Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Jerusalem Should Be City of Peace for All Faiths
Glenn Beck announced in May his next rally: Restoring Courage on Aug. 24 in Jerusalem. Beck's announcement, which came two days after the 63rd anniversary of Israel's declaration of sovereignty on May 14, 1948, was in...
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Seeks Path to Future
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will meet for its 20th annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., this week. Many of us have been part of the CBF initiative from the beginning, even though our employers at the time may have...
British Baptists Urged to Make Starting Churches a Priority
Baptist churches are "complacent" about the need for church planting and have been lulled into a false sense of security by relatively healthy attendance figures, according to church planting consultant Stuart...
Bee ye kind
Bees working an oakleaf hydrangea by John PierceBy John Pierce National Pollinator Week is upon us once again and I hope you are making big plans. Even if not, the most unaware benefits greatly from nature’s some...
Postdenominational blues
When messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention gathered in Phoenix last week, the 4,800 souls present represented the smallest attendance in 67 years. That's a long time, and a long way from the days when tens of...
Rowan Williams Sparks a Political Row in England
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) Nearly a millennium ago, four unruly knights crossed the English Channel from France and confronted the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, over his feud with King Henry II. Before the...
Oregon Strips Faith-healing Parents of Legal Defenses
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Gov. John Kitzhaber has signed a new law that removes the remnants of Oregon’s legal protection for parents who rely solely on faith healing instead of traditional medical care for their children....
Left-leaning Christians to Rally around Wild Goose
DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) It’s summer. It’s hot. It’s the South. That must mean it’s time for an old-fashioned camp meeting. Next week (June 23-26), the bygone staple of the tent revival will be reincarnated on a bucolic...
Poll: Attitudes of U.S. Religious Groups toward Abortion
Life is short, and if you want to spend what's left of it examining the results of the latest poll of attitudes toward abortion, follow the link to the Public Religion Research Institute and receive the unsummarized...
Three Warnings to Prevent Social-Media Suicide
Recently I canceled my LinkedIn and Plaxo accounts. I had previously canceled my Twitter account, but now have one under @PeaceFriendsCom to promote my blog, PeaceFriends.com. I mostly look at my own family's Facebook...
Lying About History Doesn’t Help Palestinians’ Cause
Let it be said from the start that I have considerable sympathies for the Palestinians who seek a safe and rightful homeland in the West Bank and Gaza. They have been lied to and mistreated in many ways and at many...
Black Churches Push Prostate Cancer Awareness
(RNS) Thomas A. Farrington isn’t looking for cards or a tie this Father’s Day. What he really wants, he says, is for other black men sitting in the pews with a prostate cancer diagnosis to know they’re not alone. Two...
Bishops Leave Sex Abuse Policies Largely Intact
BELLEVUE, Wash. (RNS) The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to maintain current church policies on the sexual abuse of children, making only minor tweaks to guidelines that critics say...
Bishop Calls Ala. Immigration Law Nation’s Meanest
(BIRMINGHAM) A new Alabama law that makes it a crime to offer rides to undocumented immigrants is the “meanest” immigration law in the country, according to a United Methodist bishop and respected theologian. Bishop...
Forgotten Past: Religious Minority to Oppressive Majority
While attending graduate school at the University of Virginia, I had the opportunity to participate in a study that examined religion from a sociological and cultural perspective. While most of the work focused on...
When’s The Last Time You Embraced Failure?
Failure. Just saying the word in the same sentence as our name makes us nervous. Far too often, failure and ministry go together. Frequently, failure is the last word for ministers and churches. Many ministers’ inner...
Counter Protesters to Westboro Baptist Show Intolerance toward Intolerant
Police officers outnumbered protesters at the Islamic Center of Nashville. Counter protesters outnumbered both the protesters and police by 10 to 1. Three members of Westboro Baptist Church, an independent...
Superficial Faith
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on June 12, 2011. Ezekiel 13:8-16 Meditation Text: It is difficult to change one’s way of thinking. Most of us are full of biases,...
Different Gifts, Common Good
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, Farmville Baptist Church, Farmville, Va., on June 12, 2011. Pentecost Sunday Acts 2:1-21; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 Today is Pentecost Sunday, and this day is often understood...
Loving Obedience
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, Farmville Baptist Church, Farmville, Va., on May 29, 2011. Sixth Sunday of Easter John 14:15-21 “If you love me, you will obey what I command,” Jesus said to his disciples...
Even Greater Things
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, Farmville Baptist Church, Farmville, Va., on May 22, 2011. Fifth Sunday of Easter John 14:1-14 What if someone were to tell you that “You will do even greater things than...