Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Mothers Become Peacemakers in Israel, Palestine
I've never met a mother who didn't want her child to grow up to be a kind and loving person. But because my ministry often takes me to conflict zones, I've met many mothers for whom that challenge is unusually...
3 Reasons You Didn’t Read This News on EthicsDaily.com
Only 17 percent of practicing Christians hold a biblical worldview. This finding caught my attention when it was released as part of a recent Barna Group report on May 9. EthicsDaily.com often publishes news briefs on...
5 Ways Nurses Mirror Jesus’ Work, Activity
Nurses deserve our utmost gratitude as they literally keep us alive physically, in addition to meeting our social, emotional and spiritual needs. May 12 is International Nurses Day, and I want to celebrate the work of...
May 12, 2017
Pence: America Will Prioritize Protecting Christians Abroad (Washington Post) Mike Pence Met Privately with Top Russian Cleric (TIME) Fired Coach Files Discrimination Claim Against Christian School (Atlanta...
Don’t Shut Down if You Struggle with Infertility
To the couple struggling with infertility this Mother's Day: You are not alone. As another struggler along the journey - someone who lived through nine failed fertility procedures and two failed adoptions in our...
Bivocational Ministry Can Take Emotional Toll on Ministers
The treasurer reported that everything looked good. Giving was slightly exceeding our budgeted needs and financial obligations. Immediately, there were smiles all around the room. Everyone relaxed, happy to know that...
What the Poor Taught Me About Faith
The poor tend to be more religious. This was a key finding from a 2009 study by Tomas Rees on the relationship between poverty and religiousness. He found that personal insecurity (due to stressful situations, such as...
May 11, 2017
Chick-fil-A, Wycliffe Bible Translators and Baylor Make Forbes List of Best Midsize Employers (Christian Post) Brad Pitt Says His Fundamentalist Christian Upbringing Eventually Led Him Away from God (Patheos) Christian...
Profiles In Goodwill: Suzii Paynter
Suzii Paynter is executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. 1. Where did you grow up? San Antonio, Texas, and the south Texas region on my grandfather's ranch in rugged Bandera County. 2. What is your...
Covenants Can Hinder or Help: Which Will You Choose?
Covenant relationships live in an ever-present tension. There is the tendency toward a legalism intended to protect the essentials of the relationship and the pull of freedom to experience and discover new levels of...
Are You an Advocate for Those Who Suffer Unjustly?
One of the lectionary readings for the fourth Sunday of Easter (May 7) was a passage in 1 Peter, most likely addressed to slaves. It perpetuates "redemptive violence" as essential to the story of salvation: "For it is...
May 10, 2017
Oklahoma Republicans Pass Bill Requiring State Officials to Call Abortion 'Murder' in Public Statements (Raw Story) Bill Allowing Faith-Based Adoption Agencies to Discriminate Against Non-Christians Becomes Law (Yellow...
Is Your Church Building Authentic Community for Women?
There is an obvious void in the Baptist church when it comes to issues regarding sex and sexuality, which affects most directly women and acknowledgement of women's issues. These include infertility, infant mortality,...
Buying Fair Trade: Where Would Jesus Shop?
You're a nice person and a good Christian. You read a verse like James 5:1-6 condemning those who "failed to pay workers" while living in "luxury and self-indulgence" and breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I've...
7 Pitfalls When Leading Your Church to Change
Underestimating the work involved in leading deep change is the most common mistake leaders make when leading congregations toward positive, life-giving, mission-congruent change. The primary expression of this classic...
May 9, 2017
Groups Clash Over Removal of New Orleans Confederate Monuments (USA Today) Trump Questions Whether Key Funding Source for Historically Black Colleges is Constitutional (Washington Post) Texas Governor Recruiting...
A Mother’s Day Prayer to Relieve Church-Service Angst
Many Baptist churches approach Mother's Day the way many men approach Valentine's Day - with fear and trembling. A day intended to honor mothers amid a sacred gathering of worship becomes a day of great anxiety...
4 Easy Ways to Support Your Church Staff
Churches not adept in conflict management or basic communication skills run the risk of abusing staff or draining staff energy to the point of burnout. Lloyd Rediger argued in "Clergy Killers" that some churches are so...
Religious Hate Crimes in U.S. Spike by 23 Percent
The U.S. has seen a 23 percent increase in religious hate crimes from 2014 to 2015, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) reported that crimes against Jews were the most common and crimes against Muslims were the fastest...
May 8, 2017
Robert Jeffress: Trump 'Most Faith-Friendly President' Ever, Ended 60-Year War on 'Religious Liberty' (Christian Post) North Carolina Reverend Says Trump's Executive Order is About 'Religious Bigotry' (NPR)...
Bits and bytes from the world of archaeology
Understanding the past can sometimes come through written documents, but unlike our modern culture in which technology enables us to record (and broadcast) every moment we consider significant, the vast majority of...