Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
From Fear to Faith
A sermon by Bob Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky. April 27, 2014 John 20:19-23 To say the least, this was no ordinary day for the disciples. It began with news about an empty tomb, and it ended...
The Heart of Our Most Sacred Stories
A sermon by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo. The Second Sunday of Easter I Peter 1:3-9 April 27, 2014 Psalm 16; John 20:19-31; Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Can you imagine it? On that first Easter...
What Jesus Said… About Doubt
A sermon by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ar. April 27, 2014 Second Sunday of Easter Psalm 16:1-11; John 20:19-31 If the name Frederick Buechner sounds familiar to you, it may very...
We Were Hoping
A sermon by Howard Batson, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Amarillo, Tx. Luke 24:13-35 April 20, 2014 Where did things go wrong? Jesus didn’t turn out to be any better than the previous prophets who had promised to be...
Generic prayers can’t be both
By John Pierce Americans like the idea of having prayer at official public meetings — “as long as the public officials are not favoring some beliefs over others.” Such was the finding of a recent national survey by...
Immigration: Seeking Truth and Justice – Part 1
Had it not been for the underlying prejudices, the scene on New Year's Day 2014 was almost comical. A young man found himself "mobbed" in the arrivals section of London's Heathrow airport. With a mixture of...
Sterling’s Words Remind Us That Speech Has Consequences
We could see this coming. With so much attention given to Donald Sterling's remarks, he was bound to get a severe rebuke from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. And so Sterling received a lifetime ban and a hefty $2.5...
3 Reasons Why So Many Ministers are Fat
In the week that dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer in Britain, declared that obesity is now so common that society is "normalizing being overweight," I attended a ministers' meeting where two-thirds of those...
May 1, 2014
Our 250 Evangelicals Urge Immigration Reform on Capitol Hill (Christian Post) Republican Senator: Obama ‘Suppresses our Judeo-Christian Values’ (Huffington Post) Hobby Lobby’s Public School Bible Class Treats ‘Moses’...
It’s a long way to drop your chisel …
Archaeologists working at the base of the southern and western walls of Jerusalem's Temple Mount recently discovered a metal chisel that they believe was dropped from a high course of the wall during its construction...
Despite Man’s Handiwork, There’s Hope for Creation
The second Sunday of Easter was designated as Earth Stewardship Sunday in the denomination I serve. One of the most meaningful Easter messages for me is God's ability to bring good from bad situations. This is...
Your Actions Affect Someone Else Somewhere
During a conference I was attending in Ghana, I joined a group on a visit to one of the "slave castles" on the southern coast. I expected it to be another touristic experience, as ancient castles are no rare sight in...
A Tribute to Two Ethics Professors: Hearing Vanished Voices, Thinking about Tomorrow
Bruce Springsteen's lyrics from the song "Streets of Philadelphia" have never been more haunting. "I heard voices of friends vanished and gone … Night has fallen, I'm lyin' awake. I can feel myself fading away," he...
April 30, 2014
How Donald Sterling Tried to Blot Out His History of Racism by Giving to Charity (Huffington Post) The Most Offensive Owner in World Sports is (Sadly) Not Donald Sterling (Washington Post) Professor, John Boehner...
Good Theology Brings Life; Bad Theology Kills
Bad theology kills. For many, the subject of "theology" invokes the image of old white men with impressive beards and antiquated ideas sitting in ivory seminary towers writing really big books that nobody reads. Yet...
How Our Personal ‘Lenses’ Can Distort a Culture’s Context
In Bill Moyers interview with Wendell Berry, Berry stated: "Learn all you can about where you are." The comment reflects a commitment to contextualization as it relates to farming and ethical use of the land. As...
Why Churches Can’t Do Ministry the Way They Used To
I was raised in a time when life seemed fairly stable. Marriages were expected to last forever. You went to work for a company, stayed there until you retired, and received a gold watch. You could attend virtually any...
April 29, 2014
Paul Ryan’s Inner City Education at a Baptist Church (BuzzFeed) Some Christian Conservatives Denounce Palin’s Waterboarding Metaphor (Washington Post) Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief Unit Feeding Victims in Vilonia...
Why Church of England Must Break Ties with Government
The bishop of Oxford, John Pritchard, went with Church of England minister Keith Hebden to deliver a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron's constituency office in Witney, about 70 miles northwest of London....
3 Ways Your Church Should ‘Cater’ to Millennials
While the church should never "pander" to anyone, the church does have a responsibility to "cater" to those who might be making decisions about faith and the church. Such lifelong decisions are most often made in one's...
3 Ways Your Church Can Flourish Like a Garden
What metaphors communicate clearly what a healthy church or minister is like? There are many of them, but the one that I keep returning to is that of the garden. As a gardener who finds personal renewal and energy in...