Neutrality doesn’t work in church. But we can recover the heart of our faith. I’m a textbook middle child. I’ve spent a lifetime perfecting the art of placation, walking fine lines and threading needles. For years as a pastor, I relied on such diplomatic instincts to shepherd a politically and theologically diverse congregation. In our…
But how is up to us. It’s summer in Silicon Valley, and I’m out for a jog in my neighborhood. It’s the most beautiful time of year: blossoming orange trees, beds thick with poppies, palm-sized roses in fuchsia and lemon. There’s a trickle of water in the creek, temperatures are cooler than previous summers, and…
The late Jimmy Buffett’s songs and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien both long for a home just beyond reach. This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here. One cannot imagine Jimmy Buffett and J. R. R. Tolkien in a room together, sharing a “cheeseburger in paradise” at The Eagle and Child. Tolkien was…
But in Scripture, church history, and singles’ own accounts of their lives, it’s usually not a good thing, either. Is it a sin to be single? To a modern ear, the question can sound bizarre—but in many circles of Christianity, especially online, the question of whether young people (especially young women, as in a recent…
“I think there’s a theological argument there that we’re doing what God designed us to do by taking care of animals.” Three quarters of pet-owning Christians (75%) in the US have dogs, while less than half (43%) possess cats. That’s according to a Pew Research Center report released this summer. In religious breakouts provided to…
The sexes are trending in different political directions. Here’s what the church can do about it. “Does it feel like everyone in your church is getting more liberal?” Someone posed this question at a recent get-together of evangelical pastors that I attended in the Nashville area. The person raising it had recently discovered that most…
The missionary wife’s “listening prayers” comforted and inspired millions. Sarah Young, a devotional author who wrote in Jesus’ voice and became one of the most-read evangelicals of the 21st century, has died at 77. The wife of a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) missionary to Japanese people, Young suffered from Lyme disease and other chronic…
In the second half of the 20th century, each group used the other as a ticket to legitimacy at home and abroad. On June 3, 1973, Billy Graham preached before 1.1 million people at his largest crusade. This event did not occur in America’s heartland or a major American metropolitan center like Los Angeles or…
Evangelicals lament the circumstances but say a syncretistic pastor’s faith-driven counterattack was unwise. Vijonet Déméro had little patience for the Haitian pastor who led his congregation into what proved to be a deadly confrontation with local gangs last week. “Foolishly foolish action,” said Déméro, a Protestant leader and secretary general at Université INUFOCAD in Port-au-Prince,…
