Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
‘Cultivating Generosity’
By John Pierce Someday I hope to meet Rembrant (Rem) Stokes. I’ve learned a lot from him already. One of his Clemson University classmates of old shared with me a copy of Rem’s book, Cultivating Generosity: Giving...
Why Must Christians Criticize Ice Bucket Challenge?
The ALS ice bucket challenge has taken the Internet by storm. I think it's a good deed being done by people with good intentions. We are experiencing a lot of hate and violence in our world at this moment, so I want to...
Christians in the Middle East: We Don’t Want Visas
The West should be helping Christians to stay in the Middle East, not offering them visas to escape, BMS World Mission trustee Nabil Costa says. Costa, executive director of the Lebanese Society for Education and...
Connecting God’s Kingdom to Your Daily Labors
Emphasis on the kingdom, reign or rule of God ebbs and flows in Christian history. For example, Walter Rauschenbusch lamented in 1917 that the "individualistic theology" of his day "carefully wrapped in several napkins...
August 29, 2014
Nine Mars Hill Pastors Want Change: 'We Are Compelled to Speak Up' (Seattle Post Intelligencer) The Last Church in Churchville is Dying (KCCI, IA) Orange County Public Schools Ban Football Chaplains After Complaint...
Micro-Justice Initiatives Trump Macro-Justice Rhetoric
Public and pulpit rhetoric about justice may be inspiring or polarizing, depending on where one stands. MSNBC talk-show host Al Sharpton's rhetoric around the death of Michael Brown motivates some with the claim that...
Prathia Hall: An Extraordinary, Ordinary Saint
I have been researching for the past six years the life and ministry of Prathia Hall (1940-2002), a civil rights activist, Baptist preacher and womanist scholar. Little did I know at the beginning of this journey that...
Ebola Threatens More Than Lives in Liberia
Think back to April 19, 2013. An entire region in Boston was frozen in place as police combed the area for marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsamaev. Logan International Airport was open, but nothing else moved. The...
August 28, 2014
Baptist Leaders Urge Faith-Based Groups to Help Ease Suffering (KPLC News) Politics of American Churches & Religions in One Graph (Religion News Service) Why Conservative Christian Homeschoolers Are Fighting...
Space available for Israel tour
By John Pierce Eight spaces are available to tour Israel, Nov. 6-17, with Tony Cartledge, an excellent Bible scholar and writer of the Nurturing Faith Bible Studies, and Doron Heiliger, one of Israel’s most experienced...
5 Reasons to Write Books for Your Own Congregation
Even though we are in the midst of a Christian publishing boom, writers often overlook their most obvious audience: their own congregations. I hate to break this news to all of us aspiring writers, but most of us are...
Which “Real World” Do You Really Want?
Count on the campaign season to provide us with plenty of fodder for reflection on our life together. Sometimes even little phrases and word choices can become windows for looking into our own houses, and for looking...
Ebola Creates Medical, Economic and Humanitarian Crises in Liberia
The Ebola virus has placed Liberia in peril. "More than half of all deaths in this outbreak are in Liberia. The more than 600 dead Liberians are more than all of the Ebola deaths in previous outbreaks since 1976,"...
August 27, 2014
First Baptist Among Buildings Red-tagged in Vallejo (KTVU, CA) White House Offers Contraception Rule; Senate Democrats Eye a September Vote on Contraception Coverage (Roll Call) Virginia Nonprofits Voice Concerns at...
Many Church Discipleship Programs Overlook This
Perhaps you've heard the phrase, "Begin with the end in mind." It was popularized in Stephen Covey's book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," but it's not a new concept. Instead of just letting your life...
Faith-Based Groups Work to Address Widespread Hunger in U.S.
One in seven persons across the U.S. seeks food assistance, according to a report from Feeding America. Its report, Hunger in America 2014, said that the Feeding in America network provided food to 46.5 million people...
What Americans Can Learn from Not Being in America
My mind has been dragging and my heart has lingered in this week and a half that I've been home from my recent trip to Kenya. When the faces of such precious people are fixated in your mind, you just stay put for a...
August 26, 2014
Asheville First Baptist Houses New Academy for the Arts (Asheville Citizen-Times) Thousands Gather for Funeral of Michael Brown (Los Angeles Times) Calvary Church Pastor Placed on Leave (WCNC, Charlotte) Ark Park...
Value Your Church, Whatever Its Faults May Be
There's something I like about group photos. You know the sort of thing: a class of children sitting with their teacher, freshly scrubbed and on their best behavior; a bunch of people attending a conference; a crowd at...
The Importance of Jesus’ Faith in God
The narrative structure of Mark's Gospel has fascinated me for years. Unlike Matthew and Luke, the two gospels most similar to Mark, Mark does not begin with Jesus' birth narrative. Instead, Mark begins with Jesus'...
How Your Church Should Respond to Depression
The suicide deaths of Robin Williams and last year that of Rick Warren's son has triggered quite a discussion in many Christian circles about depression. Some have been highly critical of Christians who suffer from...