The announcement that LifeWay Christian Resources will close its brick-and-mortar stores by the end of the year dismayed many Southern Baptists who have long shopped the shelves for books, music, and Lord’s Supper wafers. The reaction was predictable—it’s sad to lose a trusted source of information and resources. What some seem to be missing even […]
Meredith Flynn
Greear walks the line
One day after he attended a dinner for evangelical leaders at the White house, J.D. Greear tweeted a 136-word statement explaining why he was there. The statement noted that “witness in the public square requires some presence in it,” but reiterated Greear’s commitment to “decoupling the church from partisan politics.” Some responders lauded Greear for […]
Thanks, Dorothy
Had you seen her surrounded by friends and well-wishers at a ladies’ tea in Dallas, it would have been hard to imagine Dorothy Patterson had just lived through a very difficult few months. The former first lady of Southwestern Seminary’s presence there is telling about her legacy in Southern Baptist life. For those watching over […]
Raising Aliens: Families embrace ‘strangeness’ for the sake of the gospel
Christian parents gathered last August in Nashville, Tenn., for a conference sponsored by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. The theme—Christ-centered parenting in a complex world—was expounded upon by pastors, teachers, authors, and family experts in sessions focused both on modern-day parenting questions and universal family challenges. One speaker, Jen Wilkin, taught a session titled […]
Seminary’s biggest challenge
People in my home church in Florida cautioned me: “Don’t let seminary ruin you.” I knew what they meant. Stories abounded of young men who went to seminary fired up to change the world for Jesus, and returned cold and lifeless, all their zeal dissolved in the acid of theological debates and parsing of verbs. […]