Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
“Only When It’s Dark Enough Can We See The Stars”
By: Ginger Hughes What is happening? This has been a lingering thought as I’ve scrolled through my newsfeed over the past few months. A white nationalist rally in Virginia. A vehicle driving into a crowd of people,...
Baptists Praise Rule to Curb Payday Loan ‘Debt Traps’
Baptist leaders praised the final version of a rule, released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Oct. 5, that seeks to end "debt traps" within the payday loan industry. Stephen K. Reeves, associate...
How Your Church Can Address Mental Health – Part 1
It's an epidemic with lots of names: burnout, depression, obesity, physical ailments of unknown origin, sexual acting out, divorce, substance abuse, loneliness and leaving the ministry. Furthermore, clergy suicides...
Should White Males Repent of Being White Males? – Part 1
Over the years of my life in modern (or postmodern) American academics, I have several times read and heard that white men ought to "repent" of being white and male. I have long been a strong supporter of some...
What Our Desensitized Nation Needs After Vegas
One of the growing concerns I have as a pastor attempting to lead and love in this current era is what seems to be a nation's fading capacity to be shocked. Events and realities that would have left us aghast even one...
How to Find Healing in the Shadow of Iniquity
Violence in our society is a perplexing reality. If we look at it in terms of statistics, there is less killing and crime in many categories than in many years. When we see the daily litany of murder stories on the...
A Study in Hate Masquerading as Love – Part 2
After berating a nearby man for smoking, the street preacher outside of Masjid Omar Ibn al-Kuttab in Columbus, Ohio, returned to his anti-Islamic commentary. "Muslims go to hell. ... You don't know the words of Jesus....
A Study in Hate Masquerading as Love – Part 1
Editor's note: This post contains some language not appropriate for younger readers. The situation could have been volatile to say the least, yet with fortitude the Muslims on Riverview Drive in Columbus, Ohio, and all...
‘Denial’
The trial of David Irving is the subject of the docudrama "Denial." While it was released in September 2016, I viewed it for the first time last month and found its subject particularly relevant in light of recent...
3 Questions to Help You Grow Mentoring Relationships
It is something most ministers want. And it can feel impossible to find. Yet seeking pastoral wisdom is vital for the work of the church and for leading people of faith. Becoming pastorally wise is what I call a "big...
Diggin’ it — for real
Have you ever wished that, just once, you could participate in a real live archaeological dig in Israel? Here's your chance! Nurturing Faith Experiences, in partnership with Campbell University Divinity School, has...
Profiles in Goodwill: Dean Miller
Dean Miller is mission development staff coordinator at the Baptist General Association of Virginia. 1. Where did you grow up? Virginia Beach, Virginia. 2. What is your favorite verse, book or story in the Bible? Why?...
Are You Missing the Bible’s Overwhelming Message?
During my formative years, sin was pretty easy to identify if not avoid. Sin was playing poker, drinking beer, missing a church service (without going to another on vacation and bringing a bulletin for proof), holding...
83 Nations Have Official State Religion or Favored Religion
Forty-three nations have an official state religion and 40 nations give preference or favoritism to a religious tradition, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 199 nations released on Oct. 3. Of the remaining...
October 4, 2017
Protest Leaders in America: We’re Not Going Away, in Spite of Arrests (US News & World Report) After Mass Shootings, Americans Turn to Four Bible Verses Most (Christianity Today) NRA Goes Dark After Vegas Massacre...
5 Questions to Guide You to Civil Online Discussions
Civil public discourse is becoming a lost art. This negative trend is exacerbated by social media platforms on which anyone, anywhere, anytime can express their opinion (informed, uninformed or misinformed) and where...
Care for God’s Creation Central to Christian Discipleship
My awareness of climate change as an important issue developed through my reflections on the dialogue between science and the Christian faith in the 1990s. Encouraged by Keith Ward and Paul Fiddes in the Faculty of...
FBI: Nearly 1,200 Human Trafficking Cases Reported
There were 1,196 human trafficking offenses in the U.S. reported to law enforcement in 2016, according to the FBI's annual "Crime in the U.S." report released on Sept. 25. The majority (1,007) of reported trafficking...
When You Should Take a Knee and Take a Stand
An NFL player, self-identified as a devout Christian, decided to "take a knee" during the playing of the national anthem last season. It was a silent protest on behalf of Black Lives Matter. He is biracial and was...
Why Your Church May Be Inviting the Wrong People
Are we inviting the wrong people to our congregations? This unsettling question arose as I studied Luke 14:7-24 in preparing a recent sermon. Jesus is at a dinner party and he sees everyone jockeying for the most...
Are You Bothered That You’re Not Bothered to Pray?
The disciples of Jesus noticed that he prayed a lot and that things seemed to happen when he prayed. Most of his disciples likely were raised with the Torah and understood prayers: morning and evening prayers, prayers...