After a string of victories at the Supreme Court, focus turns to one major precedent that could be overturned. It is an auspicious time for advocates of religious liberty in the United States. Consider what they have accomplished at the Supreme Court over the past year: They defended the right of Americans to express their…
Mark Noll surveys the effects of an “independence-first” approach to Scripture. Thomas Paine threw gasoline-soaked ink on the fiery spirit of American independence by publishing his pamphlet Common Sense six months before the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Upon independence from King George III, Paine promised, “The birthday of a new world is at hand.”…
Survey examines how weather, sports, and sleep affect if and when churchgoers go to church. Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against His church, but sleet and hail will keep many churchgoers out of the pew on a Sunday. In fact, some may even skip to get a little extra sleep or…
Generative AI and the rise of ‘Bible GPTs’ could radically shape our engagement with Scripture. The pace of adoption for artificial intelligence is unprecedented. By the end of January, ChatGPT—an AI chatbot that generates brand original content when prompted—had logged 100 million visitors to its site. Before that, it reached 1 million users in the…
More Americans are staying put. But how can we live with intention? Our church’s lament service took place in March; we had moved to Cincinnati the previous summer. I didn’t attend the service with my own sadness in mind—but it found me, in the dark and somber silence consecrated for those who showed up. The…
“Unless Jesus returns we face a catastrophic future.” Sometimes, late at night, when her kids have gone to bed and Eleanor Getson is doing the dishes, she is hit with an almost crippling fear. “Glaciers melting. Islands of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. Forest fires wiping out millennia of history,” said Getson, a 40-year-old evangelical…
How God pursued me even when I was certain I’d already found truth. On a warm summer’s day in 1991, I sat in Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, a temple north of London, my heart full of confusion and inner turmoil. I had begun seriously to doubt my faith. It didn’t make sense. I thought I had…
Ministries and former law enforcement have some caveats to add to the film about Operation Underground Railroad’s Tim Ballard. In a field crowded with franchises like Indiana Jones, the unexpected box office success of the summer is a movie about child sex trafficking, Sound of Freedom. Based on the story of Operation Underground Railroad’s Tim…
Rebekah Naylor, 79, is stepping down from International Mission Board. The first time she retired, in 2002, Dr. Rebekah Naylor, a longtime missionary surgeon, came home to Texas after 35 years in India to care for her mother, who was ailing. Along with doing that, she joined the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern…
Nigerian American Christian Yemi Mobolade went from pastor and community organizer to city leadership. Yemi Mobolade moved to Colorado Springs to start a church. Thirteen years later, he became the city’s mayor. Even though his position isn’t a pastoral one, his faith is central to his platform, as well as his experience in local ministries,…
