Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Real old-timey worship
A fascinating article from Smithsonian Magazine, now available online, includes a brief description and remarkable pictures from the oldest known humanly constructed place of worship. Gobekli Tepe (translation, "Belly...
Decatur church could face more GBC wrath
In a her church newsletter column, pastor Julie Pennington-Russell of the First Baptist Church of Decatur, Ga., reported on an early January visit by representatives of the Georgia Baptist Convention. (I will have a...
See Neighbor As Kin or Nothing Will Change
With our country in the grip of economic turmoil and at war in two different places at the same time, Barack Obama took the oath of office Tuesday and began his tenure as America's 44th president. Now comes the...
Hope’s Hard Work
Hopefully, the enthusiasm of this new reality will continue as the hard work of true change begins. We all took a step forward Tuesday as our 44th president was sworn into office. With nearly 2 million Americans...
The Inauguration of Barack Obama: Moving Out of Our Exile
To use religious language to describe my thoughts on Tuesday, I felt that I was not witnessing so much the inauguration of a president, as I was participating in a revival meeting that was calling all of us to...
Here and there
America's economic woes, a drop in investment income, and perhaps a declining interest in denominational entities have left many religious groups struggling to make ends meet, Baptists among them. A series of articles...
History at Applebee’s
The soup and salad were just fine, but I chose to have lunch at Applebee's on Tuesday for two other reasons.I wanted to find a place with televisions and to be among some African Americans. From a recent lunch meeting...
A Letter to America, not the President
I have read a number of letters to our new president, but I have yet to read a single letter to the American people. We might do well to remember the fate of the country is not entirely in his hands, but ours as well ¦...
A Prayer for a New Day
May we pray, pray, pray and work, work, work to build a better tomorrow and welcome this world you have made and love to become all you have intended it to be. O God of King David and Queen Elizabeth, Of every Pharaoh...
Want to Be Biblical? Approve Prayers at Inaugurations
Editor’s note: The column below is a response to Jim Evans’ article Inauguration Reminds Us of What Prayer Is, Isn’t, which we carried Jan. 19. Jim Evans seems to be overly sectarian when he says we...
Faith, Fear, Fury and the Future
Despite the fear, hate, injustice and other trials of our time, we know and Obama proves the moral supremacy of faith over fear. Despite the fears and fury, we shall overcome by the power and relentless effort fueled...
Obama’s “Peter Moment”
During his inaugural address, President Barack Obama quoted the Apostle Paul, but it was really a Peter moment. Obama looked out over the most diverse crowd ever assembled for a presidential inauguration from all walks...
EthicsDaily.com Documentary Accepted at Two More Festivals
An educational documentary on racism from EthicsDaily.com has been accepted at two more U.S. film festivals. Beneath the Skin: Baptists and Racism, which EthicsDaily.com released in October 2008, has been accepted in...
A certain kind of quiet
There's a certain kind of quiet that comes with a soft blanket of snow that swirls easily down and settles where it lands, making cars and mailboxes and boxwoods stand out like so many cakes adorned with a fat layer of...
President Obama Offers Religious Continuity with Previous Presidents
President Barack Obama’s inaugural address struck a more politically pragmatic pitch than the oratorical proclamation many had predicted. It was more about traveling the path ahead than reaching the promised...
Ignorance and the inauguration
When my family moved to Macon, Ga., nine years ago, a friend who had spent several years here told me: "It is everything right about the South and everything wrong about the South."The same, I'm sure, could be said...
BMS World Mission Appoints New General Director
Washington, D.C. (BWA) -- David Kerrigan, a member of the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Doctrine and Interchurch Cooperation, has been appointed general director of BMS World Mission, the major mission arm of...
Relief Pours in for Victims of Gaza War
Baptists around the world have been showing support for the beleaguered civilians caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hamas. Baptists around the world have been showing support for the beleaguered civilians...
Year of the Ox Plows In
The Chinese have a way, common in Asia, of representing each New Year with several things, primarily animals. For centuries, they have used 12 different animals to represent each year in a 12-year cycle. According to...
Palestinian Christian Considers Gaza Turmoil: Part Two
Raouf Halaby sometimes asks his students, as he’s breaking the ice about his background, how big they think the Jordan River is. Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on the situation in Gaza from the...
Miracle near 34th Street
Sometimes a sense of awe is lacking nowadays in society. The story of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 is awesome. In our calloused, high-tech, nothing-surprises-us society, miracles are often considered spiritual artifacts...