Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Hoping in God’s Good Providence Despite Suffering
Anyone who is even slightly observant about the happenings in our world must draw the conclusion that there is indeed great suffering across God's creation. From the abject poverty millions face each day, to the wars...
Grants Fund British Baptists’ Mission Projects
Baptist churches in Britain are using mission-project grants to connect with people who don't attend church and to serve their communities, according to a report about the latest round of grants provided by the Baptist...
You lying devil!
On the first Sunday of Lent, it's traditional to study the story of "the temptation of Jesus," most familiar from the versions found in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. In thinking on that story in preparation for...
This Old House: A Constitution-Reform Parable
There once was a village called Alabama. There were many wonderful people who lived there. They were hard working, honest and full of faith. They lived in nice homes, tried to raise nice children and generally tried to...
Kenneth Starr: Man of Principle or Hired Gun?
During his time as independent counsel investigating the legality of President Bill Clinton's Whitewater investments, Kenneth Starr, newly appointed president of Baylor University, often stood in the driveway of his...
When We Hate Government, We Hate Ourselves
A man crashed his small plane on Feb. 18 into an Austin, Texas, building where employees of the Internal Revenue Service worked, killing or wounding a dozen people. It reminded a lot of people of similar crashes in New...
On Lent, and Listening
During Lent this year, I'm listening to the New Testament via the "You've Got the Time" program the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) is promoting. CBF launched the program in January, hoping that at least 500 of...
“Arabia” Challenges Media’s Simple Stereotypes
I had the pleasure recently to be invited to the premier of the IMAX documentary "Arabia" at the Virginia Science Museum in Richmond. It was a fascinating film – simple and sincere – that narrates the journey of young...
Five Questions for Baylor’s New President
My friends on the Baylor University board of regents are urging patient understanding from our Texas Baptist family concerning the appointment of Kenneth Starr as president of the university. The call to reason and...
Weak Economy Hits Churches, Denominations
The Crystal Cathedral is pulling its 40-year "Hour of Power" program from eight of its 45 domestic markets in an attempt to avoid financial collapse. From 2008 to 2009, the church saw a 27 percent drop in revenue,...
Isaac On the Altar
This sermon was delivered by Joel Snider, Pastor of First Baptist Church, in Rome, Ga., Feb. 14, 2010. Genesis 22:1-14 Meditation Text: The religion that costs nothing, that demands no hard sacrifices of other things,...
Discovering the technological secret
Gadgets are both our slaves and masters. They enable us to get places without maps (GPS), stay in constant contact (cell phones and other handheld devices) and work in ways (computers) unimaginable just years ago.Yet...
Reading the Bible on the Plains of Alabama When Things Fall Apart
American Christianity has been prosperity Christianity with faith flourishing in the good times. So said an unassuming gray-haired man with a mustache and face etched by study and the struggle for social justice. The...
12 Ways Baptists Can Observe Lent
Why would Baptists practice Lent? Isn't it too close to an idea of "works righteousness," trying to earn the salvation that we teach is a gift of God's grace to be received only by faith? Shouldn't our time be focused...
How Much Are You Worth? It’s More than Dollars
One evening in the early days of our work in Haiti, several of us sat on the front porch of a guesthouse in Grand Colline, a mountainous region in southern Haiti, exchanging stories and watching fireflies. Pere Albert,...
Rockin’ with Nisroch?
Perhaps you have heard of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, who invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem in 701 B.C. On a six-sided clay prism inscribed in cuneiform known as "The Annals of Sennacherib," he claimed to have...
Grocery-Tax Break Will Aid Alabama Families
It's curious how a recession affects different people in different ways. If you and the people you know are still employed, your life may bump along pretty well, except for the depressing reports on your retirement...
Can Academic Freedom, Religious Values Co-Exist?
Currently, there is a searching debate over the issue of whether universities that are religious in orientation and have a statement of religious beliefs and values can provide a satisfactory environment of academic...
Politician: Bible Verse Guides Foreign Policy
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., used a text from the biblical book of Genesis at a recent conference sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition to argue that the United States should take a particular political...
The Heart of Things
This sermon was delivered by Wendell Griffen, Pastor of New Millennium Church in Little Rock, Ark., on Feb. 14, 2010. Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 6:17-26 What does it mean to live for God? ...
There is only one end to aging
With spring training camps in Florida and Arizona opening this weekend, the sweet sound of hand-stitched cowhide against ash wood (or splintering maple, now) will be back in the air.By dimensions and design, it is the...