Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Dave Ramsey and the Watering Down of Stewardship
I stumbled into Christian stewardship quite by accident. It was not on my list of interests or career choices, but following God is not like mapping out the shortest route on your GPS. As a child I learned to tithe...
A Cup of Inspiration and Courage
Watching and Waiting
A sermon by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo. Acts 1:1-11 Ascension Sunday June 1, 2014 Psalms 68:1-10, 32-35; John 17:1-11; I Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 I remember the first time I submitted...
Finishing the Work
A sermon by Jim Somerville, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. June 1, 2014 The Seventh Sunday of Easter John 17:1-11 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has...
British Churches, Government Can Unite to Serve Community
A local council leader in the United Kingdom described the current austerity cuts hitting local government as "the greatest crisis affecting local communities since the war." Many councils have already reduced their...
Playing Fair: Christians and the Fair Trade Movement
When Jesus told his disciples in the gospel of John that he was the "bread of life," it meant that he would nourish people physically and spiritually. Jesus used food and fellowship to fill the empty stomachs of the...
Will This Election Season Mark Another Turning Point?
One year after the widely publicized images of brutality against civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, observers were beginning to suggest that this exposure of racism's ugly and violent side was...
The Super Rich and Income Inequality
The French economist Thomas Piketty's monumental "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" is being widely acclaimed as a classic on par with Marx's "Capital" and Keynes' "General Theory." Paul Krugman summarizes Piketty's...
Honor Killings Still Occur Where Patriarchy Prevails
The murder of a member of a family, generally a woman, by another member of the family because of the perception that the person has brought shame to the family is known as "honor killing." This practice has made...
3 Reasons You Need to Fast from Technology
One of the recent topics in my small group at church was "unplugging" or fasting from technology. Fasting is, of course, an ancient practice, but in the past 50 years or so it has been applied more and more to...
Controversial Christian Zionist Group Exploits Ukrainian Crisis
While many Christian bodies of various denominations have urged prayers for Ukraine and Russia during tensions, protests and violence over the past several months, a Christian Zionist group instead seeks to use the...
Skype Interview: Grace Ji-Sun Kim on Climate Change
"To achieve this justice, both economically and ecologically, there needs to be an awareness—a real deep theological reflection on what it means to be caretakers of the earth, to take care of creation." So says Grace...
Mistaken Hearing Leads to Rewarding Discovery–Hebrew Prophets in Hip Hop
Upon hearing that the Black Keys were playing a private concert in Nashville last week--broadcast around the world by SiriusXM radio--I vaguely recognized the band's name. But I wondered, "What's the big deal? Who are...
June 3, 2014
Judge Questions Use of Archdiocese Funds (HTR News) California Baptist Church Changes Views on Homosexuality After Pastor's Son Comes Out Gay (Huffington Post) Jim Crow's Ancestors—and Children (Black Press USA)...
No surprise here …
It should come at no surprise that purging the Southern Baptist Convention of non-fundamentalists did not usher in the great wave of evangelistic growth promised by its leaders. The "takeover of the SBC" -- not...
An Open Door, A Place of Welcome and Hope
When we founded PORTA--the Albania House in Athens, we chose its name for strategic reasons. Porta is found in both the Greek and Albanian languages, meaning door or gate. We knew that this word would help to open a...
Working Together to Fight Poverty in Liberia
Liberians can be heard making two statements regularly. 1. "Pray for the church, pray for the offering, pray for the poor, pray for unity in the church and in our nation, and pray for our church leaders, that they will...
When You See the Need, You’re Moved to Help
To some degree, the world we see shapes our reality. Perhaps you know the following colloquial short story. A Chinese emperor saw some men leading an ox down the street, headed for the temple where the ox would be...
June 2, 2014
Professor at Baptist College Fired After Picture Used on Beer Can (Daily Caller) Sexuality Takes Stage at Second Baptist Conference (Tennessean) Did the Southern Baptist 'Conservative Resurgence' Fail? (Daily Beast)...
Time: A balancing act
By John Pierce Saturday morning coffee tastes the same as on other days of the week. But the overall feeling is a little different — with more contemplation of how to spend the hours ahead. Making efficient use of time...
Two Centuries of Tension Between Masons, Catholics
Freemasonry has had a pervasive influence on Anglo-American culture. Usually open and generous in its racial and religious attitudes, there is one enormous exception to that rule: Roman Catholics. Much of European and...