Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Underground activity … Israel 2013 Travelblog8
Going underground was a major theme for the Campbell University Divinity School travel group on Friday, May 24, as we began and ended the day beneath the earth. Like our cute glasses?The City of David was our first...
Lady Wisdom Reminds Us to Cry Out for Justice
The non-scriptural doctrine of the Trinity makes its annual appearance this coming Sunday, and with it the host of theological problems the Christian church has wrestled with throughout its history. As a...
Surprise! The Whole World Doesn’t Speak English
Recently, I spent a week feeling mostly like an outsider. Not because of lack of welcome – I can't tell you how many hugs and smiles I received. Not because no one looked me in the eyes – countless children pointed at...
Hunger “ The Hidden Cost of Tax Injustice
The scandal of world hunger could soon end if the revenues that developing countries lose through tax dodging were available to them to invest in agricultural development, according to a new report from a relief and...
What Pentecost Means for 21st Century Followers of Jesus
A sermon by, Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ar., 2013 Acts 2:1-21 2When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound...
Love in Every Language
A sermon by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, University Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Va., on May 19, 2013. Acts 2:1-21 It is so good to be back at University Baptist Church! As most of you know, I was away the last two...
Breath for the Body
A sermon by Jim Somerville, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., May 19, 2013 The Day of Pentecost Acts 2:1-21 Last Sunday Lee Hilbert surprised me by coming forward at the end of the 8:30 service and asking if...
A day for stretching … Israel2013 Travelblog7
A Jewish boy holding a heavy Torah scroll had his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall.A tour group made up mostly of Baptists (along with three Catholic friends) wouldn't normally pray the Stations of the Cross on the Via...
Strawberry Growers Shoot Migrant Workers in Greece
Before and during the Great Depression, my grandfather, William Emmitt Newell, was a small truck farmer, living and growing his crops in the red dirt near Marion, Miss., just outside of the "Queen City" of Meridian....
Putting Your Rights Aside to Serve Others
A few weeks ago, when Dzhokhar Tsarev, the youngest brother of two suspects, was captured for bombing the Boston Marathon, a public debate erupted about the type of rights he was afforded. For days, authorities...
Why You Need to Give “Duck Dynasty” a Chance
"So, I have a friend who is critiquing 'Duck Dynasty' for being misogynist toward the women in the show. I don't get it. What do you all think?" A totally normal text to receive from my dad on a Monday morning. But...
In and about Jerusalem – Israel2013 Travelblog6
Doron Heiliger describes the "Master Course."The "Western Wall Tunnels" aren't seen by a majority of travelers who come to Jerusalem, but our guide was able to secure us an 8:00 a.m. entry to the excavation, which runs...
Are You Pursuing Success While Ignoring Signifcance?
The novelist Walker Percy often said that the trouble with most people is that they are not up to anything significant. Bob Buford once wrote a book titled "Halftime: Moving From Success to Significance" in which he...
Disasters Remind Us of Our Common Humanity
While watching a news report Tuesday morning of the aftermath of Monday's catastrophic tornado in Moore, Okla., my wife and I received a call that a relative completed a long battle with disease during the night. The...
What Value Do College Ministries Offer Churches?
Recently, I found myself on holy ground. I was in our church's fellowship hall surrounded by members of the Mount Olive College softball team. They are in the post-season playoffs and were in need of a home-cooked...
A summer day by the Dead Sea — Israel2013 Travelblog5
Visitors can't resist taking pictures of the upper falls at En Gedi, as Patty McClure demonstrates. I walked today where David walked -- and didn't find him standing there, but I did drink from where he drank, and...
Why You May Not Be a Baptist and Not Know It
I learned recently, somewhat to my surprise, that I'm not a Baptist. The surprise came because I'm an ordained Baptist minister, a graduate of a Baptist seminary, the son of a Baptist pastor, the grandson of a Baptist...
After Texas Explosion, An Outpouring of Compassion
The small but friendly community of First United Church of Christ occupies one of the oldest buildings in West, Texas. The church relies on supply preachers from nearby seminaries, including Truett Theological...
Targeting of Faith Groups Raises Concerns about Who Fostered IRS Culture of Abuse
Americans of faith ought to feel a chill when they hear that the Internal Revenue Service asked a pro-life group about the content of its prayers. According to the Des Moines Register, the president of the Coalition...
A blog on a bus … Israel2013 Travelblog5
Who would have thought I'd end up posting a blog from a wifi-equipped bus? But the hotel Internet is down, so we do the best we can. The ancient boat (an older picture, when they were still studying it).The church of...
Justifying Prejudice: What Will Our Grandkids Think?
My recollections of the civil rights movement of the ’60s are rather limited. I was sheltered from much of the reality and shaped by a social context that placed blame solely on "troublemakers" like Martin Luther King...