Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Muslims More Diverse Than Cable TV Images
A few weeks ago, I left Cairo after living in Egypt for two years. I loved my time there. I worked first as a copywriter and editor, and then as an English teacher, living through the uprising that toppled former...
Setting off our alarms
By John Pierce My daughters and I caught the movie Trouble with the Curve on Saturday — the day after attending the big celebration of Chipper Jones’ baseball career exclusively with the Atlanta Braves. I...
Are Baptists Protestants?
Are Baptists Protestants? I have pondered this question as I have attended the Assembly of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) in the beautiful city of Florence, Italy, during these past days. The...
God’s Bouncers Protect Their Rules at All Costs
When it comes to bars and such, I'm hardly a habitué. But I do know what a bouncer is. It is his responsibility to make sure the patrons, due to the excessive use of libations, do not get out of hand. If they do, the...
Flimsy Papyrus Draws Itchy Ears
A fragment has caused a global flutter about historic Christianity. The claim that Jesus was married has flashed around the world, saturating newspapers, online sources and TV news shows. It has sparked unbridled...
How You Can Be a Good Steward of Your Words
If we priced and valued words as we do commodities, on the basis of supply and demand, then words would be dirt-cheap these days. There are more words available in the cultural marketplace than ever before:...
Does Latest “Jesus Christ Superstar” Do Justice to Jesus?
A new production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" opened in London this month to the delight of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who told the opening night audience that he had waited 42 years for this. Hugging his "latest"...
“The Master”
Director Paul Thomas Anderson does more than just put pictures up on a screen. He is an artist that creates a canvas, lush and beautiful. Then he coaxes performances from actors that are some of the best in current...
Our Questions and God’s Answers
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on September 23, 2012. Mark 9:30-37 30They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it;...
Walking the Walk
A sermon delivered by Jim Somerville, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., on September 23, 2012. The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost James 3:13 - 4:8a After spending a few weeks preaching from James I think...
God’s Mission, Our Passion
A sermon delivered by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo., on September 23, 2010. Isaiah 65:17-25 The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost Today, worship has a particular focus to it. We’re...
King Of The Hill
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on September 23, 2012. Psalm 1:1-6; Mark 9:30-37 Sometimes I tend to look at scripture from a three-dimensional perspective....
Great Themes of the Bible: Humanity
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on September 23, 2012. 2 Peter 1:3-9 Morning Prayer: Teach us, our Father, once again to trust you and to surrender our hearts to you. We...
Who Is the Greatest Person You Know?
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., on September 23, 2012. Mark 9:30-37 Today, we’ll examine a story which does not flatter the disciples. They come across as confused,...
Technology and intimacy
I recently had the chance to sit in on a day-long seminar at the fall meeting of the North Carolina Psychological Association. The topic should interest most anyone concerned with keeping families together in today's...
Skype Interview: Cindy Dawson Discusses Global Women
The director of an ecumenical Christian organization says it "prays, gives, goes and does" to help women across the globe. "Our work is guided by a vision of a world where every woman is empowered by the love of God,...
Why Do Churches Sing About ‘Bringing in the Sheets’?
I have always loved congregational singing. When I was a preschooler on Sunday mornings, the congregation often sang, "Bringing in the Sheaves." I had no idea what sheaves were, so my young mind translated sheaves into...
British DVD Explores Common Spiritual Questions
"What's the point? Why am I here? Can we possibly be on our own?" Many have these kinds of questions about the nature of life – and now there is a new resource to help explore them in a Christian context. "Question" is...
Boundaries 101: How They Keep Your Church Healthy
The headlines are relentless. I wince every time I hear of a minister violating sexual or moral boundaries. I listen sadly as clergy describe unrealistic demands placed upon them by their congregation. Over the years,...
When You Must Choose Between Competing Rights
Stupidity breeds stupidity. That's the only lesson one can draw from yet another exhibition of scurrilous anti-Islamic propaganda (in the U.S. and later in France), followed by mob hysteria and the shedding of innocent...
Why Tiny Papyrus Triggered a Big Media Stir
Vying for space and time on the religion-and-media front this week -- in competition with presidential campaigns, Muslim extremist riots and almost numberless other stirs – has been the attention given to a tiny piece...