Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
By Andy Hale
Close your eyes and imagine a spangled-clad stage with fireworks shooting from stage right and left as the choir belts out Woody Guthry’s “This Land Is Your Land” and a sea of American flags waves throughout the congregation. Of course, this only to be capped off with full military salutes.
This isn’t the gathering of a political party, but the reality for one American Evangelical church in a recent July Fourth worship celebration.
Even that phrase, “July Fourth worship celebration,” should leave a weird taste in our mouths. However, it is the reality for many who see the United States as “God’s country.”
Dr. Brandon J. O’Brien is director of content and distribution for Redeemer City to City in Manhattan. He is co-author of Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes and Paul Behaving Badly. He just released Demanding Liberty: An Untold Story of American Religious Freedom. We sat down with him to discuss the theocratic views of many American Christians.
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CBF’s podcast shares stories from across the Fellowship and innovative practices of those working to renew God’s world. The vision is to share ideas, stories, and innovations from ministers, authors, and practitioners.
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Sponsorship
This podcast episode is brought to you by The School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University, Campbell University Divinity School, and David Correll of Universal Creative Concepts.
Andy Hale hosts the podcast of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Hale is the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Follow on Twitter @haleandy
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