Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Taxation – A Topic Rarely Engaged in Churches
Everyone's favorite time of the year is upon us: tax season. We all join in the annual ritual of compiling seemingly endless documents - W2s, 1098s, 1099-INTs, charitable giving statements and so on - which we dread no...
Israeli Election is Wake-Up Call to Church: Part 2
The church in Israel should ask herself: How can it better serve the Arab Israeli community in particular, and the Israeli community in general, in the light of the recent elections? I believe the church in Israel is...
No Higher Calling: Advocating for Poor, Powerless
I grew up in a church that recognized people for perfect attendance in Sunday school. As a new Sunday school year began, everyone who had not missed a Sunday the previous year was recognized and given a pin to wear on...
Genocide Is Worse Than War
A man ran into our seventh-grade classroom before the weekly spelling test. He was an older man. He was glistening with sweat, wide-eyed, disheveled, frightened. He pled for protection. A classmate would later recall...
April 8, 2015
Southern Baptists and the Sin of Racism (The Atlantic) TN House, Senate Committees Pass Bill to Make Bible Official State Book (The Tennessean) Rick Perry Courts S.C. Evangelical Voters (The State) Growing Population...
Profiles In Goodwill: Karen Bullock
Karen Bullock is the professor of Christian heritage and director of the doctoral program at the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute in Irving, Texas. Karen's articles that have appeared on EthicsDaily.com are available...
The Danger When Your Church Keeps Secrets
Hillary Clinton's use of private email accounts for official business while serving as the U.S. Secretary of State has dominated headlines in recent weeks. Her response to the controversy did not satisfy many...
Israeli Election is Wake-Up Call to Church: Part 1
The famous theologian Karl Barth once said, "We should carry the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand." This will help us, on the one hand, to understand what challenges our community is going through,...
April 7, 2015
Black College Seeks to Recapture Social Justice Vision (Santa Cruz Sentinel) Earlier 2016 Primaries in South Could Give Region New Sway (Boston Globe) A Look at the State of Religion in Colorado (9News, CO) As Young...
Busting 2 Perplexing Myths about Middle East
I consistently encounter the same myths about the modern Middle East and its peoples. Some myths are seemingly innocuous, others less so. And because the world is now so interconnected, such long-standing myths must no...
What Filters Does Your Church Need to Jettison?
The subject line of an email I received recently was "Muffin Top Drop." I am not sure if it was a promotion for weight-loss or advertising a delicious pastry. I decided to forgo opening the email, assuming it was...
Resurrecting Martin Luther King’s Message of Love
My role model for what a pastor and leader should be is Martin Luther King Jr. One of my proudest moments as a 17-year-old teenager was, after delivering my first sermon at my home church, an older deacon that I...
April 6, 2015
Christians Around the World Celebrate Easter (Dallas Morning News) Obama and Family Attend Easter Service at Historic Baptist Church (Christian Science Monitor) Teacher to Children: Your Parent 'Is Not a Christian' if...
You Can’t Shrug Your Shoulders at Global Woes
After giving a shameless plug for a magic show I will be performing, another term came to mind that set me thinking and reflecting: "blameless shrug." One of Bart Simpson's catchphrases is "I didn't do it!" It's...
Profiles In Goodwill: Larry Hovis
Larry Hovis is executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina. 1. Where did you grow up? Charlotte, North Carolina. 2. What is your favorite verse, book or story in the Bible? Why?...
Skype Interview: Sam Chaise on the Global Diaspora Forum
When people leave their homes for another country, it doesn't have to be just a bad-news story. "There's actually an opportunity there for the church and for the gospel to come alongside and become the presence of God...
April 4, 2015
Nevada's 'Religious Freedom' Legislation Declared Dead (Las Vegas Review Journal) Fights Over 'Religious Freedom' and Gay Rights are Costing Republicans (NPR) Among University Millennials, Racism a Lingering Problem...
Talking to the camera
Have you ever sat down and talked to a camera ... just you and an electronic recorder of sight and sound? It's a little weird, but not as unusual as it used to be. Thousands of people regularly record videos of...
April 3, 2015
Islam World's Fastest Growing Religion (CNN) The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050 (Pew Forum) Southern Baptist Minister: Indiana Religious Liberty Law Permits Denial of Some Services...
Profiles In Goodwill: Paul Msiza
Paul Msiza is pastor of Peniel-Salem Baptist Church in Pretoria, and the Baptist World Alliance president for 2015-20. He served previously as general secretary of the South Africa Baptist Convention. 1. Where did you...
How to Lose the Next Generation of Church Leaders
I resigned from a church committee on which I was serving as the chair a few years ago. My resignation was prompted by my lack of passion for the committee's assigned work and a feeling that it had outlived its...