Recent Articles
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.
New Book Shares Sunday School Lessons From President Jimmy Carter
Whether Gregg’s question was a joke or a serious query is unknown. What is known is that from that moment until January 4, 1981, almost two weeks before the peaceful transfer of the Presidency to Ronald Reagan, Carter would stand in for Gregg as the substitute teacher of the class at least 17 times.
Identity Theology: A Through Line of Violence and Antisemitism
Identity theology is a set of beliefs and practices that has been animating acts of violence and terror by white supremacists for nearly a century.
A Conversation with Jim Wallis
Wallis wants his audience to breathe deeply the true meaning and message of Jesus, hoping it will form and shape them into the humans they were designed to be. He also hopes this will keep them from falling for the noise of the false gospel around them.
Anger Kills, Studies Show
What concerns researchers are chronic feelings of anger, which never experience a resolution, preventing endothelial cells from ever recovering and supporting positive cardiac health.
New Survey Says Most Americans See Gaps in Mental and Physical Healthcare
A new survey from West Health and Gallup finds that most Americans see gaps in mental and physical health. Seventy-five percent of U.S. adults polled say mental health issues and treated worse than physical health issues.
Emerging Voices | Violence Does Not End Violence
But in calling for Columbia University to completely divest itself from Israel, another point of this hypocritical spectacle comes to bear: students are willing to forget about their Israeli peers, who may be, directly or indirectly, affected by the October 7th Hamas attacks or the ensuing military campaign.
The Church of Saul
Known more for who its members hate than for who they love, the North American church often looks and sounds a lot like Saul, the murderer turned missionary in Christian scripture. With sacred writ in one hand and stones in the other, they stand ready to defend their righteousness and seemingly to protect God’s reputation.
New Good Faith Media Podcast Explores Chaplaincy
“Soul Connection,” a three-episode podcast produced and hosted by GFM intern Rev. Delaney Metcalf, offers short interviews with experienced chaplains who share their wisdom and experience.
The Public Religion Research Institute Shares Views on Abortion From All 50 States
Based on 22,000 interviews, PRRI’s 2023 American Value Atlas finds most Americans (64%) support the legalization of abortion in most cases. On the other hand, 35% of Americans surveyed believe abortion should be illegal in most or all instances, while 9% say all abortions should be illegal.
America, A House Divided
The American divide feels more coordinated and intentional than the simple presence of honest political and theological differences. The robust debates over differing issues, with both parties seeking to move the conversation forward, are long gone.
Alabama Moves Closer to Providing Summer EBT Programs
On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee, in a display of bipartisan unity, voted unanimously to allocate $10 million in 2025 for these programs.
Emerging Voices | Election Year and a Religious Agenda
As I grew deeper in my faith, I grew a deeper love for politics. At first, this seemed counterintuitive, but my faith is something I found hope in throughout this time.