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Check out news and opinion posts across the years
The Red-Letter Sermon
A sermon by Jim Somerville, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. February 10, 2013 Transfiguration Sunday Luke 9:28-36 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and...
The View from the Top
A sermon by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo. Transfiguration Sunday Luke 9:28-36 February 10, 2013 Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:3 Just prior to her fiftieth birthday,...
Obama: “The Time Has Come” for Immigration Reform
During President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, he highlighted the importance of faith leaders as he urged a joint session of Congress to tackle immigration reform. Although the most...
5 Trends Your Church Must Be Ready to Face
Strategy planning is not what it used to be. There was a time when governments, businesses and even churches planned for the future as if what happened next would be a natural consequence of what had gone before. Of...
Skype Interview: Stephen Copley on Immigration DVD’s Impact
"The more folks that can see it, the more that you have the opportunity to change their heart, and finally, begin to change their narrative," says a Methodist minister in Arkansas. Stephen Copley, director of Arkansas...
State of the discord
So, I did my duty and watched the State of the Union address instead of SMASH, and was struck (again) by the sharp divisions that mark our country's leadership. President Obama's speech, like all State of the Union...
Where Consumerism and Christianity Clash
Consider the hours we spend on food and drink: going to the grocery store, perusing cookbooks and magazines for recipes, being sure the kids have lunch money, grabbing a bottle of water on the way to work, and stopping...
“The Impossible”
In a former church, I worked two major natural disasters. Both were related to hurricanes. While working in the first, a veteran of that kind of work said something profound: "Disasters are such that if there is...
Why We’re Quick to Argue But Slow to Understand
"Back in the day," when TV's Lucy got into trouble, as she nearly always did, Ricky would eventually come home from work – and you knew exactly what he was going to say when he discovered one of his wife's...
U.S. Christianity Turns Blind Eye to Neighborliness
Deuteronomy 22:8 offers the following commandment: "When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof; otherwise you might have blood-guilt on your house, if anyone should fall from it." At first,...
Roger Williams: Champion of Religious Freedom
February 5, 1631. That is the date on which the Lyon, a British ship, "anchored safe amid great and dangerous ice floes in Boston harbor." On board that ship (which had set sail from Bristol, England, on December 1)...
Teaching Children the Responsibility of Disobedience
Why do men like President Assad of Syria prefer to rule over rubble than surrender power? Arrogance in politics is compounded of ignorance, willful blindness and fantasies of invincibility. And when entire societies...
Good for him … I think
Pope Benedict XVI announced today that he plans to step down at the end of the month -- the first pope in 600 years to resign voluntarily rather than clinging to power and dying in office. Benedict has not been my...
Why Interfaith Debates are Doomed to Fail
Beirut is mesmerizing and Lebanon is simply stunning. Nevertheless, even a brief analysis of the architectural subtext of downtown Beirut reveals how tragically imperative is the need for rectifying the contemporary...
Skype Interview: Suzii Paynter on CBF’s Future
The nominee for executive coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship says it is a "tremendous time of change" for the organization. Suzii Paynter, a longtime Baptist leader and the nominee, discusses both...
6 Steps to Lead Your Church Through Successful Change
Over the years, I have been a pastor in churches, a chaplain in hospital systems and an interim director for a nonprofit counseling center. One thing I have learned to depend on is that change will happen, if it isn't...
What part of “unsubscribe” don’t you understand?
By John Pierce Often political/theological alarmist groups will send their press releases and loud-but-weak commentaries to me. Removing these from my email inbox is a daily task. It is understandable that such groups...
Leaving hell
I have probably taken pictures of them, just children, young girls holding neon-colored signs like "God hates fags." They couldn't have been old enough to understand what the sign meant, but the indoctrination imposed...
What Your Building Use Policy Says About Your Church
I know firsthand how utterly boring and laborious creating a building use policy can be. Every church I have ever served has entered into a major building project. The debate around building use has been a constant. It...
When You Discover You’ve Climbed the Wrong Ladder
Unless you're a painter, roofer or firefighter, you're probably not on a ladder very often. From time to time, you use a stepstool to reach the top shelf of a tall cabinet or a stepladder to change a light bulb. A...
“Dad, You’re a Nicer Person Without Your iPhone”
It was just another busy Saturday in our house. Although I try to keep my weekends as clear as possible of work so I can spend time with my family, I always have my phone with me. This means that it can be hard to...