...
Who Can You Help Stop Walking Through Life in Circles?
So many of us walk through life aimlessly. But when we have other folks in our lives, we can receive a sense of purpose. In a world where so many people seem without direction, who can you help to stop walking in circles?
Most US Protestant Churches Have Active Shooter Plans
Nearly two-thirds of Protestant churches in the U.S. now have active shooter plans, a LifeWay report found, and nearly half of pastors said their churches have armed members.
Look Back | Do Goodwill Baptists Welcome Women in Ministry?
Goodwill Baptists value diversity, but many are still closing the doors of leadership on women and minorities. Even Baptist churches claiming openness to women in ministry are not necessarily including them in all leadership levels.
January 31, 2020
First African Baptist Church Reopens in Downtown Savannah (WTOC) Church Farm Brings Two Southwest Florida Congregations Together (Episcopal News Service) The Supreme Court’s Collapsing Center on Religion (New York Times) There is No Christian Case for Trump (The...
Join us for Smoked Gouda Mac ‘n’ Cheese, Oh! and to honor David & Colleen
By John D. Pierce Anderson, S.C., is the place to be on Thursday, April 16, when Nurturing Faith presents its 20th annual Judson-Rice Award to David and Colleen Burroughs, founders of Passport Camps. The dinner event will feature a video tribute, a “conversation” with...
Why Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan is Doomed to Fail
President Trump unveiled his Middle East peace plan, but his roadmap is doomed to fail because it can’t be carried out without a solid moral foundation rooted in justice, equality and love. Here’s what’s missing.
‘Joker’
‘Joker’ is the most successful R-rated film ever, winning Golden Globes and amassing 11 Oscar nods. However, this bleak and gritty origin story of the iconic DC Comics villain delivers a troubling depiction of mental illness.
2 Key Challenges Face Worldwide Labor Force
Two key challenges facing laborers around the world are underutilization and inequality, a report says, with 13% of the world’s labor force, or 470 million people, underutilized, twice the global unemployment rate.
January 30, 2020
Liberty University’s Falwell Throws His Support Behind ‘Vexit’ (Religion News Service) Christian Zionist Philo-Semitism is Driving Trump’s Israel Policy (Washington Post) Evangelicals Embrace Trump’s Peace Plan, Saying it Recognizes the Bible ‘as Legal’ (RNS) Bill...
Your Pastor’s Big Decision: The Exit or the Entrance?
Pastoral ministry and leadership must evolve and adapt if their churches are going to be life-giving spiritual communities in the present or future. Pastors can choose one of two doors. Some choose the exit, others the entrance.
Eve’s Role as ‘Helper’ Didn’t Make Her Any Less Equal
I believe all humans are made equal. So reading in Genesis that Eve was Adam’s helper left me with growing unease. That’s because I assumed ‘helper’ meant someone who was subordinate. It’s another thing I got wrong about the Bible.
Vast Majority of US Churchgoers Satisfied with Sermons
Nearly nine out of 10 churchgoers said they were very or somewhat satisfied with sermons they hear in their places of worship, a Pew report said. Protestants were more likely than Catholics to express satisfaction.
January 29, 2020
White Evangelicals Still Haven’t Gotten Slavery Figured Out (Patheos) U.S. Churchgoers are Satisfied with the Sermons They Hear (Pew Research) Why Christian Nationalists Support a Transactional Trump (Washington Monthly) Florida Church Hosting Paige Patterson Faces...
When Political Corruption Clouds Our View, Find the Silver Lining
The dark cloud of the politics of moneyed power and religious sanction have united in an unholy alliance to transform our collective consciousness into a tolerance of the dominance of our lesser angels. But there’s a silver lining.
How Your Church Can Include, Welcome Disabled People – Part 2
How can your church foster a more welcoming environment toward disabled people? Friendship has the potential to enable greater participatory inclusion of disabled people within Baptist church communities.
Republicans, Protestants, 55-Plus Want Stricter Abortion Laws
Republicans, Protestants and adults 55 and older are the most likely groups to want stricter US abortion laws, a Gallup report found. Republicans had the greatest disparity: 42% want stricter laws and only 6% less strict.
January 28, 2020
Forest Lake Church Embraces Tiny House Homeless Settlement (Twin Cities) Remembering Kobe Bryant at the Church Where He Prayed Before Crash (NBC Los Angeles) Andrew Yang Sang With a Black Church Choir. Not Everyone Said ‘Amen’ (MSN) White House Grants Press Access to...
How Your Church Can Include, Welcome Disabled People – Part 1
Welcoming and including disabled people in your church building requires more than adding wheelchair ramps and removing a few pews. It involves the actions and attitudes of your members toward disabled people.
The Key to Making Time to Nurture Your Kids’ Spiritual Lives
All our families lead busy lives. It’s hard to find the time to nurture our children’s spiritual lives. But discipleship at home isn’t about doing more; it’s about inviting Christ into what you are already doing.
More Than Half-Million Homeless in 2019 Real-Time Count
More than a half-million people experienced homelessness during an annual point-in-time count conducted in January 2019, a government report said, representing roughly 17 out of every 10,000 people in the US.
January 27, 2020
Police Officer Shot While Working at Church in Alabama (AL.com) To Change the Church 50 Years Ago, First They Had to Break In (Los Angeles Times) As Religious Affiliation Shrinks Among Millennials, Here’s How Connecticut Residents Interact with Religion (Hartford...
What You Can Learn from John Ruskin’s ‘Scandal of Grace’
John Ruskin was an influential British writer and social thinker in the last half of the 19th century. His most important literary work highlighted what has been called “the scandal of grace,” drawing praise from Gandhi to Tolstoy.
Christians Declined Slightly as Percent of Global Population
The number of Christians as a percentage of the global population declined ever so slightly over the past 20 years, continuing a century-long trend that’s expected to reverse course in the decades to come, a study says.