Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Study: E-Cigarettes May Encourage Conventional Cigarette Use
A new study has raised concerns about the connection between e-cigarette use and conventional smoking, particularly among adolescents. "The Journal of the American Medical Association: Pediatrics" (JAMA) released on...
Syrian Refugee Crisis Challenges Lebanese Government “ and Churches
Syrian refugees present an abundance of humanitarian and economic challenges to Lebanon – all well recognized by the global community. Unrecognized is the challenge they present to Lebanese churches. "The number of...
Church Trends: Technology and Christian Education
Sometimes I feel like I don't belong to the technological world we are becoming. I cannot boast that my phone is smarter than your phone, or that I have been befriended by more near strangers than you. I would win,...
Israel-Palestine: When Theology and Politics Mix
A conference rarely reaches the heady heights of being a sensory experience but the third Christ at the Checkpoint conference, meeting in Bethlehem on March 10-14, has done so in full measure. Taking as its theme "Your...
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina To Screen “Through the Door”
A new documentary on prisons and faith - "Through the Door" - will be shown at First Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., on March 28 during the annual meeting of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina...
Baptists Offer Divided Response to Pope Francis
Pope Francis has repeatedly talked about the need for Christian unity, but Baptists have offered divergent responses. Elected a year ago, Pope Francis often frames his message of Christian unity with the biblical...
Practice Lent Year-Round to Reduce Your Water Footprint
I've been a Baptist for all but 18 of the 870 months of my life. Those non-Baptist months were at the very beginning, ending when my parents abandoned the small Presbyterian church near our home and looked for the...
Church Trends: Hispanic Baptists
Alfonso Cuarón broke the glass ceiling in Hollywood by being the first Mexican to win an Academy Award as best director for his work in "Gravity" this year. Emmanuel Lubeszky, another Mexican, also won an Academy Award...
Fatalism just never seems to die
By John Pierce Cousin Pearl would call my mother to express her high anxiety over “the way things are going.” Her alarm was not surprising; she was getting old and spending too much time watching daytime television. My...
Roots and vines
The vines have covered my roots. In a way. In Philadelphia for meetings of the Baptist World Alliance and North American Baptist Fellowship last week, I finally had an opportunity to go in search of my first American...
Church Trends: Missional Engagement
Christianity is fueled by ambition. Paul once said, "It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known" (Romans 15:20a). This apostolic ambition has been present in each generation. I think...
Why Lent Should Bring You Joy
Lent is my favorite liturgical season. Some people think it is strange to like Lent. It seems too somber and penitential to be liked – similar to a Facebook status that shares sad or painful news yet has the potential...
Unsustainable Living: A High Price for Cheap Choices
I've failed, I've been challenged and I've been encouraged by the amazing changes happening around me during my internship at Tearfund. I have to admit, before Tearfund I didn't realize that we are living outside our...
What Does It Mean to Be Salt and Light?
Few other passages are as instrumental in shaping my personal understanding of Christian witness as Matthew 5:13-16, which calls Christians to be salt and light through their good deeds. Jesus' seemingly simple...
Church Trends: Riding the Wave in The Garden State
One of the great joys of serving the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey (ABCNJ), a fellowship of 280 churches and 320 active clergy, is that each week I can observe the ongoing evolution of church life and...
Will “Resurrection” Offer Deeper Reflection on Faith?
ABC has been promoting its new drama "Resurrection" for months with the tag, "What if someone you lost ... returned?" The premise of the series is that at least two people who had died in the small town of Arcadia,...
4 Ways for African-Americans to Reclaim Mission Role
As American Baptist International Ministries (IM) celebrates 200 years of mission, my attention turns to the presence of African-Americans on the mission field. I can't help but lament that, even though...
Baptist Church in Sri Lanka Celebrates 200 Years
We often start things without knowing how they are going to end. But God knows. In 1812, a Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) missionary arrived in Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon then) and planted a church the next year....
Being Too Wired Fractures Us from God, Neighbors
Texting while driving is now the leading cause of death for teen drivers. People also text so much that it has been linked to sleep problems, and there are new laws being passed in certain states that prohibit...
Don’t Despair When Others Throw You Into the Well
The story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50 is remarkable. More ink is devoted to Joseph's story than any other character in the Bible apart from Jesus. The intrigue and drama of the narrative trump any soap opera, and the...
Local Baptist Church Recognized for “Going Green”
First Baptist of Austin is one of the "greenest" churches in central Texas. The church achieved the city of Austin's Green Business Leaders Program platinum certification award, which was presented to the congregation...