Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Baptist Blogger Accuses SBC Ethics Agency Head of Plagiarism
Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, has been accused of plagiarism by a Baptist blogger. Aaron Weaver, a doctoral student at Baylor University,...
Why Post Ten Commandments and Not Sermon on the Mount?
The Ten Commandments trump the Sermon on the Mount in Tennessee, the buckle on the Bible Belt, where repeated efforts have been made to post the Ten Commandments in public buildings without corresponding efforts to...
Feeling lonely?
In 1960, Elvis Presley recorded a song that had been written in 1926, and it became an immediate hit: "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" set records for the speediest rise on the Billboard Top 40 chart and remained at Number...
Fifteen Reasons Why I Left Race
I have struggled with the concept of race since my early teens. Though race, racism, stereotypes and prejudices have been and continue to be used as a rationale for the ways of American society and its citizens, it was...
Norquist’s No-Tax Ideology Is Foolishness
Grover Norquist, a darling of the religious and political right, quipped one time that government should be reduced to a size that it can be drowned in a bathtub, and then drowned. Without a doubt this is one of the...
Traveling the Path to Civility and Peace
When I lived in Mali as a teacher, one morning Madu walked the one-kilometer path from his village to my house. He was married to Sirima and they had two children: 4-year-old Sira, who they called Bonnie, and...
Aftershock
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on April 8, 2012. Matthew 28:1-7 Meditation Text: If faith were merely learning about Jesus as a dead person in the past, there could at some...
Always Remember
A sermon delivered by Howard Batson, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Amarillo, Tx., on April 8, 2012. Luke 24:1-12 Some things are so important, so foundational to our very being that they should always be remembered. A...
Easter: When Grief Meets Hope
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., on April 8, 2012. John 20:1-18 I wonder if Mary went to bed that Saturday night. If she did, I am confident she slept little, if any....
Risen
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on April 8, 2012. John 20:1-18 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb...
Proclaimers of the Way
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, Farmville Baptist Church, Farmville, Va., on April 8, 2012. Easter Sunday Mark 16:1-20 “Did the resurrection of Jesus actually happen?” That was the question that I asked...
That Glorious Overcoming
A sermon delivered by Keith D. Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo., on April 8, 2012. Easter Sunday John 20:1-18 It is a day, golden with promise for all people of faith. It’s a day we can only...
Empty
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on April 8, 2012. Easter Sunday Isaiah 25:6-9; John 20:1-18 The second installment of the Hillcrest Farmers...
Why Creatively Outrageous Churches Will Thrive
I recently heard an interview with George Lois, a leader in the advertising world in the 1950s who helped revolutionize the industry. His innovations transformed advertising and made several of his clients into...
More States Allowing School-Bus Advertising
Recently, the Missouri House of Representatives endorsed legislation that would allow advertising on school buses. This would allow school districts to lease space on the inside and outside of their buses to private...
Will We Follow God’s Command to Care for Poor?
Thetext for today's meditation comes from The Wall Street Journal, a quotation provided by a major novelist, whose newest work was being reviewed. The quote, first: "The Lord commands us to 'do good to all men,'...
Justice for all
By John Pierce Jury duty lasted less than two full days for me — but it seemed much longer. The attorney bringing the civil case did not share my commitment (as a writer and public speaker) to the economy of...
Pink snow
Cherry blossoms in spring are among God's most beautiful gifts. One thing I particularly like about the annual show of pink and white is that the flowering trees go through obvious stages of growth, but each has its...
Fresh Expressions Unique Mission to ‘Unchurched’
"Who will never be reached with the Gospel if we only do church like we do now?" I recently joined more than a dozen other church leaders from around the country in Alexandria, Va., to explore this question with Bishop...
Does SBC Leader’s Rant Reflect God’s Love?
Richard Land, the official public voice of the Southern Baptist Convention, has denounced civil rights leaders who join other people of good will in challenging the failure of Florida officials to arrest and...
“To Kill a Mockingbird” Still Resonates Today
2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the film "To Kill a Mockingbird." USA Network just aired a fully restored version of the movie that included an introduction by President Obama. "50 years ago, a film came along that...