Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
June 16, 2016
Southern Baptists Go Beyond Conservative Politics at Annual Meeting (ABC News) Southern Baptists Debate Religious Liberty for Muslims (Religion News Service) Sacramento Pastor Defends Hate-Filled Sermon on Orlando...
How Should Christians Respond to the Orlando Massacre?
"The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history." These words bring fear, hate, exclusion, injustice, hurt, shock and pain. The victims have been stereotyped, lumped into a reason for such a massacre. The shooter has been...
How Churches Should Reflect Jesus’ Radical Ministry to Women
I have read several stories recently about violence against girls and women with increasing alarm. Just a snapshot of the headlines: Teenager Sentenced to 25 Years for Killing A Girl Who Said No to Prom Father of...
Welcoming the Immigrant in Your Neighborhood
The "Rust Belt" is a phrase that brings to mind abandoned buildings, crumbling infrastructures, demoralized and unemployed people. Those that remain complain about the declining quality of life, police protection and...
June 15, 2016
Carolyn Blevins Honored for Work in Baptist History (Jefferson Standard Bearer, TN) Hate Crimes Against LGBT People are Common (FiveThirtyEight) Christian Response to Orlando Leaves Some LGBT Activists Cold (Crux)...
Stand up, sit down; is it time for cookies and Kool-Aid?
By John D. Pierce A headline in today’s online Atlanta Journal-Constitution jumped off the digital page: “There’s still time to register your child for vacation Bible school.” It seemed more like a headline from The...
Mass Shooting Calls Christians to Prioritize the Fingerprints of God
The blame-game started soon after news broke about the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando. Blame Obama. Blame guns. Blame gun-rights advocates for blocking gun-control legislation. Blame evangelicals for...
Wishing Your Muslim Neighbors Well During Ramadan
The month of Ramadan has begun. "Ramadan" is the name of the current month, the ninth in the Muslim lunar calendar, which has come to symbolize the 29- to 30-day Muslim fast, one of Islam's five pillars. Social media...
June 14, 2016
Hundreds Gather in Raleigh at Pullen Memorial Baptist for Orlando Shootings Vigil (ABC11) Sacramento Baptist Preacher Praises Orlando Gay Nightclub Attack (CBS Sacramento) Richard Land Urges Evangelical Voters to...
When Media Dehumanize People in Their Reporting
Most BBC stories covering the movement of people from North Africa across the Mediterranean to Europe, or on across Europe toward the United Kingdom, carry an explanation of terms. "The BBC uses the term migrant to...
Do You Know the Ten Commandments of Mercy?
Among the Ten Commandments, one begins with the word "remember": "Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day" (Exodus 20:8). It reminds us to recall something we already know. There are commandments of mercy written into...
June 13, 2016
Orlando Shooting at Gay Nightclub: 50 Killed, Shooter Pledged ISIS Allegiance (CNN) CBF's Paynter Urges Prayer, Acts of Support in Aftermath of Orlando Massacre (CBF) Trump and Clinton and Their Very Different...
Europe’s Refugees: Crisis or Blessing?
European Baptists were challenged to change their language about the coming of so many refugees to Europe. Rather than seeing ourselves as playing our part in meeting a "crisis," we should see the presence of so many...
A Baptist Editor Lands on the Wrong Side of Equality
Many persons of a variety of religious backgrounds - including this Baptist editor - are alarmed by Georgia Baptist editor Gerald Harris' insinuation that America's guarantee of religious freedom should be limited for...
June 10, 2016
Kentucky Baptists' First African-American President Chosen as Executive Director of Maryland/Delaware Convention (Daily Independent) National Cathedral to Remove Confederate Symbols in Windows (CNN) Former Ku Klux Klan...
What You Can Learn from Examining Your ‘Roots’
Alex Haley's miniseries "Roots" in 1977 was my first understanding of family systems on a macro level. I certainly would not have used the term "family systems" in the ninth grade, but I knew that "Roots" was about my...
The Fundamental Problem With Modern Worship
Modern worship songs are often an easy target for critique. Particularly those that make Jesus into your best friend, those that make no theological sense, those that could be sung by people of any faith, and those...
June 9, 2016
How a Shooting Changed Charleston's Oldest Black Church (National Public Radio) How Southern Delusions Lie at the Heart of the Charleston Shootings (Religion News Service) British Baptists in 'Sad But Necessary'...
Facebook Page Published for “The Disturbances”
Christian missionaries found themselves in 1966 in Nigeria amid tribal genocide. They didn't tell their story about saving lives for 50 years. Now, they are in a forthcoming documentary, "The Disturbances." This...
How to Find the Truth About Political Candidates
It is helpful to think of the gospels as theological portraits rather than historical photographs of the life and teachings of Jesus. This lesson was learned from working with students in introductory courses in...
June 8, 2016
'God Help Us All!' Southern Baptist Membership Declines for 9th Straight Year (Dallas Morning News) Georgia Southern Baptist Leader Declares that Muslims Don't Deserve Religious Freedom (Christian Index) Texas County...