Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Election Day Communion Seeks to Heal Partisan Divide
As Americans head to the polls today, watch the news as the votes are counted, and offer sighs of relief as the torrent of attack ads come to an end, Christians across the nation are gathering for communion. More than...
Defy the Status Quo; Undo Something Today
The older my daughter gets, the more I start to think about her education – the formal kind, at least. When it's time, what kind of school will she go to? What should I look for in a school? How will what she learns in...
Let’s be “for”
One more day. At last. Just one more day of attack ads, phone calls, and mailbox stuffers. Hallelujah. Politics will still dominate the news for days, and if the race is really close there could be screaming, but at...
Does Your Church Need to Protest More?
I agree with theologian Robert McAfee Brown in "The Spirit of Protestantism" in which he said: "There has not been a moment in the church's life when it has not stood in need of reformation, redirection, and renewal at...
Texas Voter’s T-Shirt Sparks Controversy at Voting Location
Does a "Vote the Bible" t-shirt, worn to a voting location, violate electioneering law because it may be offensive? An election worker in Round Rock, Texas, apparently thought it did and asked citizen Kay Hill to cover...
Religion and Politics Are Poor Teammates
The tragedy of Billy Graham's endorsement of Mitt Romney is not Graham's choice for president of the United States. It would be the same had he endorsed President Obama. The tragedy is that he made an endorsement at...
Can’t get enough …
Back in the 1960s, Post cereals promoted its popular “Sugar Crisp” cereal with a singing cartoon character named Sugar Bear, who had first appeared on the Saturday morning “Linus the...
Win or Lose This Election, Don’t Jettison Integrity
Political passions run amok can be self-destructive, and in this election, I have noted that passion's target of destruction is often the Christian character of integrity. Integrity means adherence to moral and ethical...
How Could Billy Graham Miss the Main Biblical Value?
How could he, after all these years, miss the point? You'd think, after 75 years in Christian ministry, after studying the Bible even longer, after preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every corner of the world, my...
Skype Interview: Stephen Holmes on the Church-Technology Intersection
"I'm an ordained geek, I guess," says a Scottish theologian of why he cares about the church and technology. Stephen Holmes, senior lecturer in theology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, has a background...
Blind Spots
A sermon delivered Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo., on October 28, 2012. The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost Mark 10:46-52 Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22); Hebrews 7:23-28...
Stewardship, Moral Authority, and Voting
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on October 28, 2012. Matthew 25:14-30 The Parable of the Talents 14 ‘For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his...
Job: a Man in Full
A sermon delivered by Jim Somerville, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., on October 28, 2012. The Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost Job 42:1-6, 10-17 Then Job answered the Lord: 2“I know that you can do...
Lord’s Supper Meditation: The Keeper of the Bones
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on October 28, 2012. Psalm 34:1-10, 19-22; Hebrews 7:23-28 It started as a normal day for the Philistine king whose name was...
Immersed by Grace
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Senior Minister, University Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Va., on October 28, 2012. Matthew 3:13-17 Today, we’ve had the privilege of witnessing the baptism of Sophie, Lily,...
Stop! In the Name of Love
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., on October 28, 2012. Mark 10:46-52 Those of you who came of age in the sixties recognize the sermon title is not original. I am...
7 Reasons Churches Face a Conflict Pandemic
Whenever I address a group about the work our organization does, I mention that one of our frequent calls is to help a congregation, staff, judicatory or organization manage conflict. Our conflict intervention calls...
Why No Moral Outrage Over Torture
In 2004, the American Red Cross charged the U.S. military with intentionally using psychological and physical coercion tantamount to torture at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo (Gitmo). Prisoners there were: chained...
Caribbean Suffers Destruction in Hurricane’s Wake
Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), has granted an initial sum of $20,000 for relief to the Caribbean following Hurricane Sandy's passage through the northern...
Scary stuff
With "Frankenstorm" Sandy finally dissipating and glimpses of sunshine returning to the East Coast, the most frightening thing remaining are the campaign commercials, each one an attempt to decapitate an opposing...
Missouri Baptist Convention Promotes Republican Candidates
Presbyterian and Catholic politicians received recognition at a state Baptist convention just one week before Election Day. Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) leaders introduced two Republican candidates for office...