Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
British Baptists Engage in Olympic Mission Outreach
Baptists in the United Kingdom are part of a ministry outreach by a network of churches focused on the Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in London. The Olympics will be held from July 27 to Aug. 12; the Paralympic...
What We Don’t Hear When We Listen to Society’s Noise
July 18 was "World Listening Day," and it might be a commentary on my own failure to listen well that I didn't hear about it until the day had passed. "World Listening Day" reminds me how little time and space we have...
Faith Leaders Respond to Colorado Shooting
Faith leaders are speaking out after one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. Twelve were killed and 58 wounded during a Friday midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colo. The suspect is...
Jimmy Carter Calls Christians to Return to Jesus’ Moral Agenda on Prisoners
Jesus' moral agenda is summarized in Luke 4:18-19. Unfortunately, U.S. Christians in general and Baptists in particular have neglected it, especially the part about prisoners. That was the observation of former...
A legacy, gone
The iconic statue of legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is gone, yet another victim in the ongoing child molestation scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. AP photo by John Beale, from...
Shall We Gather at the River? Maybe Not.
It almost didn't happen. There were some who said it shouldn't happen, who warned me plainly that when you hear the first distant boom of thunder at the public pool, you have to get out for at least a half hour. But...
Will Colorado Shooting Finally Move Us Toward Peace?
The last time I went to a midnight showing of a movie I was in college. The movie was "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," not exactly classy stuff, but a communal experience and part of the innocuous seeking to fit in...
European Baptists Hold Meeting on Mideast Christians
In relating to Muslims and Islam, Christians should be guided by the command of Jesus Christ to love their enemies and the appeal by the apostle Paul to overcome evil with good. Those attending a Roundtable of the...
Amazing … what?
While attending a breakout session during the Oasis music and worship conference sponsored by the Campbell University Divinity School on Wednesday, I learned that my all-time favorite hymn was not originally titled...
Why You Can’t Live in the Good Old Days
It has been the blessing of my life to have encountered some wonderful teachers. I was not very successful with my algebra teachers, but that was more my problem than theirs. But with literature and history and...
Second-Graders Know How to Respond to Homeless
My students had questions about the central character in the story "Fly Away Home" written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Ronald Himler. And even as second-graders, they knew something about the problem....
Norway Marks First Anniversary of Massacre
Only the devastation of World War II is comparable to the national grief suffered at the hands of Anders Behring Breivik, according to the general secretary of the Baptist Union of Norway. This Sunday is the first...
The Case of Mistaken Identity
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on July 15, 2012. Psalm 85:8-13; Mark 6:14-29 Envision in your mind the following scene: King Herod is holding court as he...
Think Win-Win
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on July 15, 2012. Ephesians 5:21-6:9 Morning Prayer: O God of all mercy, we pray this morning that you would make us more like Jesus. We...
Spahn and rain
Spahn's Purple HeartBy John Pierce Rain washed out batting practice and delayed the start of the Braves game last night. So my daughter Meredith and I had time to explore Turner Field — although I’m rather...
What Your Church Can Learn From a Two-Item Eatery
Let's start with a disclaimer. I know that congregations and restaurants are not in the same business. I understand that thinking like a restaurant can lead to embracing the consumer culture of the day. I know all too...
How Jewish Voters’ Views May Be Changing
Generalizing about American "people," which includes ethnic, racial or class lines, is chancy when one throws in and observes the religious factor. Certain features of any ethnic group are so prominent that the...
BWA Appoints Two New Personnel
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) formalized two appointments during a meeting of its general council in Chile on July 6. The BWA recently held its annual gathering in Santiago, Chile, from July 2-7. Rothangliani Rema...
Genetically speaking …
It's tomato season, and that always makes me happy. The little raised bed on the side of my house is producing so many tomatoes that I'm eating them two or three times per day and giving them to friends, with plenty...
Drug War Shifts to Maine’s Jails and Prisons
A man with a fake wig and beard walked into the CVS Pharmacy at Stone Street in Augusta, Maine, on May 8, handed the pharmacist a note and walked out with 2,154 30mg Oxycodone pills. The street value is $75,000. He had...
Why We Rail Against the Wrong “Common Enemy”
A perceptive member of our Sunday school class offered a concluding observation to our discussion of a period of ancient Israel's history: "It seems they were best able to overcome their tribal differences when they...