Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Liberationist Approach Troubles Conservatives and Liberals
Conservatives question my salvation, while liberals question my intelligence. This is what it means to be a Latino or Latina who insists on understanding reality from their social location; of reading the Bible with...
Economic Crisis Fosters Agreement within U.S. Christian Community
Americans of faith and those unaffiliated with a faith group agree that fixing the economy should be the government’s first priority, according to a Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life analysis. A Pew survey...
A Writer Who Spent His Life Listening
Texas' greatest storyteller, Horton Foote, died March 4. He was a literary genius unmatched in Texas (and there have been many contenders: Katherine Ann Porter, Larry McMurtry, Elmer Kelton and William Sidney Porter,...
One generation influences the next
OK, maybe somebody else has noticed this already. But I'm just a casual music listener — yet philosophical enough to put such stuff together.Cute little singer Taylor Swift has a song called "Tim McGraw." (My younger...
Hope for the world
When Leena Lavanya was born in the southern region of India, her grandparents were given the charge of raising her – not because her parents did not want her, but because of a longstanding tradition among the Telugu...
Baptists Bet Casinos, not Taxes, Are Moral Issue
For several years now, leaders of the religious right have assumed for themselves the role of advocates for morality in America. Their vision of what is virtuous and true impacts almost every area of our personal and...
Money, Morality at Stake in Mountaintop-Removal Mining
There is coal, and then there is mountaintop-removal coal. Many environmentalists and political leaders concede that it will take years to wean the nation away from its heavy dependence on coal-fired power plants as a...
There Is Always Enough God
Of all ministerial duties, there is none as sacred or as vital as the care and comfort necessary for those facing death, separation and bereavement. Over the years, a constant word of comfort has proved helpful from...
The sin of elitism
One of the upsides to the downside economy is less swagger among those who often have acted as if they were better than others. With business off and investments down, they tend to take a little lower profile these...
Documentary Helps Community After City Hall Shooting
On Feb. 7, 2008, a man walked into Kirkwood City Hall in Missouri and killed six people. It was a large enough, shocking enough crime to make national news. It even ranked a paragraph in the Saturday New York Times....
The Future of Churches: A Network of Niches
In the ongoing debate over whether digital gizmos will replace books, the conclusion of many media watchers is an unequivocal “yes and no.” Amazon’s Kindle has really become a game-changer, delivering books within...
BWA to Appoint New Director for Freedom and Justice
Raimundo César Barreto Jr. of Brazil is being recommended by the personnel committee for the position of director of the Division of Freedom and Justice (F&J) for the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). The...
Baptist Woman Who Works with Prostitutes Honored with BWA Award
No Baptist woman is more deserving of the Baptist World Alliance’s human rights award than Leena Lavanya, who runs homes in India for lepers, female sex workers and children living with HIV/AIDS. The BWA announced on...
Prayer
Sermon delivered by Loyd Allen, professor of church history and spiritual formation at McAfee school of Theology in Atlanta, Ga., on March 3, 2009, Psalm 19 To the leader. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling the...
At the Table: Take
Sermon delivered by Heather Entrekin, pastor of PrairieBaptistChurch in Prairie Village, K.S., on Mar. 1, 2009. Mark 1: 9-15 When two people come together to be married, they walk down the aisle, there are flowers and...
Listen to Him
Sermon delivered by Heather Entrekin, pastor of PrairieBaptistChurch in Prairie Village, K.S., on Feb. 22, 2009. Mark 9:2-9 Rome is a beautiful city, ancient ruins, famous fountains, enormous palm trees, orange trees,...
Any Unemployment Insurance for Non-Profits?
So, the nation’s economic malaise finally worked its way down to your job as a staff minister, support person or preschool teacher at a church or other non-profit organization. That’s bad, you think, but at least you...
Chuck Colson Claims the Earth Is Cooling
Chuck Colson, the former Watergate felon who is now a Baptist author and speaker, recently misrepresented evidence about global warming and even suggested that global cooling was occurring. Colson’s BreakPoint...
Lent Should Be a Time to Reflect on the Vulnerability of Life
This past Wednesday marked the beginning of the season of Lent. There are many practices Christians carry out during this holy season—practices such as fasting and praying that are meant to draw us closer to God as we...
BWA finances: good news and bad news
The Baptist World Alliance executive committee heard good news and bad news about the organization’s financial situation March 3-4.Meeting for its semi-annual session at the BWA offices in Falls Church, Virginia, the...
The Sign of the Covenant
Sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, pastor of Pulaski Heights BaptistChurch in Little Rock, A.R., on Mar. 1, 2009. Genesis 9: 8-17; 1 Peter 3:18-22 According to the dictionary, a rainbow is the refraction of the...