Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Whatever Happened to Missions Sunday in Churches?
Whatever happened to Missions Sunday? Does anyone else remember when almost every evangelical church devoted one Sunday every quarter, if not every month, to world missions and world evangelism? Sure, I know, a lot of...
Why the Bible Isn’t Your Instruction Manual
How do you read the Bible? That question has a range of answers from the simple, "You open the book and read the words on the pages," to the complex, "You need to understand the culture surrounding the events and you...
August 8, 2016
Evangelicals Feel Alienated, Anxious Amid Declining Political Clout (Boston Herald Courier) Former KKK Leader David Duke Says 'Of Course' Trump Voters are His Voters (NPR) Top Nazi Leader: Trump Will be 'Real...
4 Rules on Talking Politics in Sunday School
I have been private about political views and will continue to be. As a religious leader (Sunday school and small-group teachers are also in my category), I can talk about issues based on Scripture, but not any...
How Does Your Church Look to Unexpected Guests?
One of our values at my home church is to try to see everything we are and do through the eyes of the unexpected guest. The unexpected guest is the one who just randomly shows up. They haven't been encouraged to visit...
August 5, 2016
Fewer and Fewer Americans Vote With Religion in Mind (Boston Globe) Tillman, an MLK Aide in '66, Says Too Many Not Following His Lead (Chicago Sun-Times) Dylann Roof, Accused Charleston Church Shooter, Assaulted in...
3 Responses to Our World’s All-Too-Common Violence
I think it's safe to say that all of us are troubled by the eruptions of violence that we've seen in the news over the last few months. That would be true even if these were isolated events, but as we all know only too...
Like Water on Hot Days: 5 Things to Remember this Summer
Water is necessary to life. Forty percent of the world's population lives within 65 miles of the coast, and 90 percent of us live within 6 miles of a surface source of fresh water. Water is a central element of...
August 4, 2016
How Positive Thinking, Prosperity Gospel Define Donald Trump's Faith Outlook (NPR) How the Polls Inflate Trump's Evangelical Vote (Religion News Service) Birmingham 16th Street Baptist Church Bomber Denied Parole (CNN)...
Reaffirming Church Unity Amid Diverse Political Views
One of the most difficult jobs during a presidential election has to be that of a pastor. Although noticing a number of ministers openly endorsing one candidate or another, I've often thought that this action could...
Setting Goals to Map Out Your Church’s Future
GPS is a wonderful invention. All one has to do is either type in (or speak) a destination, and step-by-step directions are provided to get there. I must say, however, that I often pull up an overview map that shows me...
August 3, 2016
Ministers Speak Out Against Violence (The Sentinel, MD) Evangelical Pastor, Citing Bible: Hillary Clinton as a Woman is Unfit for Presidency (PennLive) Bob Jones University Moves Up on List of Affordable Christian...
Top 10 reasons I do not want be counted among ‘American evangelicals’
By John D. Pierce 1. I find much of the stuff in Christian bookstores or Christian sections in other bookstores to be trash. Bibles comprise most of the remaining small percentage. 2....
Premiere Screenings Scheduled for ‘The Disturbances’
Public, premiere screenings of EthicsDaily.com's forthcoming documentary, "The Disturbances," will begin in September. Six cities in five states are already on the schedule, with several more in the works. The first...
Putting Yourself First Goes Against the Gospel
Socrates wrote these words more than 2,400 years ago: "I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world." Today, more than ever, these are words which we would need to appropriate because, more and more, our...
August 2, 2016
Mississippi Pastor Suspects Racial Motivations Behind Termination (WTOK) Hattiesburg Church Gives Free Back-to-School Haircuts (WDAM) NFL Hall of Famer Speaks to Boys Camp at Virginia Church (Delmarva Now) South...
Microfinance Industry: Predatory Lending Practices?
Predatory lending practices within the U.S. payday loan industry are becoming more widely recognized as advocates, including many in the faith community, push for reforms. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...
Churches Receive Majority of Charitable Gifts in U.S.
The most generous U.S. cities are located in the South and Midwest, with the majority of donations going to churches, according to a Barna Group analysis. Texas, New Mexico, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and...
August 1, 2016
Supreme Court May be Converting on Religion (USA Today) Fury as Trump Mocks Muslim Soldier's Mother Ghazala Khan (BBC) Khizr Khan: Trump Has a 'Black Soul' (CNN) Riding Trump's Wave, Former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke...
Why We All Need Knowledge and Wisdom
An enduring symbol of medical practice is the physicians' caduceus - it's a winged staff, with two serpents twined around it. Robertson Davies reminded me that the Greek myth of Hermes is this symbol's origin. Davies...
Taking the Long View: Lessons from 17-Year Locusts
I returned to my home state of West Virginia recently to conduct a funeral for a distant relative. Following the service at the funeral home, we drove to the cemetery in a procession. After arriving, I walked to the...