Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Vaclav Havel – The Moral Nature of Political Leadership
Vaclav Havel (1936-2011) was a playwright, essayist and dissident under the communist regime of Czechoslovakia. He spent several years in prison. His movement, the Civic Forum, played an important role in the Velvet...
Most U.S. Adults Want Legal Means for Dreamers to Remain
A majority (60 percent) of U.S. adults want the government to create a legal avenue for Dreamers (undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children) to remain in the country, according to a recent survey by The...
October 16, 2017
Trump Puts Faith in Religious Right (CNN) Donald Trump and the Dawn of the Evangelical-Nationalist Alliance (Politico) ‘We Tried Nice Guys’: Conservative Christian Hardliners Say in a Trance for Trump (The Guardian)...
Bye bye, ties
Fall reading days offer professor types an opportunity to change gears for a bit. This year I've benefitted from a retreat with my support group of brothers in ministry that has been going on for 29 years, a day of...
One more than the rest of us
By John D. Pierce One Sunday several years ago I was pulpit pinch-hitting at First Baptist Church of Ringgold, Ga., the small northwest Georgia town where I graduated from high school. The deacons, as is the custom in...
Hawaii experience — just one guy shy
We have filled all spaces for the Nurturing Faith Experience: Big Island, Big Sky set for March 10-16 2018, on the Big Island of Hawaii — with one exception. We have room to add one guy willing to share a room with...
How Your Preaching Can Confront Racism – Part 2
To preach against racism is "prophetic." It is prophetic in "seeing" the presence of such racism that may not be apparent to those of us who live in and benefit from white privilege. It is prophetic in "naming" the...
What’s Your Legacy? Great Achievements or Fruitfulness
A real difference exists between our achievements and our fruitfulness, between our successes and the actual good that we bring into the world. What we achieve brings us success, gives us a sense of pride, makes our...
Progress Made Toward Ending Child Labor, Millions Still Exploited
"How much do you know about your favorite cotton T-shirt's journey to your closet?" This question opened the Department of Labor's annual "Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor" report released last week,...
October 13, 2017
Church Network Seeks to Guide Homeless Families to Self-Sufficiency (Orlando Sentinel) Christians Outnumber Muslim Refugees to U.S. in Last 15 Years (Colorado Springs Gazette) Nebraska University With Mennonite Roots...
How Your Preaching Can Confront Racism – Part 1
William Willimon's latest book, "Who Lynched Willie Earle? Preaching to Confront Racism," often draws on his own Methodist tradition in order to honestly name racism as sin and engage in acts of "detoxification,...
How Normal People Move Toward Evil
The first and most basic step toward doing something evil is when you consider another person as something less. Less godly. Less good. Less human. When Europeans decided Africans with their superstitious religions...
What It Means If You Truly Love Your Neighbors
What does it mean to love someone? Jesus said that we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves. If we're going to love somebody that way, then we need to know how we love ourselves. To love myself means that I...
October 12, 2017
CBF’s Suzii Paynter Honored with Christian Ethics Award (CBF) Undisclosed Deal Guaranteed Roy Moore $180,000 a Year for Part-Time Charity Work (Washington Post) Roy Moore’s Compensation From Charity Includes $540,000...
October 11, 2017
Amid Evangelical Decline, Growing Split Between Young Christians and Church Leaders (Christian Science Monitor) Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Adopts Nashville Statement on Sexuality, Transgender (Christian...
Profiles in Goodwill: Terry Maples
Terry Maples is field coordinator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia. 1. Where did you grow up? Union Grove, Alabama (near Huntsville). 2. What is your favorite verse, book or story in the Bible? Why? Luke...
How to Change the Course of Healthcare’s Massive Ship
Maybe you remember the desperate and destitute sharecropper in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," who was being evicted from farming the land by its owners who had to return it to the bank. The "owner men," as...
U.S. Majority Affirms Climate Change Taking Place
A strong majority of U.S. adults (72 percent) affirmed that climate change is taking place, with 61 percent saying the U.S. government should be working to address climate change. These are two findings from a recent...
How Your Church Can Address Mental Health – Part 2
I loved watching the Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated Christmas movies when I was a child. OK, to be honest, I still love watching them. The animation was fun, and the songs catchy. One song I still sing in my head...
Anyone Could Be the Next Opioid Victim – Even You
I lay for three hours on a hospital bed with pain from kidney stones. The first shot of morphine had little impact; the second got me to a much better place. This took place a few years ago. Now, I read this: "Fentanyl...
Should White Males Repent of Being White Males? – Part 2
Ought I to repent of being white and male? I have had this question posed to me in one form or another on several occasions over the years. As I explained in my previous post, I think I have discerned three distinct...