Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Anti-Mormon Bias Persistent in Presidential Politics
(RNS) On June 27, 1844, vigilantes cornered a man who claimed to receive messages from God and gunned him down in an Illinois jail after his arrest. At the time of his death, Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the Church of...
Why Strategic Planning for Churches Wastes Your Time
Time for a confession. Let me tell you a consultant's dirty little secret: Congregational strategic planning is frequently a waste of time and can be counterproductive. There, it's out. Now, it's time to explain. Many...
Pundits Blast Unemployed; Faith Leaders Silent
Twice in the last four years I have spied Benton Harbor, Mich., a once flourishing factory town that has suffered all manner of ills: bad leadership, racial conflicts and more. Its downtown is ghostly. The most...
Tenn. Faith Leaders To Gather Out of Concern for Anti-Immigration Legislation
Some 300 middle-Tennessee leaders of faith are expected to attend a Nov. 30 breakfast in Nashville, Tenn., focused on faith and immigration. Organized by Clergy for Tolerance, the keynote speaker is scheduled to be...
Beer as an impetus for civilization?
A listserve I subscribe to offers a regular smorgasbord of news and announcements relative to ancient Near Eastern studies. An article on Sumerian beer recently caught my eye. I'm not a big fan of beer, but I'm keen on...
Religious Groups Spend Nearly $400 million on D.C. Advocacy
WASHINGTON (RNS) The number of religious advocacy groups in the nation’s capital has more than tripled since the 1970s, with conservative groups seeing the biggest growth, according to a new report. Together,...
Workplace Religious Complaints Double in Last Decade
CLEVELAND (RNS) Northeast Ohio native Suhad Hasan says neither her Muslim faith nor her headscarf should be an issue where she works. But she said they were while she was a sales associate at the Old Navy clothing...
Poll: Mitt Romney’s Mormonism Could Be a Primary Problem
(RNS) If Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney can secure the nomination, his Mormon faith shouldn’t be an obstacle for voters in the general election, according to a survey released Wednesday (Nov. 23). That...
Baptist Journal Releases Volume on Racism
The new issue of a prestigious Baptist theological journal focuses on the longstanding problem among Baptists – race – but with a different twist. The fall 2011 volume of the Review & Expositor presents "examples...
5 Ways to Help Your Minister Survive Advent
Advent offers a busy beginning to the church's year for most of us; we look forward to the parties and special church programs. Of course, there is another side to this saga. Advent can drain the life out of ministers...
New Bible Includes the Word “Immigrant,” Brings Moral Clarity
The word "immigrant" now appears in a new translation of the Bible, replacing the word "stranger" or "alien." This is a concretizing and humanizing improvement of the biblical witness, removing the moral abstraction of...
Sports … and space
It's not just turkey, ham, and pumpkin pie that we see in bulk at Thanksgiving: the weekend provides an oversupply of fodder for sports gluttons, as well. I rarely watch any football game that doesn't involve the...
Read it again
By John Pierce As we all know, Jesus was born about two millennia ago — surrounded by his young parents, a disgruntled innkeeper, a donkey, three wisemen and some startled shepherds. That happened some 4,000...
Our Culture Tells Poor Kids: You Have No Value
"If you could open your mailbox and find anything inside, what would it be?" I asked a small group of second-graders after we read a story about a mole who opened her mailbox and found a kite. I expected them to answer...
Do You Get It? Generous God = Generous Followers
Except for that dramatic encounter on the road to Damascus, the actual connections between Paul and Jesus aren't all that clear. Certainly this earliest of our Christian writers heard first-hand the oral traditions...
The Sheep and The Goats
A sermon delivered by Randy L. Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on November 20, 2011. Ezekiel 34:11-22; Matthew 25:31-46 May I be perfectly honest with you? This parable we...
Where Do You See Jesus?
A sermon delivered by Jennifer Harris Dault at Southwest Baptist Church, St. Louis, Mo., on November 20, 2011. Matthew 25:31-46 Allyn and I recently moved into downtown St. Louis. Prior to that, we lived in the county,...
What is church?
A sermon delivered by Kathy Pickett, Pastor of Congregational Life, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo., shared at Spring Creek Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, Ok., on November 20, 2011. Matthew 18: 20, Matthew...
The Value of Gratitude
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort, Ky., on November 20, 2011. Psalm 92:1-5 They hit the grocery store shelves over fifty years ago and were an instant success. However, had...
New Creation Fruitfulness
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on November 20, 2011. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;* even though...
Do the Work
A sermon delivered by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo., on November 20, 2011. Christ the King Sunday Matthew 25:31-46 I’m not much of a fan of reality TV but I’m smart enough to...