Recent Articles
Baylor’s Center for Church and Community Impact Celebrates 25 Years
Social workers don’t fix people, but help unlock the God-given power inside themselves. We see immediate circumstances, but also the challenges faced due to larger systems surrounding them. We come alongside others to amplify their voices and create change.
Pentecost’s Missing Verse
Anger over injustice is always appropriate. Becoming inured, acclimated, to the presence of oppression and subjugation is the very definition of being “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2).
Empowered to Repair: An Interview with Brenda Salter McNeil, Part 3
he last of a three-part interview with Brenda Salter McNeil, who shares with readers the opposition that is sure to follow those who are called to the ministry of reconciliation. Our time together ends with a word of hope for those who feel compelled to bridge the gap.
From the Corn Fields to Drag Queen Story Time
Out of the cornfields, Christian fundamentalists were doing what they’ve always done–presenting interpretation as certainty and damning anyone different than them.
That Time Jerry Falwell Called Desmond Tutu a “Phony”
In the United States, efforts to fight racism have often been labeled as “Communist.” Simply slap the “c-word” on a movement, and you can dismiss it, denigrate it, and dismantle it with violent force.
Empowered to Repair: An Interview with Brenda Salter McNeil, Part 2
Now we address the perceived absence of the church in the fight for social justice, discuss the question that led to her life’s work, the opposition, both external and internal, that is sure to come for those who are called to the ministry of reconciliation and a word of hope for those who feel compelled to bridge the gap.
By the Way | Redirecting Campus Unrest: A Modest Proposal
Imagine the prospect of campus demonstrations with pro-Palestinians and pro-Israelis demonstrating side by side to end the war in Gaza. That would be a powerful statement, one that would reverberate around the world.
Majority of Voters Believe Antisemitism and Islamaphobia are Significant Issues on College Campuses
After a spring semester that marked significant student protest movements over the war between Israel and Hamas, religious discrimination is at the forefront of many people’s minds. According to the April 2024 CAPS-Harris Poll, the majority of US voters believe antisemitism and Islamophobia are prevalent on college campuses.
Empowered to Repair: An Interview with Brenda Salter McNeil, Part 1
Brenda Salter McNeil offers readers a plan of action in her new book, “Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities.” Against the backdrop of the biblical narrative of Nehemiah, she builds her case for reparations and reconciliation.
Psalm 137: Assimilation Is Not Belonging
Latines don’t–and never will–belong, even when we attempt assimilation. We are a people in exile, even those born within U.S. borders. Some are here by conquest (Mexico and Puerto Rico), others as consequences of gunboat diplomacy (Central America and the Caribbean), following what has been stolen from us.
More U.S. Adults Identify as LGBTQ+
According to a recent Gallup poll, 7.6% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ+, up 5.6% from just four years ago. This percentage is also up from 3.5% in 2012, the first year Gallup surveyed LGBTQ+ identification.
The Status-Seeking Church
We sang, “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder.” Now Christians climb the economic ladder. Rung-righteousness, or “keeping up with Joneses,” is not the same as following Jesus.
Wisdom Wherever You Find It | No Exit
“The word I spoke in anger weighs less than a parsley seed, but a road runs through it that leads to my grave.” I will admit to spending a long time unpacking it before I even got to the rest of this very short work.
If God be God: Notes from “The Fire Next Time”
A compelling assertion from Baldwin’s writing resonated deeply with me: “If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.”
The Deep State
When Donald Trump declared he would “drain the swamp” by ending political corruption and dismantling the shadow government pulling the strings in Washington, he was drawing on two significant streams of American political thought.
LGBTQ+ Folk Are Everywhere
I am grateful, too, for the courageous work I see lived out through Baptist communities in the United States and the world over. This work of welcome and affirmation is desperately needed, and it is a work we will forever need to live out.
Festival of Homiletics 2024
The Festival of Homiletics 2024, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was a testament to the remarkable growth and impact of this event. With nearly 1,000 attendees in person and another 1,000 tuning in to the livestream, the festival has evolved from a modest gathering of 400 pastors in 1992 to a global platform for the preaching community.
An Invitation to Liturgical Prayer
We are all priests from our baptism, and with that comes an invitation, namely, to pray for the world as a priest through the prayer of Christ and the church. What does that mean exactly?
Nurturing Faith Journal | The Arrogance of Modernity
I didn’t stop believing in God. I had too much invested. But I did begin to doubt whether God still breaks into our world in the same ways as during the times of the Bible. Later, I would wonder whether God had even broken into our world during the times of the Bible.
Practicing Resurrection
In order to practice resurrection, we keep our eyes open to the places in our world desperately seeking new life. We keep our ears tuned to the cries of those pleading for restoration and renewal.
20 Years of Gratitude: From the First Baptists Today Website to Today’s Comprehensive Good Faith Media
This new chapter in my life would not have been possible without my two decades-long tenure with Baptists Today, Nurturing Faith and, now, Good Faith Media. Those years were a time of challenging and rewarding work, professional and personal growth and enrichment, and wonderful friendships too numerous to count.
Understanding the Water We Swim In: A Mental Health Journey
Understanding what was happening to my brain and body empowered me. It introduced understanding and grace in my relationships and gave me another opportunity to offer vulnerability as a gift to those around me.
Mental Health Tops the List of Reasons College Students Consider Dropping Out of School
A new Gallup survey finds 35% of college students have thought about leaving school in the past six months. The top reasons given were mental health and stress.
The Hum of Faith
Faith is a song that is hummed when we forget the words of belief or moaned when we don’t have the strength to repeat them.
Rejecting Original Sin
The heresy of original sin, which argues for humans’ depravity, becomes the excuse for oppression. But if this is true, then how do we explain sin? Why do humans choose evil?
Embodied Solidarity: Engaging Christians in Protest
Jesus literally got people into the streets to mock the Empire that would, very soon, execute him.
All Is Vanity, But There Is Hope
There’s something you learn by reaching the end of yourself and standing face-to-face with your shadow. Nothing in this world will ever satisfy us and I mean nothing. As the author of Ecclesiastes states, it’s the “vanity of vanities.” Even if we had it all, the...
Inaugural Pastors For Children Conference Held In Orlando
While public schools are responsible for educating all children regardless of religious tradition and are barred by federal and state constitutions from supporting sectarian causes, they are also filled with kind, decent, and, in many cases, faith-informed individuals.
Invested Faith Awards 11th Class of Fellows
Invested Faith has named an eleventh class of faith-rooted social entrepreneurs. These six social innovators are working to address systemic issues of injustice in their communities while building sustainable financial models.
How To Make Morally-Based Political Decisions
In civilized society, our decisions don’t usually involve life or death. But it still feels dangerous to have opinions that differ from our peer group. As a result, we cling to the beliefs of our peer group, usually without conscious awareness of doing so.