April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a good time to honor the many brave souls who shared their experiences with me. These are brothers and sisters in Christ who have suffered. By attending to their stories, listening to them and believing them, we honor them. As a professor, I like to use Facebook as an... Continue Reading

This isn’t the first time Briarwood’s effort to form a police force has been endorsed by both houses of Alabama’s Legislature. As The Associated Press reports, a similar bill that was approved last year eventually failed after then-Gov. Robert Bentley didn’t sign it into law. A large church in Alabama is one step closer to... Continue Reading

According to the International Society for Human Rights, a secular observatory based in Frankfurt, Germany, 80 per cent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed at Christians. Statistically speaking, that makes Christians by far the most persecuted religious body on the planet.   At least 36 people have died in... Continue Reading

The covenant refers to the Bible as “the infallible Word of God and fully authoritative in matters of life and conduct …” and spells out behavior to avoid, such as sexual immorality and “sinful attitudes and behaviors.” It also affirms the “worth of every human being from conception to death.”   MONTREAT, N.C. – Some employees at Montreat... Continue Reading

Those polled were also asked whether or not they believed in some kind of life after death. Forty-six percent of said they did while another 46 percent said they did not. Options of life after death in the survey included reincarnation, Heaven, and Hell, and others like “we go to a parallel universe/the astral plane... Continue Reading

Yes, Christians evangelized cities in early Christianity, but not only cities.  In fact, there is quite a bit of (overlooked) historical evidence that the earliest Christians had a robust mission to the countryside. Indeed, Robinson argues that, numerically speaking, most early Christians might have actually been rural and not urban.   One of the wonderful... Continue Reading

Leaders who ignore rebukes and corrections must not be ignored. A common thread in the stories of fallen ministry leaders is that when people called them on their drifting, they ignored the rebukes and corrections. When a leader ignores correction, others must not ignore their shunning of correction. God is merciful to us to provide... Continue Reading

The world puts the old people on the shelf and the young people on the podium. But it really should be the other way around. Every believer should aspire to the crown of splendor—to the honor that is due to those who have learned to live well and faithfully to what God has called them.... Continue Reading

As you may know, our endowment provides nearly 70% of the annual income for our operating budget. This means that changes in market conditions can have a direct and significant impact upon our annual budget. Our investment advisors are projecting lower market returns in the coming years that could compromise our long-term financial health if... Continue Reading

According to one historian, the “last fifteen years of the nineteenth century saw the theological leadership of American Methodism change hands almost completely.” Orthodoxy and creedalism became passé and even John Wesley became infrequently cited, often more for criticism than instruction.   When did United Methodism become theologically liberal? Many assume only recently, in their... Continue Reading