Why Church Shouldn’t Just Be on Facebook

The reasons worship services should be offline are all too human. Every week, in the front lobby, the secretary of the church I attended in kindergarten updated the archive of sermon recordings. This was in the early 1990s, so the archive was a spice rack of cassette tapes, with maybe two or three copies for each sermon, in case multiple homebound church members wanted to listen simultaneously. That sort of care for those who can’t make it to church on Sunday—whether occasionally... Read More

Interview: William Lane Craig Explores the Headwaters of the Human Race

The philosopher and theologian ventures a new hypothesis on Genesis, human origins, and the historical Adam. As head of the ministry Reasonable Faith and a prolific writer on topics of philosophy and theology, William Lane Craig has spent decades staking out sophisticated positions on the toughest questions of Christian faith. But for a long time, his beliefs on one controversial topic—the place of Adam and Eve in biblical and biological history—have remained unsettled. Craig... Read More

Southern Baptists Agree to Open Up to Abuse Investigation

Executive Committee decision comes after weeks of heated debate and division. It took three weeks of scheduled meetings, at least three law firms, dozens of statements, hours of closed-door briefings, and extensive back-and-forth debates across boardooms, social media, and Zoom calls for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee (EC) to agree to the terms of a third-party investigation into its response to abuse. But on Tuesday, it did. The EC voted 44–31 on in favor... Read More

Generosity Is Liberation

How pastors can teach on money with confidence and conviction. Money stands right alongside political strife and racial tension as one of the most challenging and complex realities I address from the pulpit as a local church pastor. This is true for many if not most church leaders. We often experience an intrinsic anxiety when it comes to the intersection of formation into Christlikeness and people’s finances. We find it difficult or uncomfortable to ask people to give to the church... Read More

How Prayer and Science Prepared Palm Beach Atlantic’s New President for the Pandemic

After months of leading the school and holding Zoom calls with isolated students, Debra Schwinn will finally celebrate her inauguration. At 5 p.m. every day, students in quarantine at Palm Beach Atlantic (PBA) University get a Zoom call. The face that pops up on the screen is their school’s new president, Debra Schwinn, checking in on them. The calls, which ran the entire 2020–2021 school year and have continued this fall, last about 20 minutes. Schwinn chats with the students... Read More

Christians and Critical Race Theory

A webinar about the facts, falsehoods, and theological implications of critical race theory—and the way forward for the church. With hysteria and misinformation swirling all around it, critical race theory has become nearly impossible to discuss without stirring up ideological fears and partisan divisions. Yet many believe its ideas must be responded to if the church is ever going to take seriously issues of diversity, justice, and racial reconciliation. Join Christianity Today’s... Read More

Philip Yancey, as Few Could Have Imagined Him

The writer’s new memoir sheds light on an upbringing steeped in bigotry and a lifetime of “useful” pain. Philip Yancey knew he would write a memoir the day he lay strapped to a backboard, not knowing if he would live or die. This was in 2007, after he had already written numerous books and won global acclaim as a journalist spotlighting issues of faith in the stories of other people. Yet it took a careening Jeep, five rolls down an embankment, and a broken neck to persuade him... Read More

Post Without Ceasing? How Social Media Reshapes Our Prayer Lives

Interceding on Instagram may seem like a uniquely 21st-century phenomenon, but Christians in the first century were already praying at a distance. Thousands of people have prayed for Sarah Walton. Most of whom she has never met. In the past ten years, Walton, the best-selling coauthor of Hope When It Hurts, has suffered through chronic illness, multiple surgeries for a debilitating foot injury, financial stress stemming from her husband’s job loss, and a cross-country move with four... Read More

Churches Threaten to Withhold Funds Over Southern Baptist Response to Abuse Inquiry

More leaders and state conventions are putting pressure on the Executive Committee ahead of this week’s meeting. As controversy escalates surrounding an investigation into mishandlings of sexual abuse by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee (EC), pastors and state conventions are calling on the committee to finally vote to waive attorney-client privilege at its upcoming meeting. In official statements and social media threads, Southern Baptists condemned... Read More

How a Jewish Evangelical Won Trust with Arab Muslim Leaders

Apocalyptic fiction writer Joel Rosenberg’s new book describes his behind-the-scenes interactions with crown princes and presidents in search of peace and religious freedom. Fans of Joel Rosenberg’s Middle East apocalyptic fiction can now read his real-time account of real-world peace. Through behind-the-scenes meetings with kings, princes, and presidents, the Jewish evangelical and New York Times bestselling author had an inside scoop on the Abraham Accords. For two years, he sat on... Read More