Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Great Themes of the Bible: Salvation
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on October 14, 2012. Luke 15:1-10 Morning Prayer: O God, our Father, we find comfort in the assurance that your kindness is loving and your...
Since My Youth
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on October 14, 2012. Psalm 90:12-17; Mark 10:17-31 We, you and I, may have more in common with the man in our story from...
The Heart of the Gospel
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., on October 14, 2012. Mark 10:17-31 This is a tough passage, and I wrestled with it every day last week. It contains one of the most...
Faith in the Dark
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on October 14, 2012. Job 23:1-17 23Then Job answered: 2“Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning....
Job: a Righteous Man
A sermon delivered by Jim Somerville, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., on October 14, 2012. The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost Job 23:1-9, 16-17 Today we continue a four-week journey through the Old...
The Generosity of Faith
A sermon delivered by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo., on October 14, 2012. The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost Mark 10:17-31 Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Hebrews 4:12-16 It’s...
The Hidden Danger in Your Busy Life
Whether it's the actual truth or not, when someone asks, "How are you doing?" we're most likely to answer, "Fine." My guess is that our next most common responses are "busy" and "tired." Almost 20 years ago, in her...
3 Steps to be a Successful Ministry Entrepreneur
Throughout Christian history, individuals have discovered unmet needs and stepped forward to create new strategies to meet those needs. Such efforts have given birth to monastic orders, mission boards, parachurch...
Rich Man, Poor Man “ Can You Be Both?
Though included in the Revised Common Lectionary, Luke 6:24-26 is a text rarely read in private, much less proclaimed from pulpits. Luke 6:20-23 presents the familiar and comforting parallel to Jesus' blessings in...
Hope grows …
If you've ever been inclined to give up or felt too low to grow, take heart from Methuselah -- not the guy from Genesis who reportedly lived to be 969 years old (Gen. 5:21-27), but his namesake, a six-year-old Judean...
Catchy Gangnam Style Attracts with Hidden Message
The music video "Gangnam Style" is mesmerizing and addictive. It has lots of color, action, comedy and scene changes. It is entertaining even if you do not speak or understand Korean. Psy's video has drawn mass...
Why It’s Time for Your Church to Fail
"Forget your tired old ideas about leadership. The most successful corporation of the 1990s will be something called a learning organization." – Peter Senge, "The Fifth Discipline," 1990 "If you fail at first, try, try...
Stagnant Middle Class, Super-Rich Rise Drain Economy
"It's the economy, stupid" was Bill Clinton's successful presidential campaign slogan in 1992. Economics began as the science of political economy, but now most conventional economists regard the economy as a...
Catchy “Gangnam Style” Attracts with Hidden Message
The music video "Gangnam Style" is mesmerizing and addictive. It has lots of color, action, comedy and scene changes. It is entertaining even if you do not speak or understand Korean. Psy's video has drawn mass...
What Do Our Souls Crave in Worship?
Soul music. Then sings my soul. Soul searching. I've anchored my soul in the haven of rest. Put some soul into your singing. Deep in my soul. Soul Train. (Wow, I've dated myself with that one!) We hear the word soul a...
Unitarian Universalists “ Who’s Laughing Now?
Resolve, writers on Unitarian Universalist church members, to say: "I will not begin or end my story with Unitarian Universalist jokes." Search engines will respond with numbers of such jokes; one of mine turned up...
The Role of Theological Education in Social Engagement
John Stott, in commenting on the Lausanne statement on Christian Social Responsibility, suggests that "it is our duty to be involved in socio-political action; that is, both in social action (caring for society's...
Flying pigs and bouncing kangaroos
My ears are still ringing. Even the one that's mostly deaf. Last night, in an ongoing effort to expand my cultural horizons, I attended a concert by "The Australian Pink Floyd Show" at the Durham Performing Arts...
Plummeting Protestants Become a Minority
Protestants in America made big news last week – by officially becoming a minority. A major study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life in 2007 showed that American Protestants, at 51.3 percent of the...
British Churches: Government’s Energy Bill Falls Short
Four major British denominations have warned that the government's draft energy bill would set the United Kingdom up for failure on carbon targets. The Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church, the Quakers...
Where Is the Good News?
Bad news is at every turn. Nigeria's Boko Haram kills Muslims and Christians. The Syrian government kills its own people. The war in Afghanistan extends into year 12 with thousands of deaths and half a trillion dollars...