Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
CBF attendees seek discernment (updated)
The number of registered participants is off from previous years, but the spirit was positive as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) members gathered in Memphis for the organization's General Assembly June...
More or less in Memphis
Spending a few days in Memphis has been more of a pleasure than expected. The anticipated heat and humidity gave way to comfortable summer weather.The downtown area is more appealing than ever with live music, a nice...
A New Name For Alabama’s Education System
I want to propose a new name for Alabama's education system--one that more accurately portrays the true status of public education in our state. I propose we call our public schools "the Lazarus system." Lazarus, you...
Speaker Encourages Churches to Advocate for Just Tax Laws
Churches have often misused and misunderstood the Bible verse that says "render unto Caesar" as an excuse for tolerating unjust taxes that oppress the poor, a speaker at a Baptist Center for Ethics luncheon said...
Baptists Discuss Ways to Build Bridges to Jews
Conversion should not be a hidden agenda in interfaith friendships between Baptists and Jews, but that does not mean Christians cannot talk about Jesus, said two panelists at a screening of a new Baptist Center for...
BWIM at 25
Baptist Women in Ministry (BWIM) celebrated 25 years of fellowship and advocacy with a laid-back dinner meeting and concert June 19. An overflow crowd enjoyed down-home cooking and music by Kate Campbell at the...
Memphis bites
Prior to this week, my experience in Memphis, Tenn. was limited to changing planes at the world's busiest cargo airport, which is home to FedEx as well as Northwest Airlines. But, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's...
‘The Incredible Hulk’
Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is a genius on the run. Where does a genius on the run hide? In a soft drink bottling plant in Brazil, of course, and it's there that "The Incredible Hulk" opens. This movie is aided by the...
SBC Leader Says Dominion, Not Exodus, Key to Fixing California’s Public Schools
A member of the Southern Baptist Convention Resolutions Committee says they did not recommend a resolution this year calling for a boycott of California's public schools, because the committee believed Christians need...
CBF Coordinating Council Endorses Micah Call
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council on Wednesday endorsed a global Christian campaign to deepen engagement with impoverished and marginalized communities and challenge international leaders to...
Happy birthday, Dr. Taylor
Dr. Gardner Taylor, deemed by Time magazine as "dean of the nation's black preachers," turns 90 today. Happy birthday!We wish him well and thank him for decades of stirring preaching and faithful ministry, including 42...
The First Beatitude
"When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of...
Hunt’s Biography Updated, Canadian Religious Leader Comes Under Criticism for Diploma Mill
Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt's Web site has been updated to include two honorary degrees in his biographical sketch from schools identified by EthicsDaily.com as diploma mills. EthicsDaily.com...
In God He Trusts
Last Friday, a judge in Lake County, Illinois granted the petition of 57-year-old Steve Kreuscher to change his name to In God We Trust. His legal first name is now "In God" and his legal last name is "We Trust."...
Southern Baptists Affirm War on Christmas
Last Wednesday messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis passed six resolutions. As a Southern Baptist, I usually brace myself for the backlash created by offensive resolutions. I've done this since...
Baptist Professors Back Bill Supporting Intelligent Design
An "academic freedom" bill that opponents say could open the door to teaching creationism in public schools sailed through Louisiana's House of Representatives last week, buoyed by testimony in favor of the legislation...
What Is Wrong with Diploma Mills?
Theological diploma mills are a significant problem of moral integrity. If ministers will take educational shortcuts and misrepresent their ministerial training, then they will probably cut corners and engage in...
A legend lost
Alma Hunt died Saturday night at age 98. The longtime Woman's Missionary Union leader was considered a great friend to missionaries and an advocate for racial and gender equality. Her successor, Carolyn Weatherford...
Fresh vegetables and renewed gratitude
We’re visiting with my parents for a few days while en route to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship meeting in Memphis June 18-20. That means, among other things, that we’re gorging ourselves on fresh vegetables from...
Recasting the Ten Commandments
Rabbi Rami Shapiro and I are collaborating on a book in progress exploring the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. Our blog, Mount and Mountain, recently passed the 100-post mark. We have completed a first...
Women in Ministry Not a ‘Secondary Issue’
Many of my gifted and well-meaning colleagues in the Southern Baptist world have devoted much time and energy toward calling a "truce" on the in-fighting regarding the contentious issue of women in ministry. The way my...