Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
April 16, 2014
April 16, 2014 Who’s Behind Kentucky Ban on Casinos, Gay Marriage? (Cincinnati Enquirer) Bible Could Become State Book of Louisiana (MSNBC) Hobby Lobby’s Steve Green Launches a New Project: a Public School Bible...
April 15, 2014
April 15, 2014 Believers Celebrate Palm Sunday Around the World (Baltimore Sun) President Obama Welcomes 150 Christian Leaders for White House Easter Prayer Breakfast (New York Daily News) Meet the Preacher Behind...
April 14, 2014
April 14, 2014 Three Killed in Shootings at Kansas City-area Jewish Centers (CNN) U.S. Doesn’t Rank High in Religious Diversity (Pew Research Center) Mike Huckabee Tells Koch-Backed Group: ‘More Freedom in North Korea’...
April 12, 2014
April 12, 2014 Ladies’ Choice: Christian Women Want Birth Control in Health Insurance 2-to-1 Over Christian Men (AL.com) Pope Francis Asks for Forgiveness Over Child Sex Abuse in Catholic Church (Boston Globe) Michael...
April 11, 2014
April 11, 2014 After World Vision, Evangelicals Debate Boundaries Over Sexuality (Salt Lake Tribune) Tennessee Baptist School Fights Obamacare (Associated Baptist Press) Extreme Evangelical Street Family Believes in...
April 10, 2014
April 10, 2014 Republican: Bullying Bill An ‘Attack on the the Bible & Conservative Christians’ (CBS Minnesota) Mike Huckabee: Not ‘Homophobic’, but on the ‘Right Side of the Bible’ (CNN) The Narcissistic Christian...
April 9, 2014
April 9, 2014 Jeb Bush to Meet with Southern Baptist Leader (Washington Post) Could Jeb Bush Win Over the Christian Right in 2016? (CBS News) PBS Examines Calvinism in SBC (Associated Baptist Press) Poll:...
April 8, 2014
April 8, 2014 Megachurch Pastor Resigns, Citing ‘Moral Failing’ (CNN) Patterson Urges Ministers Not to Drink (Associated Baptist Press) Preachers Arrested at Macon Cherry Blossom Festival (13WMAZ) Church Wants Wal-Mart...
April 7, 2014
April 7, 2014 Study: The Internet is Taking Away America’s Religion (MIT Technology Review) In ‘Fight Church’ Documentary Film, Pastors Evangelize With Brutal MMA Cage Matches (Huffington Post) Medieval-Style Bible...
I don’t get it …
There are some things in life that I don't understand. I try not to be a curmudgeon about these things, but remain baffled by them. Why do perfectly healthy young college students line up at the elevator to go down two...
Who believes in religious liberty now?
By John Pierce Often evangelicals, including many Southern Baptists, have fought the idea of genuine religious liberty during the growing ethnic and religious diversification that has swept across the nation in recent...
3 Things You May Have Forgotten about Faith
On April 9, 1945, after spending two years in a concentration camp, Lutheran pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was executed by the Nazis. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned for being involved in a plot to kill Adolf...
Preference for Printed Bible Remains Strong; E-Bible Use Increases
The use of electronic forms of the Bible increases, even though a preference for print editions remains strong. The Barna Group's annual survey on the state of the Bible, released last week, listed this as one of its...
South Sudan Now Fighting Enemy Within
It was less than three years ago when my wife, Ann, and I were in the capital city of Juba, South Sudan, witnessing the birth of a new nation. We could actually feel the excitement of a generation of people, free to...
Anti-Semite’s Rampage Devastates Jews, Christians
On Sunday in Overland Park, Kan., a rabid anti-Semite, white supremacist drove into the parking lot at the Jewish Community Center with the intent to kill. And he succeeded. He shot a grandfather and grandson (thinking...
Faith-Based Movies are Crowding the Silver Screen
I'm an avid movie watcher. It's not at all unusual for me to quote a line or even play a clip from a meaningful film during a sermon if it helps move a thought forward or at least provokes the imagination "God-ward."...
What Institution is the Largest Provider of Mental Health?
Prisons are the largest providers of mental health. Cliff Vaughn and I heard that narrative in Indiana and Tennessee while producing "Through the Door." We first encountered it when we interviewed Rich Larsen, public...
More than a chaperone
By John Pierce Whenever the Boynton Baptist Church youth group of my generation gathered — and we gathered often — Glenda Nichols was there. I don’t recall her (or any other adult who engaged with our fun, close group)...
3 Ways for Your Church to Navigate the Giants
The story of the Israelites' thwarted entry into the Promised Land has always made me curious. The 12 spies cross the Jordan and reconnoiter the land before them, returning with a mixed message. Ten of the spies are...
Thomas Jefferson’s Bible Editing Was Obvious. Is Yours?
At a dinner for Nobel Prize winners, President John F. Kennedy gave a most clever and astute introduction. He said to that distinguished crowd, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human...
Why Your Denomination Shouldn’t Ignore Rural Churches
The new church planting strategy of many denominations focuses on large urban areas in an effort to reach the largest numbers of people. As more and more people are moving to the large cities, it makes sense that...