Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Ten Suggestions to Guide Baptists in Their Future
When I delivered a speech at the Centenary Congress of the Baptist World Alliance in Birmingham, England, in 2005, I quoted a famous sports philosopher, Yogi Berra. He coined several deceptively simplistic and...
County Pays Price for Ten Commandments Monument
News reports are indicating that an agreement has been reached to settle the legal costs for the lawsuit that required Haskell County in Oklahoma to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the lawn of its county...
The Lesson of Manna
A sermon delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Rome, Ga., on July 25, 2010. Exodus 16:1-5 Morning Prayer: O God, your law is inevitable. Though we rebel, ignore it, or pretend it does not apply to...
‘Aunt Susan’ makes us more accepting
A hefty advance proof of American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us arrived yesterday. Professors Robert D. Putnam of Harvard and David E. Campbell of Notre Dame have compiled and interpreted significant new...
Churches “ The Place We Should Be Truly Honest
A successful Web/IT developer recently said in his thought-provoking blog that he knows a lot of people who want to pull the plug on Facebook and other social media because the technologies set up a shell of who they...
Is Sen. Webb Right? Whites Are Victims of Racism?
Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) recently wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal titled "Diversity and the Myth of White Privilege." He argued: "After a full generation of [the Civil Rights] debate, WASP elites have fallen...
South Africa to Host Baptist World Congress in 2015
(BWA) – The next meeting of the Baptist World Congress will be held in South Africa in 2015, according to the Baptist World Alliance. Neville Callam, BWA general secretary, made the announcement during the BWA...
Planning a head
The view from atop Oahu's famed Diamond Head (in the background of this small wedding) requires a fairly strenuous climb up a steep trail nearly a mile long, but it's worth every step. Guidebooks encourage climbers to...
American Government Finds Truth Too Inconvenient to Act
The White House and U.S. Senate lost their moral courage and missed a "fullness of time" moment, failing to pass needed climate change legislation. What better time to address global warming? Americans have...
One Pastor’s Perspective: What is Social Justice?
I recently posted a link on my Facebook page and commented on it. The link concerned Glenn Beck and his continuing attempt to scare his viewers and listeners into challenging their churches and clergy on issues related...
Baptist World Alliance Begins Congress Today
The Baptist World Alliance 2010 Congress begins today (July 28) at the Honolulu Convention Centre in Hawaii, a place that one of my younger colleagues described sarcastically as "a nice gig!" To another, who was also...
A Scandalous Relationship
A sermon delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Ark., on July 25, 2010. Hosea 1:2-10 The book titled "Hosea" in the Hebrew Scriptures is more intense, emotional, and powerful than...
What Jesus Prayed For
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on July 25, 2010. Psalm 85:1-13; Luke 11:1-13 It took place in a conversation just this...
The God who runs down the driveway
Strolling through the River Gallery Sculpture Garden in the Bluff View Arts District in Chattanooga has become a common weekend activity for me. It is both naturally refreshing with the lush plant life and views of the...
Interview (Part 2): David Coffey on His Five-Year Term as BWA President
Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part interview with David Coffey, who agreed to a lengthy interview about his tenure (2005-10) as the president of the Baptist World Alliance during a turbulent time. The 20th...
Predicting the Future? No Easy Task for Leaders
I was recently watching "Eureka" on the SyFy Channel (a guilty pleasure). Due to some wormhole phenomena, a scientist from 1947 had been transported to 2010. As he looked around the town, he commented, "I am a little...
Georgia Speeds Down Arizona’s Anti-Immigration Highway
Georgia seems to be well on its way to an Arizona-style immigration law. Sixty-eight percent of Georgians polled by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are in favor of it. Republicans Karen Handel and Nathan Deal are...
On the windward side
Prior to the 2010 Baptist World Congress meeting (July 28-Aug. 1) in Honolulu, my family has been enjoying some vacation time. During the past two days, Jan, Samuel, and I have driven as much of the circumference of...
Interview (Part 1): David Coffey on His Five-Year Term as BWA President
Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part interview with David Coffey, who agreed to a lengthy interview about his tenure (2005-10) as the president of the Baptist World Alliance during a turbulent time. British...
Where Should Baptists Go in the 21st Century?
My reflection on the future of Baptists is rooted in my particular experience of life in the Baptist world in the southeastern United States. I have been connected to Baptist life since I was born. The men and women in...
Celebrity Support That Gets It Right in Africa
Longtime readers know that I am very cynical about celebrity advocacy in general. My eyes glaze over when I see a link to a story about whichever starlet that John Prendergast is courting to "be a voice for Darfur" or...