Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Is New Zealand’s Biblical, Historical Heritage Being Erased?
I have spent the past three weeks in New Zealand, a land of spectacular beauty and rich in ecological diversity. Little wonder that, following the success of the "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit," filmmakers have...
What We Forget About When We Ask for Forgiveness
In the model prayer Jesus offered his disciples, we are to pray: "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). Although we frequently utter this request, most Christians forget an...
How to destroy the Bible
By John Pierce A fellow church member came into the coffee shop this morning. “Didn’t see you yesterday,” she said. “I was in Jasper, Ga.,” I replied. “What were you doing up...
Australian Baptist Report Grades Fashion Companies’ Ethics
This story has been revised after being notified that the Kmart and Target companies referenced in the report are Australian companies no longer affiliated with the U.S. companies. Baptist World Aid Australia released...
18 Resources for Labor Day Reflection from EthicsDaily.com
Labor Day is an often-neglected holiday in the local church. This is unfortunate as Labor Day weekend offers ministers an opportunity to discuss Christian perspectives on work. For example, church leaders could explore...
A Christian, Rights-Based Approach to Egyptian Developments
As Egyptian developments unfold, Christians around the world are asking how best to preserve the Christian community from harm and maintain its voice and role in Egypt. Media outlets have broadcast images of a brutal...
A tale of two cities …
... and their callousness. Hugh Hollowell and other workers with "Love Wins" speak to a police officer who would not allow them to distribute food to the homeless. I was surprised, if not shocked, to learn that the...
One thing overlooked …
North Carolina's governor Pat McCrory has called for the legislature to return to Raleigh for a special session to deal with two bills he vetoed, one a discriminatory demand that some welfare applicants be tested for...
Churches Cannot Compartmentalize Faith, Health
Compartmentalization is the bane of authentic faith. When we begin to divide the realms of our life from one another, the end result looks very different than loving God with "all your heart, soul, mind and strength."...
How Professionalizing the Church Has Hurt Ministry
One of the characteristics of modernity, according to Anthony Giddens in his book, "The Consequence of Modernity," is the rise of "expert systems" of "technical accomplishments or professional expertise that organize...
Skype Interview: Anthony Peck on the Crisis in Egypt
"It's difficult to see at the moment how this is going to play out, to be honest." That's the frank assessment of the situation in Egypt by Anthony Peck, general secretary of the European Baptist Federation, which...
My Story
A sermon by David Hughes, First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C. August 11, 2013 Romans 8:28-29; 12:1-12; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 How do you conclude 22+ years of ministry in a pulpit? Believe me when I say I have...
Never Give Up
A sermon by Robert Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky. August 18, 2013 Hebrews 11:32-12:3 Derek Redmon was about halfway through the 400m race at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain when his...
The Marathon of Faith
A sermon by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, University Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Va., on August 18, 2013. Hebrews 11:29-12:2 We’ve got a lot of runners in our church – people who jog, folks who run or train others to run...
5 Happy-Life Secrets (That Were in the Bible All Along!)
Last week, the Huffington Post published an article about the Harvard Grant Study. The study followed a group of people over 75 years in an effort to discover what is most likely to make us happy and fulfilled. What...
4 Levels of Trust Churches Need for Effective Stewardship
Most of the pastors with whom I have conversations live with the tensions of effective financial leadership. According to the most recent studies, only about one-third of American congregations are growing in their...
Put Your Energy into Being Someone, Not Something
We can't help it, but in our society we are what we do. When you meet a new person – at least in the circles I run in, it seems – the first question that gets asked is, "What do you do?" And in response, free-flowing...
ACLU Files Suit against Oklahoma Ten Commandments Monument
I am the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed Monday, Aug. 19, 2013, seeking to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the grounds of the Oklahoma State Capitol. Jim Huff, executive secretary of the Oklahoma Chapter of...
Will Your Church Connect with Sunday Workers?
After Rachel Held Evans' commentary on millennials leaving the church, many people have weighed in on what millennials want, what church looks like and who is to blame for it. While this conversation can be fruitful, I...
Understanding the Present Situation in Egypt
Many of us involved in Christian ministry in Egypt are appalled at the misunderstandings about the situation in Egypt being propagated by even normally balanced international media like the BBC, and the way it has, in...