Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Carpenter thoughts
They stood like soldiers, ten ladderback chairs that needed my attention. We bought them in stages more than 20 years ago, as Jan and I were first setting up housekeeping in Oxford, N.C., then adding more furniture to...
Thy word have I hid …
... on my pin?According to the Jerusalem Post, scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have successfully inscribed the entire text of the Hebrew Bible – vowels included – on a gold-covered silicon...
Baptist Children’s Home Exec Sought No Prison for Clergy Sex Abuser
The head of an Illinois Baptist ministry that specializes in work with abused and neglected children says he stands by his decision four years ago to ask for leniency in the sentencing of a pastor who confessed to...
Judge Says White House Must Release Visitor Logs for Nine Religious Right Leaders
A federal judge on Monday ordered the Bush administration to release information about when nine prominent religious conservatives visited the White House, rejecting arguments by the administration the records should...
Are Africans Hard Wired to Read the Old Testament?
A story is making the rounds in religious news about a recent address by Phillip Jenkins of Pennsylvania State University to the Evangelical Theological Society in November. Jenkins argued that Africans are often able...
ingorance and insensitivities
Chuckles and bewilderment, not outrage, seemed to be the primary and appropriate responses to someone at a New York City grocery store labeling the ham as "Delicious for Chanukah (Hannaukkah)" recently. Apparently, it...
Baptist Preacher Urges Wal-Mart to ‘Be a Better Neighbor’ in TV Spot
A faculty member at Baptist-related McAfee School of Theology appears in a new television ad critical of Wal-Mart. "The Bible says, 'To whom much is given, much is required,'" Charles Foster Johnson says in the ad....
Witness to Christ
As I was leaving the Opryland Hotel at the end of my volunteer shift at the 76th annual general assembly of the United Jewish Communities, an elderly man walking with his wife stopped me to ask why there were so many...
‘I Am Legend’
Naomi Levy, in her book To Begin Again, tells the story of a parishioner in her synagogue who survived a brutal attack on Yom Kippur. The victim asked: "Where was God? Was God so busy at the Yom Kippur service in...
Southern Baptist Seminarian Faces Molestation Charges
A seminarian in North Carolina was arrested last week on charges of sexual molestation of children. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary suspended a student charged with sexually abusing a 10-year-old child while...
People of Faith Should Vote with a Well-Informed Religious Conscience
The Christmas season has arrived again and the hustle and bustle of the holiday rush will occupy our time and thoughts over the coming weeks. Yet, another event is beginning to seek our attention that will captivate...
Up and At ‘Em
The good news is, if you're awake, you're alive. The bad news is, you have to get out of that comfy bed, find something to wear, and at least try to be someone who is pleasant to be around. The good news is, if you're...
Shurden feted at Mercer
Walter "Buddy" Shurden was honored with a retirement dinner at Mercer University last night where he has spent nearly 25 years as a Christianity professor and department chair, as well as founding director of Mercer's...
Dragonfly evangelism
Our son Samuel has taken a real liking to his latest toy, a remote controlled dragonfly made by Flytech. He became enamored with it when a neighbor friend got one as a Hanukkah present, and used his own money to buy...
Advent: Waiting for the World to Change
John Mayer's song called "Waiting for the World to Change" has been my head as I think about Christmas. Mayer writes compelling lyrics about how we often feel like we don't have the power to change our world. "Now we...
Southern Baptist Study Puts Women in Their Place
In 2000 the Southern Baptist Convention made headlines with theological arguments including women cannot be pastors and wives must submit to their husbands. Next year those controversies come to local churches in a new...
‘The Kite Runner’
"The Kite Runner" engrosses you from its exquisite opening credits to its final frame. Unless you've read Khaled Hosseini's 2003 novel on which this is based, you blessedly won't have a clue as to what's going to...
Nebo-Sarsekim’s gift
Thinking back through the news of the past year, a small and largely overlooked event offered to believers a gift that's worth celebrating.It all has to do with a gift from a certain Babylonian named Nebo-Sarsekim, who...
Blame it on the media
On the heels of the tragic shooting of young mission trainees and churchgoers in Colorado last Sunday,Family Research Council president Tony Perkins (in photo) blamed some in the secular press for creating such...
Immigration IS a Social Issue
Immigration continues to dominate much of the discussion among Republican presidential candidates. The issue sparked a fierce back-and-forth exchange between candidates Rudy Guiliani and Mitt Romney during the recent...
Is Violence Among Humans Inevitable?
This Christmas season has been tragically scarred by a series of senseless violent acts. Shopping malls and churches are the latest venues for troubled individuals to take out their frustrations on the innocent....