Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
With Many People Going Hungry, Will Churches Help?
More world citizens and more Americans go hungry each day than ever before in the history of the world. One billion people out of the 6 billion who inhabit the earth do not have enough to eat. Almost 17 percent of the...
The Lord’s Prayer: Forgiving Those Who Wronged Us
Each Sunday, Christians across the world recite in communal worship the words of the Lord's Prayer. Yet like many of the recitations we memorize and repeat, especially those that proclaim what we believe, reciting the...
Stopping traffic
In yesterday's foggy dawn, as I drove Samuel's carpool to school, we noticed traffic beginning to back up at an unusual spot on the road. We're accustomed to backups, for the formerly rural area in which we live is now...
Teddy Roosevelt’s 10 Reasons for Going to Church
Some people go to church regularly, some go occasionally, and others seldom go at all. How important is church participation? Are there good reasons that I should go to church? Actually, the Bible calls on believers to...
“Sesame Street” Began to Help Low-Income, Minority Kids
If you're in the United States, you no doubt noticed that Nov. 10 marked the 40th anniversary of the first broadcast of "Sesame Street." Memories of watching this public broadcast program as children is something that...
Do Teenage Criminals Deserve Life Without Parole?
The execution of the Washington area sniper, John Allen Muhammad, on Nov. 10 was attended by the families of Muhammad's apparently random victims. As scholars and theologians continue to examine the moral, religious...
Opportunity Knocks
Sermon delivered by Bob Browning, pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, G.A., on November 15 2009. Luke 16: 19-31 No one encouraged Albert Schweitzer to go to medical school. After all, he was thirty...
Going into hyphenation
Years of daily writing and editing can be damaging to the brain. One tends to notice things others might ignore. While helping my youngest brother buy a new cell phone at the Walmart in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., recently,...
A Double Portion
Sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, pastor of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church in Little Rock, A.R., on November 15 2009. 1 Samuel 1:4-20; Hebrews 10:11-14 I wonder what time of the day it...
Baptists Model Better Alternative to Allure of Gambling
At the time this was written, it wasn't quite clear who were the lucky winners of the latest EuroMillions lottery jackpot, which spans several European countries including Britain. There are two winning tickets...
Christmas-Tree Hullabaloo Mars Spirit of the Season
The end of October marked a little controversy for the good people of the commonwealth of Kentucky. While sending inquiries about the possibility of someone donating the large evergreen tree used to decorate the state...
Withdrawal Symptoms: Is God Giving Us What We Deserve?
In some respects, President Obama is like the man who, in an old story, caught a tiger by the tail. There is danger in holding on and danger in turning loose. Though he inherited three major problems – the economy,...
‘Rights and privileges’ supplant cooperation
Pastor Julie Pennington-Russell told me she found a FedEx package from the Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC) when she arrived at the First Baptist Church of Decatur, Ga., yesterday. It contained a letter from GBC...
Is God in your genes?
An article in the New York Times recently explored arguments for the existence of a "God gene" and its potential evolution among humans.Say what?It's not a particularly new idea: archaeologists, anthropologists, and...
North Carolina Baptist State Convention Severs BCE from Budget
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina voted last week to deny churches the opportunity to give through the convention to the Baptist Center for Ethics, thereby ending an almost 20-year partnership. No state...
The Price of Greed: Desire for More Consumes Us
The continuing flux in the stock market has created a near constant state of anxiety in the financial world. The roller coaster behavior of the Dow, along with its erstwhile companion the Nasdaq Stock Market, has been...
Psalms Help Face Anger after Fort Hood Shootings
Along with most Americans, I am still reeling from the Fort Hood shootings. That 13 brave soldiers, pledged to defend my life and liberty, were struck down by a madman on our native soil breaks my heart and turns my...
Shut up, Bing; it’s early
Martina McBride is wrapping up "Do you see what I see?" when my car radio comes on early this morning. Then Bing Crosby starts to proclaim: "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."No it's not, Bing. It's Nov. 14...
BSCNC shrinks budget, pushes evangelism
This past year, for the first time in many years, I didn't attend the annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC). I didn't feel particularly welcome, for one thing: messengers at the...
“2012”
Roland Emmerich. The German director's name is synonymous with motion-picture spectacle. "Independence Day" in 1996. "Godzilla" in 1998. "The Day After Tomorrow" in 2004. Destruction is his wheelhouse, and he brought...
British Church Leaders Urge Climate-Change Action
Church leaders have urged European politicians to make firm commitments on climate change policy. Speaking before a significant European Union summit meeting last week, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist...