If we do not know how the story of the Gospel begins, then we do not know what that story means. Make no mistake: a false start to the story produces a false grasp of the Gospel. Recent evangelical discussion concerning Adam and Eve has served at least one good purpose — it has helped... Continue Reading

Editor’s Note: In an effort to be bi-partisan, we thought we would run a column from one of the more liberal New York Times columnists for our Labor Day feature. It’s about jobs; well, at least one job. ONE day during the 2008 campaign, as Barack Obama read the foreboding news of the mounting economic... Continue Reading

When Alan Jackson sings the lyric, “Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?” nobody needs to ask what day he is singing about. We all remember exactly where we were on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 when we heard about the planes crashing into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and that lonely... Continue Reading

Some argue that this task is so important that it must be performed by government. In truth, it is too important to be left to government. Outstanding education should be innovative, cost-efficient, and respect parental values. Political discourse and news media have been consumed of late by talk of debt, spending, and recession, but meanwhile... Continue Reading

On Sunday, members of the NAACP unanimously voted to remove Thomas, who is a segregationist, for his views on race relations. Billy had been a member of the group since his freshman year. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will investigate whether or not the student NAACP chapter violated UNC’s non-discrimination policy in... Continue Reading

A full decade has passed since America suffered the tragedy of 9/11. Ten years ago, I repeatedly heard the question raised: “Where was God in all of this? Where was God on 9/11 when the planes crashed into the twin towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania?”... Continue Reading

I would gladly vote for someone to be my president who disagrees with me on whether or not infants can be baptized. I wouldn’t want that same person to be my pastor, because we will have to decide together who and how to baptize. In 2008, Christians were faced with the real prospect of a... Continue Reading

A sociologist argues that today’s religion writers often know little about the subject on which they’re supposedly informing the public. (Reprint from 2004, but spot on today) Today I received a phone message from a journalist from a major Dallas newspaper who wanted to talk to me about a story he was writing about “Episcopals,”... Continue Reading

Tim’s and my father (Joe Bayly) once wrote that Evangelicalism’s sole sacrament is the “Jesus prayer,” embodied in the walk to the altar of the Billy Graham crusade, the raised hand of the CCC rally (followed by a challenge never to doubt), or the Jesus prayer of the VBS program. Anyone who is familiar with... Continue Reading

But clearly, the power of culture, perhaps the experience of gay and lesbian friends and other factors are in collision with younger evangelicals’ understanding of Scripture. It’s not news that young people are more liberal than their elders on matters touching on sexuality and public policy — issues like same-sex marriage, adoption and so forth.... Continue Reading