Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Do Atheists Have a Sexism Problem?
(RNS) Rebecca Watson meant it as a funny story, almost an aside. In a video blog, the popular skeptic blogger recalled a man following her into an empty elevator and inviting her up to his room after she spoke about...
Lawyers Say Faith-healing Parents Unfairly Targeted
OREGON CITY, Ore. (RNS) Attorneys for two parents vowed to show that prosecutors engaged in “meddling, interference and questionable conduct” in charging the couple in the 2009 faith-healing death of their newborn son....
Panel Busts Immigration Myths, Questions System
After the premier screening of the documentary "Gospel Without Borders" on Sept. 13 in Little Rock, Ark., panelists passionately stretched the boundaries of perceptions about immigration - from myths and stereotypical...
Perry Continues to Court Evangelicals
As Rick Perry jumps to the front of the Republican presidential polls, he continues to meet with and speak to conservative evangelical groups as a key campaign strategy. The Texas governor, who officially entered the...
Many Work Hard But Can’t Earn What They Need
It seems so blatantly unfair, doesn't it? Even unjust. Jesus tells this story of a vineyard owner who had fields that needed tending. Early in the morning, the vintner goes to that place where day laborers gather to...
Tears of Sorrow; Seeds of Hope
A sermon delivered by, Robert Browning, Pastor, Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga., on September 11, 2011. Isaiah 1:16-20 Where were you when you heard the news of the Attack on America? I was away from...
Unforgettable
A sermon delivered by David Hughes, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, Nc., on September 11, 2011. Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 114 I have forgotten far more than I remember about the events of my 59-year long...
The Other Way
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor , Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., onSeptember 11, 2011 Psalm 119:33-40; Matthew 5:38-48 On this day of commemoration of the events that...
The Stories We Tell
A sermon delivered byJennifer Dault Harris at Overland Baptist Church, Overland, Mo., on Sept. 11, 2011. Luke 24:13-32 Storytelling is a natural part of our lives. I often run into several of you at Cooperative Baptist...
Waiting for Crumbs
A sermon delivered byJennifer Dault Harris at Grace United Church of Christ in St. Louis, Mo., on Aug. 14, 2011. Matthew 15:21-28 Have you ever eaten dog food? When I was an elementary school student, I remember going...
Seeing Justice through God’s Eyes
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on September 11, 2011 Words are not adequate to describe the shock, anger, and sorrow that people around the world experienced...
Mentoring matters
By John Pierce While many sports fans turn their attention solely to football this time of year, I really enjoy the final weeks of baseball leading into the post-season. I try to milk all of pleasure out of these...
Some Churches Cancel Sunday School, Put Parents in Charge
(RNS) Don’t look for children’s Sunday school classes at Ridgewood Church in Port Arthur, Texas. And forget about scavenger hunts and water park trips: the youth ministry is no more. Sound like a dying church? No, it’s...
Presbyterians Target Caterpillar for Divestment
(RNS) A Presbyterian Church (USA) committee will recommend that the church add heavy equipment giant Caterpillar to its divestment list because the company profits from the “non-peaceful” use of its products by Israel...
Vatican Gives Conservative Group an Ultimatum
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Reconciliation between the pope and a schismatic group is impossible unless the group accepts the last half-century of modernizing reforms in the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican said on Wednesday...
Prayer: The Most Natural (and the Oddest) Activity
The prayer to which Jonathan Edwards, general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, has called British Baptists is at once the most natural of human activities – and the oddest. We turn automatically to...
Like Summer Rain, Prayer Can Nourish, Refresh
When I look out my window or walk outside, I cannot help but notice the lush color of the grass and trees surrounding me. The begonias in my window boxes, which weeks ago were in a heat-induced coma and grasping for...
Executing People Just Because the Law Says We Can
Georgia has set an execution date – again – for Troy Davis, accused, convicted and sentenced in 1991 for the murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. Seven of the nine witnesses have recanted the testimony used...
A needed amendment?
North Carolina lawmakers have decided, by the narrowest of margins, that Tarheel voters should join the party of 30 other states by spending millions of dollars and tons of time on a divisive and unnecessary amendment...
Swell of Clergy Rallies Around Ga. Death Row Inmate
(RNS) In a last-minute bid to stop a Sept. 21 execution in Georgia, religious leaders have rallied in previously unseen numbers to call for clemency for death row inmate Troy Davis. As of Tuesday (Sept. 13), more than...
Victims Say Criminal Charges Against Pope Aren’t a Stunt
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A campaign to hold the pope responsible for “crimes against humanity” is not a publicity stunt, sex abuse victims say, even as experts doubt it will have much success at the International Criminal...