Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Stretching
Today is the first Sunday of Lent -- plenty time for folks who gave up chocolate to be sneaking a taste here and there, or daring to debate whether Sundays count, since they're not included in the official 40 days of...
Lent: A Call to Enter God’s New Realm of Love
If only that committee assigned the task of determining which biblical text goes where and when in the lectionary readings had shown a little discipline. The members of the committee should have been well aware that...
Those Who Break Boundaries Give Us Courage
I must confess that I am a huge fan of the space program. From the launch of Sputnik in 1957, through the moon landing in 1969, and everything that has happened since, the exploration of space has piqued my interest...
Faith Leaders Urge Presidential Candidates to Keep Anti-Immigration Rhetoric out of Tennessee
Editor's note: This column appeared Wednesday in the Tennessean. Clergy for Tolerance continues to gather signatures from clergy who support the letter to presidential candidates. To read more and to sign the letter,...
The Big Ask
A sermon delivered by David Hughes, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, Nc., on February 19, 2012. 2 Kings 2:1-12 Many years ago when I was in college I worked as a student social worker one summer in the...
Do You Have a Mother-in-Law Story?
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., on February 19, 2012. Mark 1:29-39 I had the finest mother-in-law a person could ever want. She was as good to me as my own mother....
Look and Listen!
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, Farmville Baptist Church, Farmville, Va., on February 19, 2012. Transfiguration Sunday Mark 9:2-9 Today is the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany in our church calendar. ...
On Keeping it to Yourself
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on February 19, 2012. Psalm 50:1-6; Mark 9:2-9 Our gospel reading says that Jesus’ clothing “became dazzling white, such as...
Thin Places
A sermon delivered by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City Mo., on February 19, 2012 Transfiguration Sunday Mark 9:2-9 We hold this sacred story in the ordinary hands of our humanity and...
Healed!
A sermon delivered by David Hughes, Pastor, First Baptist Church,Winston-Salem, Nc., on February 12, 2012. 2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; Mark 1:40-45 To this day very few Americans, including President Obama, know which...
The Authority Question
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on February 19, 2012. Mark 2:1-12 2When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2So many...
Shadow’s not the only One who knows
By John Pierce Our daughter saw her shadow yesterday. Not sure if that provides any revelation about the coming of spring. She's not a groundhog and it wasn't Groundhog Day. And waking up to 63 degrees and hearing the...
Why Church Will Never Change Some Folks
In the late 1970s, when Anita and I were in seminary in Louisville, Ky., my maternal grandparents, who lived four hours away in Huntington, W.Va., were the relatives to whom we most closely lived. Whenever we could,...
What Atheism Can Learn from Religion
Notice: This is an alert, not a review. Repeat: This is an alert, not a review. In our sights this week – they would be hard to miss – are notices of Alain de Botton's "Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to...
EthicsDaily.com Website Tweaked for 2012
The website EthicsDaily.com launched several new features today. Chief among the new developments for the Nashville-based media outlet is an initiative involving Skype interviews with global experts on issues affecting...
Southern born, southern bred …
The long-awaited report of a committee tasked with suggesting a new name for the Southern Baptist Convention is finally in, and once again the old name has won the day. Despite pleas that the name's regional...
Court Says Quebec Parents Can’t Pull Students Out of Religion Class
TORONTO (RNS) Canada's highest court has ruled that children in Quebec schools cannot opt out of a course on ethics and world religions. The Supreme Court on Feb. 17 unanimously rejected an appeal from Catholic parents...
Rick Santorum Defends Views on Obama’s Theology
WASHINGTON (RNS) Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum, leading the GOP field in national polls, is defending his views questioning prenatal testing and President Obama's "theology." The unapologetic advocacy...
President Obama’s Five Most Personal Religious Statements
(RNS) In recent days, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum has criticized President Obama for having a "phony theology" not based on the Bible, and prominent evangelist Franklin Graham has said he does not know if...
Reconciliation: Tearing Down Racial Barriers
Editor's note: This is part two of a two-part series. Read part one here. Almost 50 years ago, a Baptist minister stood before a sea of hopeful people in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial to share the dream God had...
Why You Are Better Off with the EPA
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in 1970 under President Nixon. According to its website, "The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment." Thanks to the EPA,...