Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
How One Person Can Build a Better Community
Every morning at 7:15, the doors of our school open wide to a line of bus riders ready to come inside. "Hello, Jaheem. Hi, Kiara. Hey, Imani. Hope you're having a good day, Omar," I call out as the students walk past...
Romans 13 Is Weak Proof-Text for Anti-Immigration Church Members
What does Romans 13 say about immigration? Nothing. Not a word. The word doesn't even appear in the passage. Yet Romans 13 is the text of choice for those who favor anti-immigration legislation. Romans 13:1-7 says in...
How much to vote?
I took advantage of "early voting" in North Carolina today, stopping by a nearby early polling place to participate in the great American privilege of casting my ballot, voting my conscience, contributing my voice to...
“Street Paper”
The documentary "Street Paper" is a good example of why we need film festivals. The feature project, which made its world premiere at the 43rd installation of the Nashville Film Festival, covers TheContributor, the...
Does House GOP Fail Abiding Test of God’s Love?
The issue biblically isn't, this time, only or even primarily about keeping one's word, although that feature of integrity is indeed part of the whole picture – as it is so often. But no, in this case, the New...
Being Thankful for Impact of an Opinionated Woman
If you ever have the opportunity to visit Wingate University in Wingate, N.C., you will most likely see the Ethel K. Smith Library. In the early 1980s, I had the privilege of serving as Ethel's pastor. I was a seminary...
Gut Fear and Boundless Joy
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., on April 22, 2012. Luke 24:36-48 Did you see the farewell flight of the space shuttle Discovery on Tuesday of last week? After...
The Day Jerusalem and Amarillo had the Same Weather Forecast
A sermon delivered by Howard Batson, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Amarillo, Tx., on April 22, 2012. Acts 2:1-13 Someone has said the search for energy is a history of humankind. With energy source prices reaching...
Applause “ The Hidden Addiction in Churches
You know all too well that our society is prone to addictions. We do nearly everything to excess. Not just the obvious culprits: alcohol, gambling, painkillers, sex, work. There are a multitude of things which, done in...
Rescuing Creation-Talk “ From All Sides
Two years ago, the American molecular biologist-cum-venture capitalist Craig Venter and his research team made a spectacular breakthrough. After years of painstaking work, they assembled in the laboratory a complete...
Should We Blame God for Tragedies, Deaths?
All have faced, or will face, tragedy, misery, illness and death. Events will occur that appear unfair, leading most of us to question if any sense of cosmic justice and mercy truly exists. Natural disasters will claim...
Pressure
It's amazing what pressure can do. When I walked into my office on Tuesday, the door to my little dorm-size refrigerator was standing open and the bottom of it was filled with spilled Diet Pepsi Lime, which had...
Finding Peace When There Is No More Medication
I live with elevated blood pressure and take daily medication to lower it. The reason for my high blood pressure is irrelevant at this point. When I forget to take my medication, I get a headache. If I forget to take...
Catholic and Baptist Bodies Screen Immigration Documentary
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), will screen EthicsDaily.com's documentary GospelWithoutBorders in May at its nationalconference in Austin, Texas. Created in 1988 by the United States Conference...
With No Pat Answers, Faith Must Embrace Mystery
I recently renamed my blog. This is trivial information for anyone other than me, yet the motivation behind the change might prove meaningful. I recently began re-reading one of my favorite books, "Pilgrim at Tinker...
Real Leaders Inspire Others to Do Better
In an essay about the 2000 presidential election, David Foster Wallace wondered why so many potential voters, especially younger ones, seemed so "uninterested in politics." He concluded that, more than anything else,...
Greece’s Economy Hitting Immigrants Hardest
In 1623, just eight years before his own death, the English metaphysical poet John Donne wrote several works that were published under the not-so-spiffy marketing title, "Devotions upon Emergent Occasions." While few...
Today’s Nativism Traces Back to Anti-Catholic Roots
We live in an increasingly diverse society, which has led to what we might call a nativist backlash. "America for Americans," you might say, but who is an American? Nativism isn't new, as we can see by looking back in...
Coincidence or Providence on Way to New Baptist Covenant III Meeting?
Thursday was a very good day - personally and for goodwill Baptists. It began at 1:13 a.m. with a confusing awareness that the hotel fire alarm was screeching, beeping, bleeping - however one would describe that sound....
Single Adults: An Endangered Species in Churches?
They are all around us – no matter where we live. They are so common that they seem invisible, or at least that's often how they feel. "It wasn't that I was treated badly. It's just that I was completely ignored."...
SBC Agency to Investigate Land’s Plagiarism
A Southern Baptist Convention agency board announced last week plans to investigate charges of plagiarism against Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). "[W]e are reverently...