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Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Context Key to Understanding Jeremiah Wright’s Remarks
Last week Barack Obama did two remarkable things. First he risked speaking directly to the reality of racism in America and American history. Obama framed his remarks with his signature phrase of "the audacity of...
Climate Expert Challenges Southern Baptist Leader’s Global Warming Claims
A leading scholar on global warming says a letter sent last week to all 100 United States senators urging defeat of a measure to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions is factually wrong. The Southern Baptist Convention's...
Australian Baptists Support Earth Hour 2008–Will Others Join In?
Australian Baptists announced last week that they support Earth Hour 2008, an initiative launched last year in Sydney that focuses on global warming and has spread across the globe, signing up individuals, corporations...
Don’t forget Easter evening
Christians tend to get really excited about Easter morning, and for good reason. In the long run, however, what Jesus' followers saw and did on Easter evening may have had greater long-term significance for the future...
That awkward name
On "Good Friday," I often contemplate the name we have given this day, a day one would think we might call "Black Friday" or something equally bleak. At least one explanation is that the name evolved from a Germanic...
Azerbaijan’s President Frees Imprisoned Baptist Pastor
Azerbaijan on Wednesday released a Baptist pastor from the remainder of a two-year prison sentence that drew protests around the world labeling it a false arrest. European Baptist Press Service reported Wednesday that...
Why I Believe in the Resurrection
Sunday Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection is viewed by believers just about everywhere as the foundation of Christianity. They assert that by raising Jesus from the dead...
Easter Message From Baptist Leader: Don’t ‘Crucify’ Vulnerable Australians
As Easter approaches this year, Australian Christians and Australian churches will retell and reflect on the great gospel events--the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we look back on the gospel...
Blue laws and inconsistencies
Government restrictions on Sunday activities, commonly called blue laws, have been around in various forms since 1617.Those of a certain age can remember when virtually all stores and businesses were closed on Sunday...
Knowing a Second Language a Must Today
Living between two great oceans, North Americans generally tend to think of English as being the only language necessary. Unfortunately it is common to hear the sneer, "If they want to talk to us, let them learn...
Addressing the Myth of AIDS as a Means of Genocide
Did the American government invent AIDS as a genocidal tool against African-Americans, as claimed by Jeremiah Wright, the controversial preacher best known as Sen. Barack Obama's spiritual mentor? "The government lied...
African-American Baptist Group Protests Boot-Camp Death
Meeting under protest in Panama City, Fla., leaders of Florida's largest black Baptist organization pledged to use the 2006 death of a 14-year-old African-American youth at a boot-camp style detention center to inspire...
Descending and Ascending
The writer of the Gospel of John has John the Witness (a.k.a. John the Baptist in the other Gospels) saying, upon seeing Jesus approaching him: "Look! Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the world's sin." (1:29b)...
Barack Obama Talks Straight on Race
This has been a remarkable morning. It started with a phone call from Tony Brown, a radio talk show host in Alexandria, La. On the show with me were Jerriel Bazile, whose brother stands accused of selling drugs to an...
Obama Criticizes But Refuses to ‘Disown’ Controversial Pastor
In a speech widely touted as one of the most important of his presidential campaign, Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday denounced incendiary comments by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright but refused to disown his pastor of 20 years....
Did Skin Pigmentation or Prophetic Imagination Fuel Jesus’ Vision?
What color was Jesus? Was it skin pigmentation that determined Jesus' message or was it the prophetic imagination that defined his mission? Are pigmentation and imagination separable or inseparable? How is it that we...
Thursday Marks Fifth Anniversary of Iraq Invasion
The number of U.S. military killed in Iraq is closing in on 4,000 as this week marks the war's fifth anniversary. On Saturday the Department of Defense announced the death of six soldiers supporting Operation Enduring...
What Does Suffering Mean for Us and Jesus?
Suffering is at the heart of the Christian gospel. The Gospels themselves are stories, with long introductions, about the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus calls us to choose suffering for the sake of...
Earth-care latest Baptist squabble
Young seminarian Jonathan Merritt sure has gotten a lot of attention for his effort to get Southern Baptists more engaged in creation care. Even TIME magazine and other well-known publications picked up on it.His...
Easter sermon ideas here …
Some months ago, the Biblical Recorder added a new feature I wish I'd thought of ... on the home page, there's a running list of "Today's Most Read" stories. I noticed back in December that a Christmas monologue I had...
SBC Leader Claims Earth Not Getting Hotter But Colder
Southern Baptist Convention leader Richard Land apparently thought he had good reason for refusing to sign a recent statement by fellow Southern Baptists calling for action on global warming. He believes the Earth is...