Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Interpreting the Constitution for Today’s World
A lot of people are arguing about the meaning and the use of the Constitution of the United States. When the new Congress began, a group of Republicans decided to read an edited version (one that didn't include the...
The Root and the Fruit of Sin
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on June 26, 2011. Genesis 3:1-6 Morning Prayer: O, Lord, our God, we pause in the midst of worship to ponder in silence your goodness to us...
You’re Welcome
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on June 26, 2011. Lord’s Supper Meditation: Psalm 38:1-4, 15-18; Matthew 10:40-42 We who are followers of Jesus...
Unanswered Prayers
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga., on June 26, 2011. Psalm 13 What do you do when your prayers are unanswered? This question comes to my mind as I ponder the...
God’s Great Welcome
A sermon delivered by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo., on June 26, 2011. The Second Sunday After Pentecost Matthew 10:40-42 Genesis 22:1-14; Psalm 13; Romans 6:12-23 There’s not a more...
Can a Creedless Religion Make It Another 50 Years?
BALTIMORE (RNS) A recent Sunday service at the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore ended with an apology. Laurel Mendes explained that religious doctrine had been duly scrubbed from the hymns in the congregation’s...
Liechtenstein Churches May Lose Government Support
(RNS/ENInews) Churches in Liechtenstein, one of the world’s smallest countries, could face financial disaster under government plans to withdraw state subsidies under new legislation, according to a Protestant leader....
Justices Rely on Standing in Church-state Disputes
WASHINGTON (RNS) As the U.S. Supreme Court ends its 2010-2011 term this week, legal scholars say a decision issued two months ago is likely to resonate within church-state debates for years to come. On April 4, the...
How Long Do You Think Your Church Will Survive?
A friend recently shared with me an interesting story. When his church decided to replace the sign out front, it meant that the old one had to come down before the new one went up. For about a week, there was no sign...
How to Craft a Baptist Future with the Spirit
I think I have been looking for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) all my life. Little did First Baptist Church Muskogee know that allowing girls to carry the Bible in the Vacation Bible School procession might...
Chairman: British Agency Stands Up for People of Faith
Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission will stand up for people of faith, according to chairman Trevor Phillips. However, Phillips noted there had been a perception that the commission had not done so in the...
Jesus, the true vine?
Jesus, according to John 15:1, once described himself as "the true vine." I doubt he had in mind the "kudzu Jesus" that's been making waves in Kinston, N.C. Superstitious folk have seen Jesus through the years in...
Turning the World Upside Down
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, at Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Leadership Institute, Tampa, Florida on June 22, 2011. "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil...
Turning the World Right Side Up
A sermon delivered by Kate Hanch, Children’s Pastor and Ministry Associate, preached at the Academy of Preachers Breakout Session at the CBF General Assembly on June 24, 2011. Matthew 5:43-48 Looking at our enemies...
Southern Baptists Wrestle with Gay Hoax
(RNS) Officials of the Southern Baptist Convention say they were the victims of a hoax in which a group claiming to be the denomination’s Executive Committee announced it had started to support gay marriage. A website...
Liberals Angry After Congressman’s God Comments
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (RNS) A Republican congressman from Missouri is catching flak from some liberal religious leaders for saying last week that “at the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God.” U.S. Rep. Todd...
Evangelicals, WCC, Vatican Reach Accord on Proselytizing
WASHINGTON (RNS) Christian missionaries should renounce all “deception and coercive means” of winning converts, according to an agreement released Tuesday (June 28) by a broad coalition of evangelicals, the World...
How Minority Births Will Impact Small Churches
Minorities make up the majority of babies born in the United States, according to the U.S. Census. That news will have an impact on small churches. "For the first time, minorities make up a majority of babies in the...
Exactly Which God Does Alabama’s Governor Serve?
On the day he was inaugurated, first-term governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley, announced to an audience attending an observance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that non-Christians are not his brothers and...
MMBB Gives Leadership Award to Parham
The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB) presented its first Century of Service Leadership Award to Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics and executive editor of EthicsDaily.com,...
Working for free has its rewards
Volunteer Bill Allen shows visitors to the Tennessee Aquarium the proper way to touch stingrays and sharks.By John Pierce Our daughter Meredith’s first part-time job was at a delicious barbecue restaurant in...