Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Study: Many Americans Choosing No Religious Affiliation
On March 9, a wake-up call was issued to the church in America. That's the day the new American Religious Identification Study was released. It revealed that the number of Americans who identified themselves as...
Greed Can Be Found on Wall Street, Behind Pulpits
Can I take a second and vent about something that is bothering me? It is hard to have a consistent ethic when you look at the economic mess that we are in. Some might be tempted to read politics into what I am about...
Seminarians Reject Church for Something Exciting
“Students don’t want to serve in the local church when they graduate; they want to do something more exciting.” A prominent Southern Baptist seminary administrator made that comment to me not long ago. I’ve been...
What’s the Definition of a Biblical Man?
It doesn’t matter where, but I came across this blurb on a web site recently: “Our goal is building biblical men who will be Christ-centered leaders in their families, churches and communities.” Here’s a sincere...
Something’s wrong …
The cover of this week's Parade Magazine contains a startling paragraph. Below the headline "What's Wrong With Our Prisons?" there is the following statement:America imprisons 756 inmates per 100,000 residents, a rate...
Giving back to the game
The name John Henry Moss may not ring familiar — like Ted Williams, Tommy Lasorda or Orlando Cepeda — to baseball fans at large. But his contributions to America's pastime are of no less significance. For 50 years, he...
Want to be baptized in the Jordan?
Baptists now have a special site to seek baptism in the Jordan, and at a special place -- very near the traditional site at "Bethany Beyond the Jordan" where Jesus was baptized by John. Being "Beyond the Jordan" means...
Mo. Convention Uses Mission, Ministry Dollars for Legal Fight
Throughout the Missouri Baptist Convention’s six-year legal battle against five Baptist agencies, convention leaders frequently promised that no Cooperative Program money would be used to fund the lawsuits. However, an...
America’s Nonprofits Are Running Out of Cash
Key findings from a survey of over 950 nonprofit leaders show that 31 percent of nonprofits lack enough operating cash to cover expenses for more than one month. Another 31 percent can’t cover even three months. A...
Alabama Voters May Have Their Say on Rewriting Constitution
For several years now members of the Alabama House and Senate have dodged the opportunity to allow Alabamians to decide for ourselves whether or not to rewrite our governing document by holding a constitutional...
Is It Time to Do Some Spring Cleaning in Your Temple?
The Gospel of John begins with soaring language about the Word of God taking on flesh and about true light coming into the world. The Word of God is living among us, full of grace and truth and giving us the power to...
Somebody’s watching
It has long been said that crime doesn't pay. Yet some suburban Atlanta officials have discovered that good behavior does not pay well either.According to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, five towns in...
Egyptian-Israeli Treaty’s Legacy Lives On After 30 Years
Thirty years ago today—on March 26, 1979—Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. The result of months of negotiations, the two men met in...
Some Folks Need to Break Their Addiction “ To Church
Is it possible to become a church addict? Now I know “addict” and “church” sounds like an oxymoron. For a minister to pose the question may even sound heretical to some. After all, there’s a certain amount of pressure...
Choosing Between ˜the Least of These’ and Living for Self
It’s fairly common that about the time I’m starting to think I’m something, the world, my faith or my children conspire to make sure I know how unimportant I truly am in the cosmic scheme of things. Recently, I’ve been...
On the “collapse” of evangelicalism
A relatively recent Internet post by Michael Spencer, a.k.a. The Internet Monk, predicted that evangelicalism will collapse within ten years. The post was condensed and published in the Christian Science Monitor, and...
The Most Disturbing Story in Scripture
Sermon delivered by Bob Browning, pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, Ga., on March 15, 2009. John 2: 13-22 There was a lot of anger in that New York courtroom last Thursday. This was the day that...
No Matter What
Sermon delivered by Keith Herron, pastor of Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, M.O., on March 22, 2009. Pslam 107: 1-3, 17-22 One week prior to the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, Fred Craddock,...
Contemplating
This sermon was delivered by Rick Bennett, director of congregational formation for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, at McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta, Ga., on March 24, 2009. Psalm 62 For God alone my...
North Carolina’s CBF Challenged to ˜Talk the Talk’
It’s not enough for Christians to “walk the walk,” Fred Craddock told participants attending the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina’s (CBFNC’s) 2009 General Assembly March 20-21. “Somebody needs to talk...
Technology Will Allow Churches to Extend Ministry
“People today are going to stay connected forever,” says Jeff Jarvis. Jarvis, journalism professor and author of What Would Google Do?, made that observation in a talk to Google employees recently. Jarvis’ point is...