A new book crawls into the lives of children at risk, enters their desperation, and accompanies them on their journey toward redemption. The great beauty of the Christian narrative is redemption, and redemption shines powerfully through Ericka Andersen’s Leaving Cloud 9: The True Story of a Life Resurrected from the Ashes of Poverty, Trauma, and …
Understanding the relationship between gospel and culture is vital for evangelism Christians believe that the gospel is universal and normative for all peoples at all times and in all places. But we often forget that the gospel is not acultural, as if it hovers above culture and is devoid of any culture. Instead, the gospel …
Why Peterson’s message of morals, manners and masculinity resonates with evangelicals. Evangelical Christian men will, sooner or later, be told to check out Jordan Peterson, a 55-year-old University of Toronto psychology professor. His book 12 Rules for Life has sold 700,000 copies since January in North America alone. New York Times columnist David Brooks called …
The 45-year-old pastor and SBC presidential candidate wants to unite and rejuvenate the denomination by prioritizing evangelism. J. D. Greear falls somewhere between two of his heroes, Martin Luther and Nicolas Cage. The North Carolina pastor strives for the famous reformer’s gospel convictions and allegiance to Scripture, as expected for a missions-minded Southern Baptist. It’s …
Efforts to unite Christianity’s branches bear fruit. Four years ago in Istanbul, a humble Turkish book partially reversed the 11th century’s Great Schism. Catholics joined Eastern and Oriental Orthodox—alongside Protestants—to publish a slim, 12-chapter treatise on their common theological beliefs. “You can’t find a page like this in all of church history,” said Sahak Mashalian, …
These three congregations don’t have a men’s ministry. Why men—and their families—still love them. I’ve studied high-performance organizations for nearly three decades, most recently examining churches that have grown by appealing to men. Here’s one of the most surprising commonalities among the man-friendly churches I’ve researched: None of them has a formal “men’s ministry.” Instead, …
Brian Stanley’s global history makes connections and draws lessons that others are apt to miss. A reader might well approach Brian Stanley’s Christianity in the Twentieth Century: A World History with a mix of intrigue and skepticism. How on earth, we might ask, can even the most skilled writer incorporate every major theme and movement, …
What makes a college “evangelical” or “fundamentalist?” The dividing lines weren’t always so clear. Let’s say you attended Wheaton College, Gordon College, or Biola University. Or perhaps you’re an outsider who just thinks highly of those schools. If so, you might be turned off by a book that groups them together under the label “Fundamentalist …
A scholar’s journey through the region reveals much more than Baptists and church barbecues. In the spring of 2008, my wife and I loaded up a truck and moved to Tennessee, where I’d taken a job as the religion writer at a newspaper in Nashville. I’ve spent the decade since then covering religion in the …
The state of faith in the East African country nearly 25 years after its brutal genocide. Over the past two months, authorities have closed more than 7,000 churches across Rwanda for failing to comply with health, safety, and noise regulations. As CT has previously reported: President Paul Kagame welcomed the shutdowns but was stunned at …