Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Nestle Agrees to Use Fair Trade Chocolate in Britain
Nestle's move into the fair trade chocolate market in the United Kingdom and Ireland received a cautious welcome from activists who have protested people-trafficking and forced child labor. On Dec. 7, the chocolate...
‘Just call what’s his (or her) name’
The death of Oral Roberts, a pioneer of television evangelism, takes me back to the days when he, Rex Humbard, Bob Harrington, “Reverend Ike” and an assortment of local and regional preachers took to the airwaves of my...
Guess Who’s Watching You This Christmas Season?
When I got up this morning, I had this sensation that I was being watched. As I went to the kitchen to make some hazelnut coffee, I looked over my shoulder to see if anyone else was in the room. As the coffee brewed, I...
Don’t Atheists Have the Same Rights as All Americans?
The citizens of Ashville, N.C., recently elected an atheist, Cecil Bothwell, to serve on their city council, but North Carolina's state constitution prohibits anyone "who shall deny the being of Almighty God" from...
What Effective Organizations Need More Than Vision
President George H. W. Bush was widely criticized when he commented that he did not get the "vision" thing. For the last several decades, if you have read anything about personal or organizational development, you will...
Turning down the volume
Here's a bill that should have no trouble making it through Congress: on Tuesday the House of Representatives approved a bill to ban the abrupt increase in volume that's all too typical of television commercials. An...
Seven Things Church Members Wish Their Ministers Knew But Are Afraid To Tell Them
I shared some thoughts about what clergy wish their congregations knew but are hesitant to share out of fear. Now I want to reveal what several laity have said to me when I've asked them what it is they wish their...
Church Criticized for Hosting Palestine Service
A London Baptist church was the focus of protests after hosting a carol concert organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). Dozens of people recently waved Israeli flags and handed out flyers outside...
Finding Christmas Cheer in an Unexpected Place
Christmas is not my season. First, there's the shopping. I do hate shopping. Already I've mistakenly double-ordered from Amazon, over-spent on outdoor stuff at REI and dragged my feet too long to get a must-have item...
Mile markers to Christmas
Advent was not a part of my Baptist upbringing. But growing expectation was certainly present in the annual Christmas journey.Both the church and popular culture provided mile markers to be anticipated and passed on...
Fear verses Faith
Sermon delivered by Bob Browning, pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, G.A., on December 13 2009. Zephaniah 3:14-20; Isaiah 12:2-6; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18 “Fear knocked at the...
Remembering Ricky Bobby’s Word about Baby Jesus
If true, the report about the Obamas wanting a "non-religious Christmas" is troubling. Desiree Rogers, the White House's social secretary, disclosed the Obamas' desire, according to a New York Times story. A White...
Climate Change Won’t Be Slowed by Our Denials
Democracy, Sir Winston Churchill is said to have remarked, is the worst form of government, except for all the others. The American statesman Benjamin Franklin is often wrongly credited with the saying, "Democracy is...
7 Things Your Pastor Wishes You Knew, But Is Afraid To Tell You
After 33 years in the local church pastoral ministry, sitting on the receiving side of the pulpit is a very different way to spend a Sunday morning. The transition is proving to be a provocative, illuminating and...
I like this rule
With my schedule based on a university calendar and a son in a year round middle school, our family is prone to taking vacations at odd times of the year.So here we are, in the middle of December, in a nearly deserted...
Some Times Call for…Peace
Sermon delivered by Joel Snider, pastor of FirstBaptistChurch in Rome, Ga., on December 6, 2009. Isaiah 2:1-5 Meditation Text: You will recall perhaps an old pre-perestroika Russian story of the Russian...
Preparation
Sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, pastor of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church in Little Rock, A.R., on December 6 2009. Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 3:1-18 Now that it is December, not only are we anticipating the...
The Paradox fo Advent Peace
This sermon was delivered by Wendell L. Griffen, pastor of NewMillenniumChurch in Little Rock, Ark, on December 13 2009. A "paradox" is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory, yet may be true when...
Just War Theory: A Time for Careful Evaluation
A Baptist scholar and ethicist declared recently that the conflict in Afghanistan is an unjust war. Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, wrote in his column at EthicsDaily.com that...
Need A Casket? Churches Could Help With Funeral Care
Hard data from the 1990s showed that beginning about now, our healthcare system would be in crisis because baby boomers would be retiring and living longer than previous retirees. The new retirees would be expecting to...
Have It All? You’re More Likely to Keep It All
A new study reveals a specific link between luxury goods and selfishness. Two experiments showed that "exposure to luxury led people to think more about themselves than others," according to a Harvard Business School...