Editorials - Baptist Standard: Recent Episodes
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Texas Baptists’ past, present and future is built on partnership. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been and still is a great strength.
How we as Christians are to respond to the election isn’t determined by who won it, but is governed by a greater and higher law.
To know your faithful labor in service of God’s call will live beyond your ministry is great encouragement to a beleaguered pastor.
If church-state separation means neither exert authority or control over the other, what amount of influence rises to a breach of separation?
Rolando Aguirre tells how Hispanic Baptists have been a transformative force in the spiritual and social fabric of Texas.
Rolando Aguirre cuenta cómo los bautistas hispanos han sido una fuerza transformadora en el tejido espiritual y social de Texas.
Baptists have reason to celebrate for making a positive difference in the world. But what is to be celebrated isn’t a what at all.
Abortion is not a single issue—a political soundbite, talking point or policy matter—but a multifold issue we need to address completely.
I applaud the work of the Sexual Abuse Task Force and their recommendations. Let’s honor their work by enacting their recommendations.
Editor Eric Black condemns the false claims against the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, for at least three reasons.
As I reflect back on the many years I was a pastor and then an associational director of missions, I want to encourage “young” pastors. At my age, “young” is...
Jesse Rincones explica el vacío de hispanos en el liderazgo bautista del sur y cómo una nueva red satisface la necesidad.
If the more than 3,300 Hispanic congregations in the Southern Baptist Convention were their own state convention, they would be the fourth largest convention in the country, behind the Baptist...
It's not exactly pleasant to talk about our own death. It's even less pleasant for our loved ones if we don't talk about it.
The 2024-2025 academic year is underway. It’s not too late to encourage and support teachers. Nor is it too early.
“We lost a tree yesterday, and I can’t help feeling like it’s a metaphor,” Editor Eric Black writes about a momentous day for his family.
What would Christians do if all we had left was evangelism? It’s possible we would argue and fight less. I phrase the question with “had left,” because we have far...
Despite their marked differences, a scene in the Olympics’ opening ceremony and Trump’s promise to Christians have a common denominator.
As Christianity in America declines, Christianity in Africa is growing exponentially. African Christians wonder about American Christians.
We must denounce the attempt on Donald Trump’s life. And I do. But simply denouncing political violence doesn’t go far enough.
Tera Kouba shares her Burmese heritage, her call to ministry and the strength of being connected to the BGCT.
Felisi Sorgwe explains the benefits to international churches and the whole BGCT of Texas Baptists’ decades-old intercultural ministry.
Summer camp can give us a spiritual high, but the reason we need summer camp goes at least a step further.
VBS—happening in many churches right now—might benefit our children’s ministry more than we think. If we take a cue from its history.
It's good to know who you are and why and to connect with those who will enable God to work in and through you best.
Baptists aren’t supposed to adopt creeds, are they? Editor Eric Black has questions about a proposed motion to do just that.
The Law Amendment, NAMB, DOJ investigation of the SBC. Yes, there’s all of that. There’s also a lot of good news happening this summer.
When significant sums of money changes hands, partnership necessitates being clear and upfront about expectations.
Despite what you may have heard, peacemaking is not as simple as winning elections, passing certain laws, changing culture, growing the church, paying our debts, saying “we’re sorry”—just to name...
The SBC has significant business to consider during its 2024 annual meeting that will affect the connection of many SBC churches.
We need to listen to protestors, not necessarily to agree, but to love and to learn. But those aren’t the only reasons we need to listen.
Zoom in on the photo accompanying this article, the one up by the headline. What do you see? Do you see all of it?
Superman is not your pastor. Even if he was, he’d still disappoint you. Why, then, do we expect pastors to be superheroes?
If we are what we celebrate, then we need to know what we’re celebrating, why we’re celebrating it and that we’re celebrating the right things.
The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The second command is like it—to love our neighbor as...
A married young adult mom of two children, Baylor graduate, NICU nurse and church member shares letters to her past and future self.
One great way to celebrate God-called organizations is to support them. Support isn’t always money. Support takes many forms.
Way markers don’t only mean the difference between getting lost and not, but also can be the difference between life and death.
The Cooperative Program was a marvelous creation. But it never was sufficient to pay for everything Southern Baptists wanted to do.
Human promises of power and the freedom to use it should give every Christian pause and should remind them of Jesus’ response.
Texas is pretty proud of itself. Texas Baptists are pretty proud of themselves, too. But are we who we say we are?
Pastoral ministry comes with unique pressures and demands. To endure them well, pastors need intentional communities of comprehensive care.
Alexander Lang listed real stressors and pressures leading some pastors to leave ministry. A key element of endurance wasn't mentioned.
Editor Eric Black calls his readers to see how they are connected to Jerrald Gallion and then to act on their shared humanity.
We may think of borders as necessary for protecting what is ours, but does this view obscure a deeper issue of relationship?
Jesus blessed the peacemakers. Does that mean we're supposed to be peacemakers, and how are we to make peace when peace seems impossible?
There is growing fear among Protestant churches in the United States. How many churches are afraid, of what, why and what do we do?
Quality education requires more than money, though we need to spend more. Quality education requires supporting the whole enterprise.
