Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Gallup Poll: U.S. Majority Dissatisfied with Gun Laws, Crime Policies
Sixty-two percent of U.S. citizens expressed dissatisfaction with the nation's current gun laws, according to a recent Gallup poll. This strong majority represents an 11 percent increase from 2015 and the highest level...
Croatian Baptist Aid Volunteers United by Purpose
Since the beginning of the migrant-refugee crisis, 568,439 persons entered the Republic of Croatia. The camp in Slavonski Brod (a city in eastern Croatia, on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina) was covered in the...
January 19, 2016
At Martin Luther King Service at Ebenezer Baptist, Talk of Legacy Turns to Politics (Atlanta Journal Constitution) Newly Discovered MLK Speech Released (CBS News) Donald Trump Pledges to 'Protect Christianity' at...
Let justice roll down
By John D. Pierce Dr. Albert Paul Brinson shared stories of the civil rights movement and his close relationship to the King family with my daughter, Abigail, during a recent visit to his home in Atlanta. As a...
King’s Insights Can Help Christians Confront Injustice
Every adult American can hear in their minds the voice, rhetorical skills and moving words of the late Martin Luther King Jr. He had the ability to move people with his spoken words in a manner possible of few people...
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Editor's note: King's open letter was written on April 16, 1963, from the Birmingham, Alabama, jail following his arrest during a nonviolent civil rights protest in the city. It was a response to an open letter, titled...
Like King, Heroes are Ordinary Folks Who Rise Above
When David Bowie died last week, I turned to YouTube to listen to "Heroes." The song, a story of star-crossed lovers, has come to be known for the inspiration in its steadily building crescendo and the repeated...
January 18, 2016
Reno Church Joins Growing Immigrant Sanctuary Movement (Reno Journal-Gazette) Planning to Drill for Oil on Church Site Draws Protestors (Detroit News) American Missionary Among at Least 23 Killed in al Qaeda-Linked...
. . . and home of the mean?
Any perception that I've fallen down on blog-writing lately is right on the money. Other work and writing demands have something to do with that, along with the need for a break over the holidays, but that's not all....
Baptist Leader Reflects on King’s Visit to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Martin Luther King Jr. appeared on the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary campus in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 19, 1961, having been invited by Henlee Barnette and several other professors to deliver the...
5 Principles to Help You Face Your Fears
Fear seems to be in the air. Why is that? I've seen posts in my Facebook feed about fear of terrorists, fear of government takeovers of land, fear of home invasion, fear of refugees, fear of guns and violence committed...
January 15, 2016
Richmond Mayor Asks Va. State Police for Review of Church-City Ties (Richmond Times-Dispatch) Anglicans Suspend Episcopal Church Over Same-Sex Marriage (CNN) This Tea Party Lawmaker Says Obama Should Not Quote the...
January 14, 2016
What Arab Christians Think of Wheaton-Hawkin's 'Same God' Debate (Christianity Today) Ted Cruz Chases the Evangelical Vote in Iowa (CBS News) This Glass Church is Made to Look Like a High-Heeled Shoe (Fox News) Leader...
Obama Dings Hateful Political Rhetoric, Urges Climate Action
President Barack Obama, standing before a joint session of Congress, urged Americans on Tuesday to ignore political voices telling people "to fear the future." Giving what was billed as his last State of the Union...
4 Ways to Manage Life’s Creative Tensions
Much has transpired in the past few weeks. School children returned to the classroom, the 12 Days of Christmas culminated in the Feast of Epiphany, and the reckoning with credit card bills from December's shopping...
Suffering from Too Much Ceremonial Christianity
The U.S. is beset with what I'll call "ceremonial Christianity." Before identifying and addressing that concern, a little background as to how I reached that term and concept might be helpful. Separation of church and...
A White Cracker and Colored Man Sat in the Same Boat
The smell of Camel cigarettes, sausage and scrambled eggs cooked in a cast-iron skillet, buttered toast in the oven and coffee on the stovetop woke me up before sunrise on a cold fall morning in north Florida. My...
Pope: Prioritize Human Dignity, Rights, Solidarity in Migration Policies
Pope Francis addressed the global migrant-refugee crisis in his speech to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See on Monday, urging a focus on human rights, global solidarity and compassion. The pontiff's...
To U.S. Politicians, Israeli Rights Trump Palestinian Rights
President Obama declared on Oct. 15, 2015, that Israel "has the right to defend its citizens" in a seeming attempt to reconcile with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This has been a regular theme in...
January 13, 2016
Evangelical Theologian Wayne Grudem Endorses Marco Rubio (Christian Post) US Church Puts 5 Banks from Israel on a Blacklist (New York Times) Anglican Church Risks Global Schism Over Homosexuality (Guardian)...
Pope talks about gays, annulments in new book By ROSIE SCAMMELL c. 2016 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) A new, book-length interview with Pope Francis gives fresh insight into his views of gay Catholics, marriage annulments and other hot topics being debated by Catholics globally. The conversation, in Italian, between Francis and journalist Andrea Tornielli, was published Sunday (Jan. 10) under the title, “The Name of God Is Mercy.” It coincides with the Vatican’s Holy Year of Mercy which began in December. While the title theme is addressed at length, the pope also opens up on a host of other issues. Here are some excerpts from the English translation: Gay Catholics: “I am glad that we are talking about ‘homosexual people’ because before all else comes the individual person, in his wholeness and dignity. And people should not be defined only by their sexual tendencies: let us not forget that God loves all his creatures and we are destined to receive his infinite love. “I prefer that homosexuals come to confession, that they stay close to the Lord, and that we pray all together. You can advise them to pray, show goodwill, show them the way, and accompany them along it.” Marriage annulments: “I have a niece who was married to a man in a civil wedding before he received the annulment of his previous marriage. They wanted to get married, they loved each other, they wanted children, and they had three. The judge had even awarded him custody of the children from his first marriage. This man was so religious that every Sunday, when he went to Mass, he went to the confessional and said to the priest, ‘I know you can’t absolve me but I have sinned by doing this and that, please give me a blessing.’ This is a religiously mature man.” Migrants and other vulnerable people: “Reach out, know how to listen, advise them, and teach them through our own experience. By welcoming a marginalized person whose body is wounded and by welcoming the sinner whose soul is wounded, we put our credibility as Christians on the line.” Prisoners: “Every time I go through the gates into a prison to celebrate Mass or for a visit, I always think: Why them and not me? I should be here. I deserve to be here. Their fall could have been mine. I do not feel superior to the people who stand before me. And so I repeat and pray: Why him and not me? It might seem shocking, but I derive consolation from Peter: he betrayed Jesus, and even so he was chosen.” Corruption: “The corrupt man gets angry because his wallet is stolen and so he complains about the lack of safety on the streets, but then he is the one who cheats the state by evading taxes, or else he fires his employees every three months so he doesn’t have to hire them with a permanent contract, or else he has them work off the books. And then he boasts to his friends about his cunning ways. He is the one who goes to Mass every Sunday but has no problem using his powerful position to demand kickbacks…. The corrupt man often doesn’t realize his own condition, much as a person with bad breath does not know they have it.” (Rosie Scammell covers the Vatican for RNS)
By ROSIE SCAMMELL c. 2016 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) A new, book-length interview with Pope Francis gives fresh insight into his views of gay Catholics, marriage annulments and other hot topics being...