Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Celebrate Independence Day – for Christians
How do we celebrate Independence Day as Christians? As Americans, it's hard not to go to July 4th. But as Christians, isn't our real independence day Easter? Isn't that the day we find freedom from sin, guilt and...
Loaning Faith
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on June 24, 2012. Mark 2:1-11 Morning Prayer: O God, our Father, we pray today for neighbors, friends, co-workers, fellow students, people...
Gospel For The Overwhelmed
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on June 24, 2012. Mark 4:35-41 35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And...
Water Proof Faith
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., on June 24, 2012. Mark 4: 35-41 What is the relationship between fear and faith? How does faith help us get through a crisis? These...
Lord’s Supper Meditation: An Open Heart
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on June 24, 2012. Psalm 107:1-9; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 I doubt that any of us enjoys being around pushy people... which makes...
Evangelism “ Forcing Doctrine or Reflecting Love
For the last few weeks, I have been teaching a class at the IndonesianConsortiumforReligiousStudies as a Fulbright scholar on the Gadjah Mada University campus. The vast majority of my class is Muslim. The class I am...
Baptists Prepare for Global Meeting in Chile
Baptists from across the world are preparing to attend the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Annual Gathering in Santiago, Chile, from July 2-7. The gathering includes times for worship, fellowship, theological reflection...
Why Does God Ignore Our Fasting, Prayers?
Four generations ago, the white church in the Deep South launched the Confederacy with prayer and fasting. Faithful Christians cried out to God, certain their cause was righteous; their war, holy. As the Civil War...
Fig-uratively speaking …
It's a known fact that I'm a big fan of figs: few things are better straight from the tree, and this year my tree (really more of a bush) is loaded. Squash in the foreground, hungry holly to the rightThe tree is an...
First U.S. Missionaries’ Legacy Continues in Myanmar
Two hundred years ago this month, the first foreign missionaries from the United States arrived in India. The famous "haystack prayer meeting" in 1806 led to the forming of the American Board of Commissioners for...
Baptist Luncheon in Texas Explores Forbidden Topic
Faith and taxes - a forbidden topic in many houses of faith - was the focus on the Baptist Center for Ethics' annual luncheon during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's 2012 General Assembly. Held in Fort Worth,...
Building Interfaith Dialogue Through Relationships
It was a Muslim friend of mine, a cleric, who once pointed out to me how artificial our practice of Christian-Muslim dialogue was. Our usual idea of interfaith dialogue is an officially organized session where one or...
Sad on many levels
By John Pierce Sad. Very sad, on many levels. That was my reaction to a well-researched, well-written article in the Sunday edition of The Chattanooga Times-Free Press. It focused on Matt and Frances Nevels, whose...
High Court Erases State’s Corrupt Practices Act
The U.S. Supreme Court summarilyreversed the Montana Supreme Court's ruling that held that the higher court's Citizens United decision did not invalidate Montana's Corrupt Practices Act. Passed by a citizen's...
Seeing the Priest Shortage Through One Man’s Story
Surveys, statistics, data, graphs and trend studies have their place when we look at and analyze the "church life" (and "synagogue life," and all the rest) that makes up a major part of "public religion," (our weekly...
Court Ruling on Arizona’s Immigration Law Calls for Moral Education
Reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's mixed decision on Arizona's controversial immigration law signals that much work remains before consensus can be reached over comprehensive immigration reform. Much of that work...
Spirit feeling heavy?
Perhaps you've heard the biblical expression that one should "test the spirits" (1 John 4:1) as a way of weeding out false prophets. Have you considered weighing the spirit? In today's News & Observer, columnist...
Why Did Jesus Speak in Parables?
Those of us who have read the Gospels, or who are even remotely familiar with the teachings of Jesus, know that he often spoke in parables. Indeed, Jesus tells more than 40 parables, many that are very familiar, such...
Will New Government Resolve Greece’s Debt Crisis?
The Greeks held another national election on June 17 and it now appears that a coalition government can be pieced together. It is not yet clear, however, what, if anything, the fragile,...
Rio Summit Disappoints British Denominations
Three major British churches have voiced their disappointment that the United Nations' Rio+20 Earth Summit has not made progress on the environmental challenges that face the global community. The Methodist Church,...
A kind and supportive man remembered
By John Pierce Aubrey L. Hawkins approved my employment although I was young, single and nearing seminary graduation. It was the middle point that had stirred some curiosity. In general terms, he had indicated to my...