Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Is the Church in the Middle East on Life Support? Part 2
With the church of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) on life support and fingers regularly pointing at Islam as the cause of its demise, there are three challenges to be faced: 1. Widespread negative views of...
GOP Leaders Speak Out Against Trump’s Hateful Rhetoric
Some positive developments have resulted from presidential candidate Donald Trump's advocacy of banning all Muslims from entering the U.S. Trump's position has received bipartisan opposition. Opposition and critique of...
Christians in Paris Urge Climate Action for Vulnerable Global Neighbors
Evangelical Christians are not leaving discussions of the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable people to the scientists and diplomats from more than 190 countries gathered at the COP21 United Nations climate...
November 10, 2015
Carson-Newman College Gets OK to Ban Gay or Pregnant Students, Unwed Mothers and Women Who've Had an Abortion (Las Vegas Review Journal) Gay Marriage Advocates Sue North Carolina Over Religious Opt-Out (Reuters)...
Is the Church in the Middle East on Life Support? Part 1
The church of the Middle East is on life support, and fingers regularly point at Islam as the cause of its demise. Some, like influential popular historian Philip Jenkins, have already begun to toll the funeral bells....
When the Bible Speaks, Do We Hear What We Want?
Does the Bible speak? If so, how? An oft-told tale of the Spanish conquest of the Americas tells of the Inca ruler Atahualpa. When he met the conquistadors in 1532, some Catholic priests reputedly gave him a Bible,...
Evangelicals Meet in Paris, Consider Biblical Call on Climate Change
Evangelicals from around the world gathered for a day of worship, learning and dialogue about how evangelicals should respond to climate change while diplomats from more than 190 nations gathered in Paris for the COP21...
December 9, 2015
Trump Supporters Stand Behind Their Man Amid Onslaught, Saying We 'Must be Vigilant' (ABC News) Nevada Lawmaker Denies She'd Shoot Syrian Refugees (Chicago Sun Times) Most Republicans Have Negative Views of Muslims –...
Commitment to Discipleship Practices Low, Despite Desire for Spiritual Growth
The desire for spiritual growth among Christians is not translating into significant commitment to practices facilitating this development, according to a Barna Group survey. A strong majority (77 percent) of...
On Amy Winehouse and Breaking the Golden Rule
Some moments of real intellectual breakthrough come when I find myself thinking something that surprises me. I am forced to analyze the surprising idea to work out why I was thinking it. Whether the concept turns out...
Christian Leaders Seek Changing Faith Climate in Paris
Faith leaders held a forum on the roles Christians should play in addressing climate change, as diplomats from more than 190 nations meet in Paris to debate the global response. The session, which was held in the...
December 8, 2015
Baptists Aren't the Ones Attacking America, Alabama Lawmaker Says as He Urges People to Arm Themselves (AL.com) Jacksonville Church Sign Against Homosexuality Sparks Controversy (Palm Beach Post) Marietta Baptist...
Witnesses or pouters?
By John D. Pierce The number of “shopping days ’til Christmas” keeps counting down. This narrowing stretch of time tends to bring excitement or frenzy or frustration — or combinations of those feelings and others. Some...
Ecumenical Service at Cathedral Spotlights Faith, Climate Change
Faith leaders from several denominations and multiple countries gathered on Dec. 3 at CathÄ—drale Notre Dame de Paris (Notre Dame Cathedral) as diplomats from more than 190 nations meet in Paris for the two-week COP21...
A Christian Response to Yet Another Mass Shooting
We celebrated the "peace" Sunday of Advent last weekend. On Wednesday afternoon, I was working on my Sunday message as I heard the news about the murders in San Bernardino, California. I'd been thinking, praying and...
Nature’s Lesson: Don’t Rush Through Life
Nature is rather predictable for the most part. It has its rhythms and patterns, and they remain more or less consistent. The tides ebb and flow, the moon goes through its cycle of phases, the sun rises and sets at its...
December 7, 2015
Jimmy Carter Tells His Sunday School Class that He Has No Signs of Cancer (Washington Post) Liberty University President Encourages Students to Carry Guns on Campus (Fox News) Baptist Pastor Commands Wives to 'Submit':...
December 5, 2015
America's Dividing Line: Thoughts, Prayers and Belief in a Transcendent God (CNN) Religious Leaders Urge Faithful to Action in Wake of California Massacre (Baptist News Global) A Lot of Americans Think Abortion is Just...
Advent: Being the Church Expectant
Dispelling many misconceptions or thin understandings of the ancient patterns of Christianity marking its days and years faithfully is particularly important during the season of Advent. Liturgical scholar and...
Why We Prefer Ad Hominem Attacks to Really Listening
When Jesus is selecting his disciples in John 1:43-51, Philip is chosen and goes to recruit Nathanael. Philip says, "We have found the one that Moses and the prophets wrote about. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph from...
Muslim Leaders Condemn California Shootings, Terrorist Attacks
Muslim leaders and organizations often are among the first to condemn violence when it is linked, or thought to be linked, to terrorism (domestic or foreign). This includes the Dec. 2 shootings in San Bernardino,...