Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
From Conversation to Action: What Are We Doing Together?
The events in our country and our community make the timing of this DVD and the screenings that have been held in Nashville, Fort Worth, Louisville, Atlanta and now Little Rock perfect for creating a new day in race...
Scrolls exhibit winding down
A rare exhibit of fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls continues to attract visitors to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, and with good reason. Visitors may be surprised, however, to learn that...
Worth reading
I haven't commented previously on recent news about a crooked ex-IMB missionary who was able to steal several hundred thousand dollars from customers of an Alabama insurance company after the Southern Baptist...
Deathbed Conversions of the Big Three U.S. Automakers Are Unreliable
What we are witnessing from the Big Three--Ford, General Motors and Chrysler--is nothing more than deathbed conversions. Maybe the word "earn" is as inaccurate as the word "make." No one really earns or makes $10,000...
I Was Just Quoting Jesus
I recently wrote a column suggesting that as Christians we could do a better job finding ways to collectively provide assistance to the least of these among us. The responses were swift and angry. I was accused of...
The Gospel of—or About—Jesus
The alternatives here are not between leaving Jesus in or out of the gospel picture. Jesus figures centrally in both options, but in much different roles. In one he is the decisive object of faith. In the other he is...
Parasites and politics
Politicians and parasites are sometimes mentioned in the same sentence — but usually not in a literal or positive sense.However, an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tells how amazingly close one politician's...
Viral cheer
An old song that I never liked claims that "Happiness runs in a circular motion." Not so, according to Nicholas Christakis, a medical sociologist at Harvard University. He and James Fowler of the University of...
BWA General Secretary Comforts Indian Baptists
Washington, D.C. (BWA) -- Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Neville Callam has sent a letter of comfort to Baptists in India in the wake of the attacks in Mumbai, the country's financial capital and largest...
A Question That Really Matters
If we are ever to find meaningful answers, we must stop asking meaningless questions. Before attending Harvard, I completed my undergraduate studies at Samford University. After graduating, I decided to attend a local...
What We Can Learn From Wal-Mart Death
We're a lot like the folks at the back of that Wal-Mart line. We have no idea who's up there ahead of us. We can't see who's being crushed by the weight of our wants. All we know is that there's a sale and the doors...
Little Rock Screening of Racism DVD Prompts Substantive Dialogue
The DVD screening, sponsored by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas, brought old and painful memories to many in the diverse audience of about 170--a 60-40 mix of white and minorities. About 100 steps from...
Freedom of the press overshadowed
If this sounds nit-picky or defensive, so be it.Recently I've been reading through the excellent, scholarly papers presented this summer at the annual meeting of the Baptist History & Heritage Society and assembled in...
Old and New Ministries Fill Denominational Cracks
There are a number of ministries--some of which have been around for awhile and more being birthed daily--that want to partner with individual congregations and judicatories at every level to provide specific services...
Analyzing the Religious Vote
Religion has played a pivotal role in every election in this country since 1976. That remains true for our most recent presidential race as well. Even though the U.S. Constitution does not allow a religious test for...
Baptist Leader Misstates Environmental Data
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, recently made inaccurate claims that the earth is cooling instead of warming. As he made his claims during the...
March to a Different Drummer
Our drum tree serves as a holiday reminder that God calls us to march to the beat of a different drummer, receiving our formative cues and motivation from the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus.The first summarizes the...
Scroll exhibit extended
You heard it here first: the acclaimed Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences was scheduled to close December 28, but a museum official has told me that the Israel Antiquities...
Passing Along the Leadership Mantle
A smooth transition sends clear messages about the health and future of the group, while a rocky transition can handicap the new leader and set the group or organization back significantly. We need to be deliberate and...
Call for More Church Action Over AIDS
Churches across the UK have been encouraged to step up their commitment to tackling the global AIDS pandemic. The call came from a variety of Christian HIV and AIDS charities and agencies ahead of World AIDS day on...
What I Heard at Baptist-Jewish DVD Screenings in Greensboro and Mobile
When we now listen to the religious minority's stories of injury and insult, we take the first step toward religious reformation. Awareness births empathy--empathy births a passion for righteousness. At least, that's...