Let’s talk about pastoral mental health. Perhaps this topic seems out of left field. After all, it’s not May—Mental Health Awareness Month—and the Baptist conversation seems to be about other...
Texas Baptists are driven by one mission given to them by one Lord. Women are integral to the success of that mission.
We expect certain things to happen during the BGCT annual meeting. We should also expect certain things to come from the meeting.
U.S. Baptists have prided ourselves on our mission work. It's time for us to celebrate what Baptists are doing around the world.
This is less an opinion about the issues we face than an echo of that pervasive cry: "We thirst." Do we know what it is we thirst for?
To all women in ministry: I made an unwise decision that affects you, and I am sorry. I did not stand beside you when I should have.
Editor Eric Black calls messengers to the 2023 BGCT annual meeting to make official the BGCT's historic stance on women in ministry.
Cooperation is tested by local autonomy, especially when strong differences are involved. There could be a way past this regular collision.
Amid increasing dire warnings about artificial intelligence, what it takes to discern truth is as necessary and available as it's ever been.
Gun violence is not the result of any one thing but comes out of a toxic brew of contributing factors, all of which we must and can address.
With SBC leaders focused on whether to exclude churches with women pastors and by what criteria, an important question seems to be neglected.
We may think the horrific news of the last week doesn’t really involve us, but it does, and we need to get more involved.
The church can learn a lot from high school robotics programs and competitions about being the kind of people Jesus calls us to be.
We need to communicate to legislators our positions on their proposed legislation. How we communicate our positions matters immensely.
The Bible is central to literacy, and literacy is central to missions. The Bible and learning to read are gifts we can and should give away.
International student ministry is energizing and has the potential to revive us. And it's within your reach.
Revolution is risky. It cost Jesus, and it will cost us. But there’s no avoiding revolution—the world against God or Christ against sin.
Jesus came into this world, not distancing himself from our sin and brokenness, but getting very near it to reconcile us to God.
We've been asking why people are leaving the church and how we're going to save our churches. These are the wrong questions.
As prosperous as our country is, it does not protect us from financial uncertainty. That kind of assurance must come from somewhere else. I started learning this lesson about 20 years ago.
More than a dozen women answer the question: "What communicates to you that you are valued as a woman?" Their answers are instructive.
We need to see the problems “education freedom” poses and respond to them. Its conflict with religious freedom is one Baptists should oppose.
Baptists historically have done more good and more ministry together than apart. We are stronger together, in more ways than one.
If your church had a marketing budget—and it does—how should it be spent? We can learn from the He Gets Us Super Bowl ads.
Bobby Contreras, chair of the BGCT Executive Board, challenges Texas Baptists to be kind, compassionate and forgiving reconcilers.
The basic facts of Tyre Nichols' death are a sufficient call to Christ-followers to embody the character of Christ in this world in this time.
We tell ourselves and those visiting our churches that we welcome people in our buildings. Too often, our words and actions say otherwise.
As some in the SBC seek to exclude women pastors—of any kind—some Texas Baptists wonder anew where the BGCT stands on women in ministry.
If we oppose racism in all its forms, we should be able to define all its forms. Otherwise, we are doing little more than virtue signaling.
What I watched Monday night and Tuesday afternoon is a snapshot, not just of where we are as a culture, but who we are as a people.
Editor Eric Black shares a few lessons learned from five women who taught on the five women in Jesus' genealogy.
The Respect for Marriage Act defines what marriages are legal, not how marriage is respected. Churches can define that respect in positive ways.
Not every fallen minister should be restored to ministry. Who has the authority to decide who is restored and who isn't?
Four pastors give their stamp of approval on Johnny Hunt's return to ministry, but accountability requires more than that.
Paul instructed the Christians in Thessalonica to "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Did he really mean all?
Not everything is better in Texas, but more can be. If we will live as Jesus taught and commanded us to live, more will be.
What greatness are we—Christians and churches—after? How are we displaying that so-called greatness? Does it look like the world?
Attacking politicians begins well before any physical attack. It begins close to home, in our hearts and minds. We must defeat it there.
Former President Donald Trump might make me a better person. I just shocked at least two groups of my readers. It’s true, though, but not in the way you might...
The dance floor is chaotic and threatening indeed. We are anxious about personal, social and institutional survival in multiple directions and levels—and for good reason. But not everything is chaotic and threatening.
After migrants were flown to Martha's Vineyard to make a political point, Editor Eric Black responds with what Christians should do instead.
Pastor Matt Carter's announced retirement carries a lesson for churches who want to ensure their pastors and ministers can serve longterm.
Schadenfreude can be useful for accountability. It also exacts a toll far beyond accountability that should concern us.
Matt Chandler's situation isn't good news. What we can learn from it and put into action is the stuff good news is made of.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Keller Independent School District gave the Bible a boost this month. Not that the Bible needed it.
In light of Frederick Buechner's death Aug. 15, Editor Eric Black reflects on his insight into life and ministry, and the grace in his words.
Using the right Christian words can obscure underlying meanings Christians should reject. Orbán's CPAC speech is one example.
Underneath the stated reasons for a pastoral drought, Editor Eric Black wonders if there is a more important cause for concern.
Three current events with a common thread call for our attention, mourning and action to make real our love for our neighbors.