Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Can Baptists Learn to Perpetually Adore Jesus?
Roman Catholics in Boston now have the opportunity to participate in the revival of a centuries-old practice, something called the Ritual of Perpetual Adoration. It's pretty simple and self-explanatory: hour after...
Where is the Voice of the Church Today?
From town hall shouting matches to million-dollar ads on the airwaves, the health care debate now finds itself in the public square, literally and technologically. Every day another news release is sent out. Interest...
Sin now, pay earlier
Can the consequences of sin occur before the actual sin takes place?I had never heard of such an idea until recently, when Jim Morse, a retired pulmonologist and good Baptist in Starkville, Mississippi, sent me an...
Doers of the Word
Sermon delivered by Joel Snider, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rome, Ga., on August 9, 2009. James 1:22-26 Meditation Text: We don’t serve God to gain His acceptance; we are accepted so we serve God. We ...
Prophecy on a shelf
In the barrage of emails received so far this week, was one from a publicist promoting a new self-published book about biblical prophecy found in "the Books of Daniel and Revelations," as the publicist put it.(My...
‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’
Film critics and web sites can sometimes get caught up in hyperbole over certain films. "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" seems to be the victim of that exaggeration. MSNBC, for example, ran a headline declaring "G.I. Joe"...
Moral Education in Sunday School Is Antidote to Anger in Public Square
The F-bomb flew with frequency between two middle-aged businessmen sitting a row behind me on a flight. They weren't arguing with each other. They were talking bitterly about their plight. They were vulgar. They were...
Freely Speaking Lies Abuses Right to Free Speech
I'm all for free speech. That's a corollary to freedom of religion, something that Baptists have championed for 400 years. While favoring free speech, however, I confess that it really gobs my stopper when people abuse...
Oh, those “hostile” websites
Someone recently sent me a copy of an August 11 blog by Ed Brayton, a journalist and speaker who generally focuses on scientific issues. Brayton had come across the course requirements for several courses taught by...
Infusing Health Care Debate with Nazi Imagery Is Uncivil, Irresponsible
A few weeks ago, I and three rabbinic colleagues were among the 3,000 people who heard President Obama speak about health care in Raleigh, N.C. On the way out, we passed a demonstrator who was holding a sign that...
Bad to the Bone? Are Humans Sinful by Nature?
Growing up in a fundamentalist Baptist church, I was continually exposed to the well-known practice of preachers, and especially those evangelists, who would annually slip into the town for revival services. Those...
Better to Give Than Receive? Easy to Say, Hard to Live
Jen Gash, founder and executive director of Sweet Sleep, told me the story of her recent trip to Uganda. It was the nonprofit's first trip to Africa, where they provided beds for hundreds of orphans. The entire...
The loss of civil discourse
An adage about preaching goes: "The weaker your point, the louder you make it."I feel that way about the talk-radio disciples showing up at town hall meetings and screaming about the government's efforts to kill old...
From Dreaming to Seeing Like King
This chapel address at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia Ark., was delivered around the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday by Wendell Griffen on Jan. 20, 2003. We gather a few days past what would...
The Family’s DNA
This sermon was delivered by Larry Greenfield, executive minister for the American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago, at the Community Church of Wilmette in Wilmette, Ill., on July 26, 2009. Ephesians 3: 14-21 It’s...
Goodwill Baptists Ought To Be Bullish on New Baptist Covenant
Here are seven reasons to be bullish on the New Baptist Covenant: First is trust — trust is a critical component to a healthy Baptist community, an ingredient that has been missing for a half-century or more. When...
Trash Talking: When Litterbugs Bug You
I don't think I made a conscious decision to accept the job, and certainly it wasn't offered or assigned to me. But increasingly I find myself employed as an unsalaried groundskeeper around my neighborhood. This is...
Good Medicine: Fix Broken Health Care System Now
Our current health care system is broken and must be fixed. I urge you to make your voice known because this social policy concern will touch the life of every American. However Congress and the medical care industry...
Blessing of the Students
Sermon delivered by Bob Browning, pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, G.A., on August 9 2009. Lamentations 2:19 Almost twenty years ago, I began a tradition at the beginning of the school...
The downside of free speech
I begin by saying that I'm all for free speech. That's a corollary to freedom of religion, something that Baptists have championed for 400 years.While favoring free speech, however, I confess that it really gobs my...
Baptists Called to Promote Civility, Cooperation
Prominent Southern Baptist blogger Wade Burleson encouraged those present at a Baptist unity gathering to treat fellow Baptists with respect and civility even when there are disagreements over theological or...