Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Catholic Church Provides Moral Gravitas to Occupy Wall Street
The Vatican issued a moral statement favoring regulation of the financial markets for the sake of the common good, while right-wing leaders besmirched the character of those protesting for the reform of Wall Street....
Getting Serious: Loving Missions We’re the Witnesses
A sermon delivered by, Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on October 16, 2011. Acts 2:22-36 Morning Prayer: O God of every heart and Lord over all the earth, we pray today for those who do not know...
Lord’s Supper Meditation: The Consolation Prize
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on October 23, 2011 Deuteronomy 34:1-12; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Have you ever thought about what you’ve...
Fruit That Won’t Spoil
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, on October 23, 2011. John 15:16 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the...
Scandalous Prayer
A sermon delivered by David Hughes, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, Nc., on October 9, 2011. Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106: 1-6, 19-23; Philippians 4:4-7 When I think back to prayers I’ve heard in church over...
Meditation of My Heart
A sermon delivered by David Hughes, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, Nc., on October 2, 2011. Psalm 19 Would you pray with me? (And now) let the words of my mouth and...
The Discipline Of Humility
A sermon delivered by David Hughes, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, Nc., on September 25, 2011. Philippians 2:1-13 If you were a student of Greek mythology, you will remember the name, “Narcissus.” ...
Faith Groups Target Super Committee
WASHINGTON (RNS) As the deadline for a federal deficit-reduction plan looms, religious communities are holding prayer vigils, phoning politicians and organizing letter campaigns in a bid to protect safety net programs...
Amish Bernie Madoff Won’t Fight Fraud Charges
SUGARCREEK, Ohio (RNS) An investment broker dubbed the “Amish Bernie Madoff” has decided not to fight federal charges that he defrauded thousands of investors out of nearly $17 million. Monroe Beachy, 77, intends to...
Activists Bemoan Low Priority Given to Religious Freedom
WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious freedom advocates on Wednesday (Oct. 26) lamented America’s failure to protect the faithful abroad, saying things have gotten worse, not better, since the issue first gained traction more...
Embracing the Margins of Society in the Inner City
Visiting UrbanExpression teams in Manchester, England, recently, we found ourselves in somewhat unusual surroundings. In the space of eight hours, we visited a children's center, a supermarket, the Rampant Lion pub,...
Five Strategies to Give CBF a Solid Future
In response to my recent column on the way forward for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a friend suggested that I was dealing with reorganization of the national entity. Actually, I am suggesting not reorganization but...
We May Not Feel Rich in the U.S. “ But We Are
We have always been told that we Americans are blessed. We are the wealthiest nation in the world and are viewed with envy by the rest of the "poor" world. In fact, with a population of 307 million among a world...
Something worth reading
My colleague Barry Jones recently pointed me to an article by Mark Noll that reviews two recent books on Baptist history. In "So You're a Baptist: What Might That Mean?" Noll reviews the wide variety of Baptist bodies...
Clergy Petition Village Voice to Drop Ads Linked to Sex Trafficking
(RNS) Three dozen religious leaders have signed an ad calling on Village Voice Media to remove an adult section of its BackPage.com that they and others claim is a conduit for child sex trafficking. “As moral and...
Muslims Combat Radicalization with Online Tools
WASHINGTON (RNS) A Muslim organization is working to counter radicalization by providing the work of progressive Islam scholars online in simple, youth-friendly language. Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), a...
Muslims Call for Reforms 10 Years after Patriot Act
(RNS) A Muslim civil rights group is accusing the FBI and other federal agencies of “bad policing” and flaunting the Constitution in a 56-page report released to mark the 10th anniversary of the Patriot Act. The...
Why Baptists Should Know Their Own History
The news that the Angus Library in Great Britain has secured funding to help make Baptist history more widely known is very welcome. As a nation, Britain seems to be obsessed by history – partly, perhaps, because we...
Six Trends Suggest Churches’ Influence Waning
In his new book, "American Religion: Contemporary Trends," Professor Mark Chaves of Duke University identifies six new trends affecting U.S. congregations, including small churches. In the chapter titled simply...
Many in the 99 Percent Are Far From Poverty
I received a communication by email declaring, authoritatively, that "Jesus is with the 99%." How reassuring! But I have my doubts. And for all sorts of reasons. To be a theological stickler – and I'll get that part...
Vatican Blasts Idolatry of Global Markets
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Blaming the world’s economic and financial crisis on an “economic liberalism that spurns rules and controls,” the Vatican on Monday (Oct. 24) released an ambitious proposal for global regulation of...