Barnabas File

You never know what responses you will get when sharing your opinions on a blog.  On my blog—Barnabas File-- I write about things that interest me or get my attention.  Occasionally, they get someone else’s attention, too. In reviewing my posts for the past year, these received the greatest response.   1.   The Church is in Decline:  What a Great Opportunity for the Church!   In this blog, I encouraged churches to get back to the basics—to love God and to love one’s neighbor.  I noted the decline of disciple formation and spiritual practices in churches, but concluded in this way:   Even so, in these days, I see signs of hope for the people of God.  I talk with pastors who love engaging the Word of God and sharing it with their people.   I meet lay leaders who are bright, creative, and open to new ways of doing church.  I work with seminary students--many mid-career folks--who see new opportun...

Time for full confession.     Until I read All My Knotted-Up Life , I had never read anything by Beth Moore.     To the best of my knowledge, I have never heard her speak.     Of course, I knew who she was.     I understood that she was Lifeway Resources’ (formerly the Baptist Sunday School Board) most popular and profitable author. I also knew that she had a significant reputation as a Bible teacher and speaker.     It also was clear to me that she had finally decided she could no longer remain silent in a denomination that refused to address sexual abuse and the submission of women.   As a result, I came to this book with few preconceptions.  To be honest, I found it both painful and insightful.  Painful because I can identify with the structures that failed women like Moore (I was even part of them).  Insightful because of her willingness to be honest about her own complicity in these structures. ...

When President Eisenhower left office on January 17, 1961, he warned the nation about the increasing power of “the military-industrial complex.”     This was surprising to many due to his career service in the military culminating with becoming a five-star general.     Some have suggested he did not go far enough and should have used the term “the political-military-industrial complex.”   In a Facebook post this week, a friend identified himself as recovering from the “religious industrial complex.”  I think he could have added “political” that term as well.  Many ministry leaders in the second half of the twentieth century not only grew up in the paradigm, but we helped to perpetuate it.  I know I did.   As a Southern Baptist, I grew up in a church that used denominational literature, supported denominational programs, and followed a denominational (not liturgical) calendar.  The Southern Baptist Convention and its a...