Just too Slow
A few years ago, Nigerian Baptist leaders welcomed me at the airport with these words, “Thank you for sending Thomas Jefferson Bowen to bring us the gospel.” The Nigerian Baptist Convention, the fourth largest Baptist denomination in the world with more than 8 million members, traces its founding to Bowen—a missionary sent by Southern Baptists […]
Friendship
My friend, Rick Loft, died a few days ago. We met more than 40 years ago when he served on the Pastor Search Committee that called me to my first pastorate. We served together throughout those formative years. We shared the challenges of church ministry, the joys and pains in our families, and—for Rick—the burden […]
Christian Entertainment
For some believers, Christian entertainment is a controversial source of debate and division. Productions like Jesus Revolution, Southern Gospel, The Chosen, and even The Nativity a few years ago receive a negative backlash from some Christians. The main complaints are two-fold. First, these shows lack theological depth or biblical accuracy. Second, the lifestyles of some […]
Devaluing Marriage
Young American adults are eschewing marriage at alarming rates. A recent report in World included this Census Bureau generated data: only 25% of adults ages 18-34 are married out of more than 126 million people. There are 17 million unmarried adults cohabiting with a significant other—up 6 million from 20 years ago. Few adults ages […]
A Perfect Opportunity
It happened again recently. A concerned Christian approached me after my message at a conference in another region (think grits) and asked, “How do you stand to live in California with all those liberals?” My snarky-side leaked out a bit when I replied, “Oh, you mean among all those lost people?” It seems more and […]
Crystal Clear
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, buried near the end, was a succinct quote which makes the source of the current conflict in the Church of England (CofE) over same-sex marriage crystal clear. Rev. Andrew Foreshew-Cain, a partner in a same-sex marriage, and chaplain of Lady Margaret Hall at the University of Oxford said, […]
Christians Need Not Apply
The Washington Elementary School District, which covers parts of Glendale and Phoenix recently ended its contract with Arizona Christian University. The agreement had facilitated student teacher training, which created a pathway to employment for ACU graduates. Even a regional teacher shortage, mentioned as a problem by the WESD board members who took this action, did […]
Go Grants
Some dreams take a long time to come true. When I first became Gateway’s president almost 20 years ago, one of my dreams was for every student to have an international missions experience while they were enrolled at Gateway. I even considered the idea of making this a requirement for graduation. Those were unrealistic expectations. […]
Biblical Mindset for Evangelism
Mindset matters with regard to whatever we seek to do. This is especially the case with evangelism. Most believers experience much difficulty engaging in evangelism. Sadly, we often make it harder than it needs to be. Far worse, however, is when we adopt a frame of mind that damages our evangelistic attempts. In our current […]
A Low View of Pastors
A recent Gallup survey had some very bad news for pastors, and by extension, for the church in America. In the survey, only 34 percent rated the honesty and integrity of pastors as very high. Among respondents under age 30, the rate was a much lower 20 percent. These numbers are the lowest since Gallup […]