Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
No Secret Identity: Why One Church Dropped “Baptist” Name
I am the pastor of Eastside Church of the Cross, formerly known as Louisburg Southern Baptist Church, in Louisburg, Kan. In a recent article at EthicsDaily.com, Jeannie Babb Taylor pondered the motive behind name...
Up Close and Personal
Sermon delivered by Bob Browning, pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, G.A., on June 28 2009. Mark 5: 21-43. At Smoke Rise, we believe that every member is a minister. We feel so strongly about this...
Harvest and hope
Something there is about the soil and some seeds and some water. Something that makes things spring from the ground and grow. Something that has its roots in divinity, far beyond my poor efforts to understand.I think...
The Great Sadness
Sermon delivered by Keith Herron, pastor of Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., on June 28, 2009. II Samuel 1:1, 17-27 A good number of you have read The Shack, the book by William Paul Young. At the heart...
Burqa Battle Is Over Competing Visions of Religion in Public Square
The burqa should be as accepted in American life for Muslims as the bolo tie is for Texas Baptists, the yarmulke is for Jews, the ornate cross-necklace is for Catholics and plain clothing is for the Amish. The battle...
Breaking the Addiction to Being Southern Baptist is Tough
"Hello. My name is Joe, and I'm a Baptist." Being Baptist these days is tough, but not only because the diverse group is generally painted with a single brush of public opinion. Being Baptist is also tough...
Support for Full Range of Sanctity of Life Creates Diverse Allies
It's no secret that I've been struggling for some time with the whole idea of "the sanctity of human life." I have to confess that there are unlikely allies who emerge. The result is an "odd coupling" of individuals,...
Deleting millions
Some people send me the nicest emails. Like Rosemary, who addressed me as “dearest one,” and James who called me “beloved friend.”Although we’ve never met, they trust me to be “a good, honest and reliable person” and...
The king is dead
Superstar singer/dancer/celebrity Michael Jackson is dead of mysterious causes at age 50. Jackson billed himself as the “King of Pop.” He was also the King of Weird and the King of Excess: the more successful he...
America as Melting Pot? We’re Really More of a Tossed Salad
For many years the image of a "melting pot" was used to describe the experience of immigrants coming to America. The expectation was that as people from diverse backgrounds, cultures and religions make their way to our...
Human Trafficking Hits Close to Home for College Professor
When Shannon Avra arrived in China in 2003 to pick up her soon-to-be adopted daughter, she concedes she was in "adoption la la land." That attitude changed quickly. As Anna Lee was handed over to her in the...
“The Proposal”
No one likes Margaret Tate, tyrannical editor-in-chief of a New York City book publisher in the romantic comedy "The Proposal." When she enters her office, people start to look busy and go out of their way to avoid...
Haiti Must Work Together to Rebuild, University President Says
(BWA) – The president of the Christian University of Northern Haiti, also known as UCNH, made an impassioned call to Haitians to work together for national reconstruction. "The future of this country depends on us...
What image is being protected?
On Tuesday, messengers to the annual Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) meeting in Louisville were quick to toss out Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth for being too inclusive of homosexuals in their congregation.The...
SBC’s Expulsion of Texas Church Reinforces its Negative Image
The decision of the Southern Baptist Convention to find Broadway Baptist Church not in friendly cooperation is a missed opportunity for the denomination to reverse its regressive slide and take a small, safe step in...
Social Justice Requires Personal Sacrifices from Each of Us
I saw a movie that traumatized me. "Taken" is about two teen girls who get kidnapped in Europe and are sold as sex slaves. The movie shows images of girls tied to beds and kept sedated under heavy doses of drugs. ...
Southern Baptist Leaders Exalt Non-Essential ˜Pet Doctrines’
Since I was born in 1983, I was too young to be conscious of all the happenings that led to the present division of Baptists into the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Nevertheless,...
“Houston, we have a problem…”
Jan and I were both working in the back yard Tuesday evening when our son Samuel burst from the back door and said "Houston, we have a problem." When asked to identify the problem, he said his friend had used the...
SBC Agencies Asked to Investigate ˜Cussing Pastor’
As messengers to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention walked into the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in Louisville, they were handed a copy of Missouri layman Roger Moran’s nearly 50-page...
Seminary Heads’ Answer to Declining Baptisms: Have More Kids
I've been stewing over the proposed idea that Baptists should combat falling baptism numbers, at least in part, by having more children. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Al Mohler has long blogged...
Hispanic Baptists in Texas Gather for Nearly Century of Service
La Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas (The Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas or HBCT) is a fellowship of about 1,200 churches affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT). The BGCT – a...