Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
July 28, 2017
Why Religious People ‘Cling’ to Beliefs Even When Contradicted by Evidence (Independent) Historic Florida Church Building Still Dealing with Hurricane Matthew Damage (First Coast News) Trump Transgender Ban Nod to...
Living Out Hospitality in an Age of Terror
The week that the controversial U.S. travel and immigration ban was first issued, I sat in my living room in Lebanon with a Syrian woman whose water had broken in her seventh month of pregnancy. Both she and the baby...
How Fundamentalism Can End Up So Mean-Spirited
Fundamentalism involves attitudes and resulting behaviors as well as beliefs. That most-helpful insight was clarified for me years ago when reading the thorough and thoughtful theological treatment of the subject by...
Strang happenings
By John D. Pierce To what degree are some American evangelical leaders willing to sell their spiritual souls for political porridge? The answer arrived in a press release this week announcing the upcoming book, God and...
The Danger of Living Near the Edge of Integrity
"Integrity" is one of those qualities and concepts that no one would presume to argue against. It is what every parent hopes for a child to develop, what every hiring process hopes to find in each applicant, and what...
Kenya’s Motto: Good Locally, Not So Much Nationally
Kenya will celebrate its 54th independence day later this year. The east African nation's motto is "Harambee," which is a Swahili word that basically means, "All pull together." It is a term and concept emphasized by...
July 26, 2017
Where Faith, Violence Collide (CNN) New Texas Law Will Soon Allow Churches to Provide Their Own Armed Security Teams (NBC DFW) Bachmann: Trump is a ‘Man of Prayer’ and ‘Wants to Lift Up the God of the Bible’ (CNS)...
July 27, 2017
Trump Says America Worships God; Republican Congressman Pushes Back (CNN) Republicans are Using an Obscure Bill to Quietly Erode Church State Separation (Think Progress) Trump Bans Transgender Soldiers in Twitter...
Profiles in Goodwill: Eileen Campbell-Reed
Eileen Campbell-Reed is coordinator for coaching, mentoring and internship as well as associate professor of practical theology at the Nashville, Tennessee, campus of Central Baptist Theological Seminary. 1. Where did...
2 Approaches to Ethics: Egoism and Altruism – Part 2
Each day we are required to make a variety of moral decisions, and exposure to ethical theories can deepen our practice of Christian discipleship. Two major ethical streams are egoism and altruism, as I explained...
2 Approaches to Ethics: Egoism and Altruism – Part 1
Each day we are required to make a variety of moral decisions. The way we analyze different options is often based on intuition shaped by experience, family backgrounds, culture and faith traditions. For Christians,...
Faith Leaders Urge Prayers for Peace in Israel-Palestine
Faith leaders from around the world have called for continued prayers for peace in Israel-Palestine amid escalating tensions and increased violence surrounding new security measures for the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem....
July 25, 2017
Evangelical Leaders Rally Around Kushner Amid Russia Probe (Seattle Times) Rabbi: Evangelical Trump Supporters Hark Back to Good Old Day That Weren’t (RNS) ‘They Kept Us as Slaves’: AP Report Reveals Claims Against...
Why Justice and Love Don’t Require Inclusion and Diversity
Does justice require inclusion and diversity? The simple answer is "yes" and "no." However, my emphasis here is going to be on the "no," simply because I exist in a religious context where that is what needs to be said...
UN: Billions Lack Access to Clean Water, Proper Sanitation
More than 2 billion people do not have easy access to clean water and more than 4 billion lack proper sanitation, according to a joint World Health Organization and U.N. Children's Fund report. Only 71 percent of the...
July 24, 2017
Trump White House Has Evangelicals ‘On Speed Dial,’ Says Activist Who Prayed Over Trump (Newsweek) Group Asks Trump to Withdraw Wisconsin Judicial Nominee Who Says Bible Precedes the Constitution (Wisconsin Gazette)...
‘War for the Planet of the Apes’
The trilogy based on the original "Planet of the Apes" movies comes to a climactic end with "War for the Planet of the Apes." Both of the previous movies ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "Dawn of the Planet of the...
Churches’ Feeding, Clothing Ministries Are Most Visible
Feeding the hungry and clothing the poor are among the most visible local church ministries in the U.S., according to LifeWay Research. In response to the question, "Which, if any, of the following areas of service...
July 21, 2017
Developers Plan to Demolish Historic Notre Dame Church, Erect Luxury Apartment Building (Massachusetts Live) Bible Verse Causes Courthouse Controversy in Tennessee County (WBBJTV) National Episcopal Church Urges Defeat...
Visiting Vietnam
When the United States instituted a draft lottery during the Vietnam War, my draft number was 19 – which meant I was sure to be drafted if I had not been in college at the time. As it turned out, America’s involvement...
Profiles in Goodwill: Terry Smith
Terry Smith is executive director of Canadian Baptist Ministries. 1. Where did you grow up? I was a cross-border kid, spending the first 10 years in Toronto, then eight years in Grand Rapids, Michigan, before returning...