Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Evangelicals Line Up Behind Rick Perry
(RNS) From media mavens to grassroots activists, conservative Christian leaders are heaping praise on presidential candidate Rick Perry, an early but important show of support from a vital GOP constituency. Initially...
Catholics Warn of National Conflict over Gay Marriage
NEW YORK (RNS) The nation’s top Catholic bishop issued a stern challenge to the Obama administration’s decision not to support a federal ban on gay marriage, and warned the president that his policies could...
Pope Begins First State Visit to Homeland
BERLIN (RNS) Thousands of people turned out Thursday (Sept. 22) for Pope Benedict XVI’s first official visit to his native Germany, although at times it was hard to tell if people were there to welcome him or denounce...
Why Christians Ignore Jesus’ Call to Nonviolence
The heart of Jesus' message is the desire for peace. At one level, Jesus called people to follow him as a path to finding peace with God. Yet, at a more experiential level, Jesus called people to be at peace with one...
Documentary Screenings Shine Light on Immigration in N.C.
A bivocational Hispanic pastor told an interfaith gathering at First Baptist Church of Greensboro, N.C., about how stressful the threat of deportation had been for him and his family – the rest of whom are U.S....
College Football Pursues Big Money, Gives off Plantation Whiff
Legendary football coach Bobby Bowden spoke at the first Baptist Center for Ethics conference in 1992. The now retired Florida State University coach drew to an ethics conference folk who probably would never have...
Fate of Goodness
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on September 18, 2011. Getting Serious: Loving Goodness Luke 5:1-11 Morning Prayer: Merciful Father, whose faithfulness overcomes our frailty...
Gracious Generosity
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, Farmville Baptist Church, Farmville, Va., on September 18, 2011. Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 20:1-16 Our Gospel lesson this morning is often called the...
The Pouting Prophet
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., September 18, 2011. Jonah 3:10-4:11; Philippians 1:21-30 What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the...
The Anchor Of Hope
A sermon delivered by Howard Batson, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Amarillo, Tx., on September 18, 2011. Hebrews 6:13-20 (some ideas and language borrowed from Tom Wright, Hebrews for Everyone) Sir Frances Drake was an...
Religious Groups Latch On to the Groupon Craze
CHICAGO (RNS) Social deals are going spiritual. Inspired by their religious callings—and the $713 million in revenue that social deal pioneer Groupon took in last year—a growing number of entrepreneurs are making a go...
Clock Is Ticking for Religious Freedom Panel
WASHINGTON (RNS) The independent and bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom could be forced to shut its doors if the Senate does not vote by week’s end to reauthorize the panel. The commission...
Catholics Asked to Fight Birth Control Insurance Rule
(RNS) Catholics around the country are being asked to object in writing to a new federal rule that will require Catholic ministries to offer birth control coverage to their employees. In particular, Catholic bishops...
God’s Harvest in Our Lives
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, September 18, 2011. Matthew 13:23 23But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who...
Jewish Holy Days Emphasize Forgiveness, Peace
We Jews are in the early weeks of our fall holy day period. There are three parts to this season that are of spiritual interest: Selichot, Yamim Noraim and Sukkot. The month of Elul is the final month of the Jewish...
Salvation’s About Much More Than Going to Heaven
Some Christians have a narrow understanding of salvation that makes it all about the afterlife (going to heaven). They think they know who has it and who doesn't, who's in and who's out, and they consider the work of...
Does Mormonism Have an Influence on Economics?
The late superstar economist Milton Friedman once delivered himself of a world-weary judgment by reference to the late economist John Maynard Keynes, that "we" – Americans? – "are all Keynesians now." We weren't, and...
A Memorial of Forgiveness
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, Farmville Baptist Church, Farmville, Va., on September 11, 2011. Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost Matthew 18:21-35 Today marks the ten-year anniversary of the terrorist...
The Sermon I Don’t Want To Preach
A sermon delivered by Howard Batson, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Amarillo, Tx., on August 7, 2011. Luke 16:19-31 He is a master communicator, and I have no doubt teaches and writes with the best of intentions. I...
Peace, please
Today is World Peace Day, though you wouldn't know it from all the hatred, heat, and smoke rising from discussions at the United Nations, the halls of Congress, or most any place that campaining politicians happen to...
Atheists press to ban creationism from U.K. schools
LONDON (RNS) A group of 30 leading scientists, including a Nobel laureate and a prominent atheist professor, are pressing the British government to ban all teaching of creationism in the nation’s publicly funded...