Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
5 Areas That Can Strain Your Pastor’s Mental Health
A pastor may be deeply committed, extraordinarily faithful, highly educated and extremely hard working, but for a pastor to be effective and durable, a pastor must practice healthy self-care. Self-care includes...
U.S. Support for Stricter Gun Laws Rises to 60 Percent
U.S. support for stricter regulations on firearm sales now stands at 60 percent (a 5-point increase from 2016), according to Gallup survey data released on Oct. 16. This matches the support level from 2004 and...
October 23, 2017
Protester Hugs Nazi Outside Richard Spencer Talk, Asks ‘Why Do You Hate Me?’ (New York Daily News) God and Politics: Two Counties Defining the Battle Lines of the GOP’s Civil War (NBC News) Church Groups Enlisted in...
What Trump Can Learn from Bible’s ‘Worst Deal Ever’
President Donald Trump on Friday, Oct. 13, announced he would decertify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. I wonder if one of his evangelical advisers could show him a passage in the Bible about responding to the worst deal...
Why So Many Evangelicals Hold Environmental Posts in U.K.
Following the launch of John Reader's latest book, "Theology and New Materialism," at Trinity College, Oxford, a group of the attendees continued to meet occasionally at the college to discuss some of the issues...
October 20, 2017
George W. Bush: Bigotry and White Supremacy are ‘Blasphemy’ Against the American Creed (CNN) ‘Go Home, Spencer!’ Protesters Disrupt White Nationalist’s Speech at University of Florida (Washington Post) Trump’s Pick for...
World’s best-prepared Sunday school teacher
By John D. Pierce ORLANDO, Fla. — Wise writers avoid superlatives like oldest or largest because some reader usually provides evidence to the contrary. But I feel safe deeming R.L. (Dick) Atkins as the most prepared...
3 Things Your Church Can Do to Curb Hunger, Obesity
The number of 5- to 19-year-olds who are obese will outnumber those who are moderately or severely underweight by 2022 if current trends continue. This projection in a mid-October World Health Organization...
The Glorious Future Awaiting the Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance should not be understood as merely a group of like-minded people sharing a common heritage called Baptist. Nor should it simply be a space for networking by various autonomous entities that...
How to Make Your Sunday School a Source for Evangelism
Sunday school in many churches has become a time of fellowship for believers, studying the Bible and caring for each other. Many of us are missing some very important components; Sunday school was birthed out of an...
October 19, 2017
Political Commentator and Southern Baptist Joe Scarborough Says Trump is the ‘Antithesis’ of Jesus’ Teachings (IJR) The Religious Right Has Come Out of the Closet (Religion Dispatches) Sneak Peek: D.C.’s Huge New...
Wasted days and wasted nights
By John D. Pierce Jesus’ life and teachings didn’t matter very much. At least that’s the idea one gets from those American Christians who see his only earthly purpose in coming to die as a penalty for human sinfulness...
Profiles in Goodwill: Jason Coker
Jason Coker is coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Mississippi. 1. Where did you grow up? Shaw, Mississippi (in the middle of the Mississippi Delta). 2. What is your favorite verse, book or story in...
Is God Calling You to Help These Forgotten Neighbors?
John Stott once declared, "All true Christian preaching is expository preaching." In my judgment, he is right. And yet there is more to preaching than expounding a text. We need to know what God through the Bible is...
U.S. Majority: Belief in God Not Necessary for Moral Behavior
A majority (56 percent) of U.S. adults do not think belief in God is necessary for morality, according to a Pew Research Center study released Oct. 16. This is an increase of 7 percentage points since 2011. Over the...
October 18, 2017
Some Faiths More Likely to Turn to Religion for Answers to Science (Eureka Alert) The Amish Population is Booming: Could Their Religion Have Something to do With it? (GetReligion) Oklahoman Vice: Religious Freedom...
When Your Church’s Focus is Out of Alignment
When a congregation wants to become or remain healthy, one of the key questions it asks has to do with the balance between its internal and external focus. One excellent congregational exercise to help with this...
When You Allow Terror to Overwhelm Human Rights
The state and federal governments of Australia all agreed on new "security" measures to address what they call terrorist threats. These measures, adopted a few weeks ago, sit in a long line of actions taken since...
Why Your Church Should Appreciate Those Stuffy Hymns
I fear that some people see hymns only as nostalgic remnants from the church of yesteryear, that hymns are only useful to pass the time at funerals or revival services. Hymns, however, play more of a role than that,...
2 great Western experiences; pick one!
By John D. Pierce Nurturing Faith Experiences are unique, small-group opportunities to be inspired by nature, enjoy good company, share delicious meals, stay in high-demand housing in and around national parks, and...
The easy way to tell if a pastor is being ‘biblical’ or ‘political’
By John D. Pierce This time of deeply divisive, partisan politics is especially challenging to church leaders trying to keep their folks together and focused on the greater priorities of faithful living. At least that...