Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
20/20 Gratitude
Sermon delivered by Bob Browning, pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, G.A., on November 22 2009. Luke 17: 11-19 It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving and the teacher asked the children to...
Church Triumphs and Troubles, Part 2
This sermon was delivered by Wendell L. Griffen, pastor of New Millennium Church in Little Rock, Ark, on November 22 2009. Acts 4:1-14 When Peter and John healed the un-named lame man that we read about in the third...
4 Words for Advent
This sermon was delivered by Wendell L. Griffen, pastor of New Millennium Church in Little Rock, Ark, on November 22 2009. What are we doing in this place? What is the meaning of what we see and hear? What's going...
Thanksgiving: The Feast of Enough
Sermon delivered by Joel Snider, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rome, Ga., on November 22, 2009. Mark 8: 11-21 Meditation Text: The beginning point in the Bible…is of course God. The beginning point of God, so the...
The Coming Kingdom
Sermon delivered by Keith Herron, pastor of Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., on November 22, 2009. John 18: 33-37 As John was imprisoned on the Island of Patmos, he was visited by God in a vision that...
Life Among the Macedonians
Sermon delivered by Joel Snider, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rome, Ga., on November 15, 2009. 2 Corinthians 8: 1-7 Meditation Text: The Chosen Few (Jesus’ disciples) are not chosen to act as censors...
Christian Ethics Must Address Nation’s Real Problems
When I read on EthicsDaily.com a few days ago that the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina had "defunded" the Baptist Center for Ethics, I was reminded once again of how little Southern Baptists really...
False End-Times Prophecy Shifts Focus Off Gospel
I thought Hal Lindsey was dead, but I discovered he is quite alive when I ran into him on TV the other night. Not only is he very much alive, but also the end-times prophecy that forms the basis of his theological and...
How Will Bishops’ Vote Affect End-of-Life Issues?
On Nov. 17, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted 219-4 "to strengthen its requirement that Roman Catholic hospitals insert and maintain nutrition and hydration tubes for patients in persistent vegetative...
The Good Life: In the Checkout Line But Not of It
This sermon was preached by Michael Cheuk, pastor of Farmville Baptist Church in Farmville, Va., on Nov. 22, 2009. John 17:13-19 Today, I’m concluding my sermon series on “The Good Life – At Least According to...
Christian Right Issues New Declaration ”Same Old Agenda, Same Nazi Analogies
Before reading the latest moral declaration from the Christian Right about their troubled souls and moral priorities, I e-mailed early last Friday morning a reporter about the statement. I wrote that if these leaders'...
Putting Old-Testament Passages into Proper Context
I read a tough passage from Psalms recently, at least for those of us who believe that faith calls us to nonviolence, love, reconciliation and unity. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords...
Why Christ’s Euro-American Image Afflicts Hispanics
Clement of Alexandria is reported as saying that "God saved the Jews in a Jewish way, the barbarians in a barbarian way." Likewise, God will save Euro-Americans in a Euro-American way and Hispanics in a Latino/Latina...
Too much to choose from
Attending the Society of Biblical Literature's (SBL) annual meeting reminds me of a big Thanksgiving dinner involving lots of people, all of whom bring a tasty dish. With food in such appetizing variety and quantity,...
When to unplug?
A recent Religion News Service article explored the challenges of living in the well-connected world of instant communication. No one denies the benefits, but new challenges must be faced as well.Trying to find the...
Muslim Leaders Can Help Goodwill Baptists Think about Interfaith Dialogue
Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part editorial on interfaith dialogue. Interfaith dialogue is difficult for many Baptists. By theology, most Baptists think they are right and everybody else is either wrong...
“The Blind Side”
"Who would've thought we'd have a black son before we knew a Democrat?" The line exemplifies the sly humor and social reality of "The Blind Side," a new film by John Lee Hancock ("The Rookie") about the real-life...
Judge Hits the Brakes on Christian License Plates
In South Carolina a U.S. district judge ruled on Nov. 10 that it was illegal for the state to promote Christianity on license plates. At issue was a plan by Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer to offer a car tag with the words, "I...
Cogdill to step down, not away
There have been a lot of long faces around the Campbell University Divinity School (CUDS) this week: Dean Mike Cogdill announced Thursday that he plans to step down as dean at the end of the school year. The good news...
Right on time
The late D. Eugene Briscoe, my supervisor of long ago, taught me the values of time management and punctuality. Some would say it was an obsession with him. However, those good lessons learned have served me well...
Conservative Christians Dismiss Interfaith Dialogue as Inconsequential
Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part editorial on interfaith dialogue. Too many conservative evangelicals are so uncomfortable with interfaith dialogue that they dismiss it as inconsequential. Speaking at...