Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
A Candle for Those Oppressed
This Friday, the attention of the world will turn to Olympics. Extensive media coverage will be given to exceptional athletes--the talented swimmers, gifted gymnasts, Dream Teams and so many others. Let's hope that in...
Churches at the End of Oil and Other Crises
Last November, I posed the question in a blog, "If gas hits $4/gal, what will your church do?" We are beyond $4/gallon gas now, and the future looks different than we ever thought it would just a couple of years back....
Christian Leader Rejects Abortion to Save a Woman’s Life
A proponent of "biblical patriarchy" is drawing fire among conservative religious homeschoolers for his view that abortion is never morally justifiable, even to save the life of the mother. One recent blog urged fellow...
The Good Samaritan Teaches There Are No Limits to Our Community
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most familiar and beloved parables told by Jesus. Yet the danger in knowing the story too well is that we have often understood the story apart from its original social...
Oldest jokes among the worst
Toilet humor is apparently as old as humor itself, if you go by a top ten list of the "World's Oldest Jokes" published last week by the University of Wolverhampton.And it shows that the ancients had a fairly odd sense...
Open Letter to Brett Favre
It is no secret to those who know me, that I love sports. It is the ultimate reality show. Take the Brett Favre fiasco for example. He retired last spring and the team has moved ahead with their new quarterback. He has...
In God We Trust?
I'm a big fan of God, but the governor's proposal to allow Kentuckians to opt for car license tags that replace the state slogan "Unbridled Spirit" with "In God We Trust" seems like a nice idea with complicated and...
‘Back to School’ Also Means Return to Battles Over Intelligent Design
As fall approaches, along with back-to-school sales and tax-free holidays, expect more controversies about intelligent design, warns a Texas organization that monitors science teaching standards in public schools. The...
Open Letter to Brett Favre
It is no secret to those who know me, that I love sports. It is the ultimate reality show. Take the Brett Favre fiasco for example. He retired last spring and the team has moved ahead with their new quarterback. He has...
Speak for yourself
Self-appointed spokespersons get on my nerves. Such is the case with the Rev. Rob McCoy, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, Calif.Although a second-tier player, at best, in the ongoing evangelical...
Azerbaijani Baptist Pastor Avoids Prison, For Now
A jailed Baptist pastor in Azerbaijan won a partial victory July 29 when a judge decided not to convict him of criminal charges and referred the case back to the prosecutor for further investigation. "We were partially...
Review the Cancer Chronicles of CBF
Cecil Sherman, founding coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has acute leukemia, specifically acute myeloid leukemia. At 80 years old, he received his first round of chemotherapy early last week at M.D....
Global Baptists Seek to Transcend ‘Worship Wars’
Worship and the so-called "worship wars" were on the agenda during the Baptist International Conference on Theological Education, held in Prague July 27-29. Edna Grenz, minister of worship for First Baptist Church in...
Russian Baptists persevere
Baptists in Russia are celebrating this weekend, despite a passive-aggressive approach from government officials that has left them relying on emergency power. The biannual congress of the “Russian Union of Evangelical...
Walking the dog
I've mentioned previously that our family acquired a pound pup a few months ago, a rapscalious bundle of energy and teeth that is finally beginning to comprehend that our carpet is not his toilet.More often than not,...
Accuser Recants Sex Abuse Charge Against Baptist Youth Minister
A woman who accused a Kentucky Baptist youth minister last year of sexually abusing her teenaged daughter now says she made the story up. According to local media Debra Johnson signed a court document Tuesday admitting...
Ready, Set, Pray
For years now the Fredericksburg, Va., city council has started their monthly meetings with prayer. Working through a pre-established rotation, each council member takes a turn seeking guidance from a higher power for...
Accuser Recants Sex Abuse Charge Against Baptist Youth Minister
A woman who accused a Kentucky Baptist youth minister last year of sexually abusing her teenaged daughter now says she made the story up. According to local media Debra Johnson signed a court document Tuesday admitting...
Beijing Olympics Spark Debate About Religious Freedom in China
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday calling on China to end abuses of human rights in advance of the upcoming Beijing Olympics. The non-binding act called on China's government to end its...
‘Swing Vote’
What if Larry the Cable Guy chose the next president? That's basically the premise of "Swing Vote," the new Kevin Costner starrer satirizing presidential elections. Costner plays Bud Johnson, a ne'er-do-well in Texico,...
Kyle Matthews … on the move
Kyle Matthews is one of the most popular singer-songwriters around, especially within those circles populated by moderate Baptists. Jan and I have known him and his wife Susan for nearly 20 years, going back to their...