Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Crystal Cathedral Files for Chapter 11
(RNS) The Crystal Cathedral, the gleaming Southern California megachurch known for its “Hour of Power” television broadcast, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors. Senior Pastor Sheila Schuller...
Paying Taxes: Seeking the Welfare of All
Jeremiah instructs those being sent into exile: "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you … for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7). Surely this is a statement of prophetic...
Mainstream Baptist Group in Georgia Shuts Down
I just received my copy of the Georgia Baptist Heritage Council's final newsletter. The Baptist Heritage Council was the Mainstream Baptist organization in Georgia. I'm sorry to see the organization come to an end, but...
Remembering the Woman Who Walked for Peace
"All people can be peace workers. Whenever you bring harmony into any unpeaceful situation, you contribute to the total peace picture. Insofar as you have peace in your own life, you reflect it into your surroundings...
Making the most of our narrow slice
Macon, Georgia’s downtown is filled with varied and impressive architecture. When I stroll the sidewalks — often coming down from Coleman Hill at lunch hour — I’m always impressed by the creative designs and...
Some Religious Charities Receive More Despite Overall Drop
(RNS) Several of the nation’s largest religious charities reported increases in private support as nonprofits overall saw decreases in donations last year, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported. Feed the Children,...
Archbishop of Canterbury Criticizes European Burqa Bans
NAGPUR, India (RNS/ENInews) Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams deplored attempts by European governments to prohibit Muslim women from wearing body-covering burqas in public. “Governments should have better things...
Pope Cautions Priests on Lay Movements
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI on Monday (Oct. 18) praised Catholic lay movements as a source of vocations to the priesthood, but cautioned against their potential to breed divisions among future clergy, who he...
2011 New Baptist Covenant Planning Is Under Way, Expect Great Things
Jimmy Carter walked briskly into the Zaban Room at The Carter Center last Tuesday afternoon, shook hands with invitees and invited participants to be seated. We were there for a planning meeting of the 2011 New Baptist...
Documentary Interviewees Take on “Trickle Down”
Virtually nothing of what you're about to read survived the final cut of "Sacred Texts, Social Duty." In editing any documentary, you have to cut – a lot. And you have to cut lines, explanations and scenes that you...
Why British Baptist Youth Walk Away from Church
Why are young people leaving the church when they reach their young-adult years? The Baptist Union of Great Britain's Younger Leaders' Forum relayed some of their key findings at a recent gathering. They include: · A...
Brave Heart
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga., October 17, 2010. Luke 18:1-8 I borrowed the title of the sermon today from the 1995 movie that Mel Gibson directed and...
When the Going Gets Tough
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on October 17, 2010. Psalm 119:97-104; 2 Timothy 3:14-4: An article in the latest issue of The...
Making the Best of a Bad Situation
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga., on October 10, 2010. Jeremiah 29: 1, 4-7 Did you read the best selling book, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert? It...
Nagging God
A sermon delivered by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City Mo., on October 17, 2010 Luke 18:1-8 Today’s lesson from Luke is about prayer but that doesn’t mean this is an easy Sunday or that...
Bloom Where You’re Planted
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor , Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on October 10, 2010 Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; 2 Timothy 2:8-15 Why are you here? In Little Rock, I...
Living in Exile
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, October 10, 2010. Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 As Samuel Proctor mentioned in My Moral Odyssey, the Bible is not one book. Its sixty-six separate documents...
Great Love
A sermon delivered by David Hughes, First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, Nc., on October 3, 2010. Lamentations 3:19-26 The older I get, the more amazed I am by our Bible! Take that little-read, little Old Testament...
What Attracted You to the Gospel?
A sermon delivered by Robert Browning, Pastor, Smoke Rise Baptist Church, Stone Mountain, Ga., on October 3, 2010. Communion Devotion John 3:16 What part of the gospel attracted you? Was it the message of hope? Perhaps...
Study: Fox News Watchers More Likely to Believe NYC Mosque Rumors
(RNS) Fox News watchers are more likely than other Americans to believe dubious claims about the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero, according to a new study. “The results are very clear: the more...
Chilean Archbishop Booted from Top Anglican Panel
(RNS) Chile’s top Anglican bishop has become collateral damage in the border wars between the Episcopal Church and conservatives overseas. Bishop Tito Zavala of Chile has been removed from an international commission...