Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Bill Self: gifted preacher, visionary leader
By John D. Pierce Whenever Bill Self’s name appeared on an incoming phone call I had a pretty idea of how the conversation would go. It would begin with Bill telling me about some great idea. And it always ended with...
Unprecedented Lottery Jackpots Hide Troubling Realities
Record lottery jackpots in the United Kingdom and United States have grabbed international headlines. The U.K.'s national lottery saw an unprecedented prize up for grabs last week - £66 million ($95.9 million) that...
4 Lessons After Paris’ Climate Change Conference
If, like most of us, you prefer your issues cut and dried, goodies and baddies, then climate change is just the kind of thing to avoid. For every opinion, you'll find an opposite opinion; for every believer, in spite...
Free EthicsDaily.com Interfaith Resource Sheet for Congregations
Tensions remain high and fears widespread throughout the world following terror attacks in San Bernardino, Paris, Beirut and other locations. Calls to ban temporarily all Syrian refugees coupled with a suggestion of a...
January 12, 2016
California Baptist Scores $10 Million Gift (Press-Enterprise) Clemson Lawsuit Planned: Group Turns its Sights on Coach Dabo Swinney's Christian Faith (AL.com) Churches Move to the Cloud (Marketplace) Baptist Leaders...
How to be a safe and secure preacher
By John D. Pierce America’s deep and intense ideological divide is obvious from social media posts to coffee shop conversations to the relentless political season’s assault on the senses. But nowhere are these...
SBC Leaders Lean Toward Cruz in Presidential Campaign
Many Southern Baptist leaders appear to lean toward backing Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in the 2016 presidential campaign with the first votes just three weeks away. Because conservative evangelical voters play a...
As Primaries Draw Near, Let’s Not Forget Civility
Things are about to get crazy in Texas - or crazier. It is less than two months before the Republican and Democratic primary elections here (March 1), and early voting begins Feb. 16. No party speaks for God. There...
January 11, 2016
First Baptist Church of Memphis Votes to OK Gay Marriage, Ordination (Commercial Appeal) New Sex Abuse, Rape Allegations Against Prominent Christian Minister Bill Gothard (Christian Post) Republicans Call for Helping...
President Issues Needed Gun Orders; Tone Was Off
Bipartisan consensus is urgently needed to address the widespread gun-violence. But how do we even take a first step in an increasingly polarized political climate? President Obama pressed the issue when he announced...
When Your View’s Biblical; Others, Not So Much
There was a time when I found a rant satisfying. It was a cathartic putting right of the world, or at least a therapeutic binge of self-expression that, even if it didn't persuade others, made me feel a lot better. If...
January 8, 2016
How Controversial is is to Say Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? (Christian Science Monitor) Marco Rubio Goes All in For Evangelical Voters with New Ad to Air in Iowa (Florida Politics) SPLC Says Moore's...
When Anxiety Pulls Your Focus Off of God
What do you do when stress escalates, becoming distress? How about when you feel the white-hot anxiety burn? A husband feels discounted by his wife's superior intellect so he becomes overly assertive, even slightly...
Do All Atheists Deny the Same God?
Do all atheists deny the same God? "Atheism" literally means, "without belief in God." However, it has come to refer to denial of the existence of God to distinguish it from "agnosticism," which is denial of knowledge...
January 7, 2016
First Baptist Church Williamsburg to 'Let Freedom Ring' (Virginia Gazette) Churches Ready to Resume Fight Against Payday Lenders (AL.com) Vatican Newspaper Slams Charlie Hebdo Anniversary Cover (CNN) Roy Moore Says...
Beware the tube of demons
The Internet has been abuzz this week with mind-boggling footage of two prosperity preachers defending their need to have private jets. In a recent episode of Kenneth Copeland's "Believers's Voice of Victory" talk...
Ceremonial faith is not enough
By John D. Pierce 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....
Strong U.S. Majority Still Self-Identify as Christian
U.S. citizens self-identifying as Christian remained high in 2015 at 75.2 percent of the population. In 2014, 75.7 percent did so - a decline within the statistical margin of error - leading Gallup to conclude this:...
Refugees’ Reality Trumps Political Rhetoric
I met recently with Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are receiving help from Nabil Costa and the Lebanese Society of Educational and Societal Development. My trip was part of the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative's...
January 6, 2016
Wheaton is Planning to Fire Professor Who Said Muslims and Christians Worship Same God (Washington Post) Survey: Millennials' View of Religion, Media Increasingly Negative (USA Today) Tiny Churches, Big Hopes: Some...
Prioritize Interfaith Engagement in 2016 – The Baptist Way
Baptists occupy a rare space in the public square for a fortuitous challenge in 2016. Heated opposition to the resettlement of Syrian refugees, swelling desire to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S., and...