Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Two messages to renounce
When I read of fringe folks making fanatical comments, my first response is usually to try ignoring them, and hope others do the same. They're usually out for publicity, and I don't like contributing to their...
Wingate Baptist Church celebrates 200 years of challenges, faithfulness
The History of Wingate Baptist Church 1810-2009: 'Saturday Before the Second Sabith'Part one by Carolyn Caldwell Gaddy and Part two by Jerry L. SurrattA review by John D. Pierce, executive editor, Baptists Today,...
SBC Leader Apologizes for Nazis Reference
A top Southern Baptist official has apologized for accusing President Barack Obama and congressional Democratic leaders of attempting to do "precisely what the Nazis did." Richard Land, president of the Southern...
Former President Sues Baptist Convention over Election
A former president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. has filed his second lawsuit in two months against the convention. Henry Lyons, who led the NBC from 1994 to 1999 before resigning and serving four years...
“Ready to Forgive: An African Story of Grace”
Editor's note: The documentary "Ready to Forgive: An African Story of Grace" will air on ABC-TV stations between Oct. 18 and Dec. 13. Click here for local listings or here to order it on DVD. It's difficult to...
Getting Schooled: Applicants Deserve Ethical Treatment
Second of two parts. Having commented on practices from an institutional perspective, we now turn to the candidates themselves. This is an exceedingly important area of inquiry that represents an "ethical black hole."...
Life’s Reward
While on a writing retreat earlier this week, I took a walk around the Northwest Creek Marina near New Bern. I don't know a sloop from a ketch, but I enjoy taking note of the various names boat owners give to their...
All God’s children got essentials
That which divides the Church into Christian denom- inations and creates division within denominational groups is generally a disagreement over the essentials of faith. It may be that simple.To require affirmation of a...
When Christian Higher Education Abuses Ethical Hiring
First of two parts. Among Christian institutions, experience abounds in recent years of unethical hiring practices and sometimes flagrant violations of accepted protocols and human rights. Faculty recruitment and...
Do-It-Yourself Americans Build Their Own Religion
Americans' proclivity for do-it-yourself projects appears to be extending more and more into the religious arena, a tendency that has serious implications for the church. Parade Magazine recently reported on a survey...
How Can Churches Reclaim Health-Care Ministries?
Are we really ready to let go of secular or marketplace health-care expectations? Do congregations want to reclaim a role in health and caring? In preparation to reclaim health and caring ministries, the first call is...
Spirit Ability
This sermon was prepared by Wendell Griffen, pastor of the NewMillenniumChurch in Little Rock, Ark., on October 11, 2009. Acts 2: 1-21 Before his ascension, Jesus promised his followers that they would receive power to...
Just Walk Across the Room- Living the Vision
Sermon delivered by David Hughes, pastor of First Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., on October 4 2009. Luke 5:1-11; Colossians 4:2-6; Romans 12:2 The way I figure it, Jesus must be incredibly...
The Power of Encouragement
Sermon delivered by Howard Batson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Amarillo, T.X., on October 11 2009. Acts 4: 36-37 G. K. Chesterton, an English journalist, once wrote, “The really great person is the person who...
The Generosity of Faith
Sermon delivered by Keith Herron, pastor of Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., on October 11, 2009 Mark 10: 17-31 Major Leaguer Joe Garagiola tells of the time Stan Musial came to the plate late in a...
Seems Fishy: Do Snarky Tweets Befit Baptist Editor?
A week ago my wife and I decided to join her family at the North Georgia State Fair. With a looming vacation to Disney World next week, it seemed like a reasonable litmus test of our 4-year-old's patience and...
Moses Stages Another Comeback
Moses has been one of the go-to men for freedom-loving Americans of nearly every generation, race and religion. Now the ancient Jewish leader is the subject of a new book and a planned film. The new book is "America's...
Deadly Silence: Ministers Mum on Insurance Abuses
There is a troublesome and troubling silence within the religious community concerning the current U.S. health-care insurance reform debate. People of all faiths, backgrounds, political beliefs and education levels are...
Knuckling down
I've been holed up this week, while the divinity school is on fall break, working on a book. Jan was kind enough to let me sneak off to a condo near New Bern for several days, where I've been getting up at dawn and...
How many pants did I just buy?
Words can be haunting. They appear every- where and cause the mind to wander and wonder.Yesterday I bought either a pair of pants or two pairs of pants. I thought it was the latter but the tag suggested the former.A...
Republican Senator Graham Supports Climate Change Bill, Breaks with SBC
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.-S.C.), a Baptist, sees climate change as real and a threat to America's well being, a stance that differs sharply from the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention that...