Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
SCHIP Veto a Moral Issue, Congressman Says at Screening of ‘Golden Rule Politics’
An Alabama congressman said Monday that President Bush's veto last week of a children's health insurance bill is a moral issue. "Religion and faith teach us to leave the world changed by our presence," Rep. Artur...
An Expert on Baptist Polity?
As the Missouri Baptist Convention's lawsuits against five ministries continue in pre-trial stages after more than five years, the state convention recently announced individuals it considers to be experts in Baptist...
No angel under this “halo”
If you read this post from BT's Oct. 7 list of links or in your local newspaper, perhaps you were as taken aback as I was that multiple youth groups are using the new video game "Halo 3" as a draw for getting kids to...
October ‘Hunger Month’ for Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance observes October as Hunger Month. Why is this necessary? Consider the statistics that appear on the Bread for the World Web site: --There are 854 million people across the world who are...
Prominent SBC Pastor Survives Ouster Vote
A prominent Southern Baptist Convention pastor being sued by parishioners who accuse him of misspending church money and withholding financial records kept his job Sunday in a confidence vote, the latest round in a...
Baptists Hold Key to Overriding Veto on Health Insurance Bill for Children
Baptists hold one of the keys to overriding President Bush's veto last week of a bipartisan bill that would provide health insurance to millions of low-income children. Will goodwill Baptists turn the key? Or will...
October ‘Hunger Month’ for Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance observes October as Hunger Month. Why is this necessary? Consider the statistics that appear on the Bread for the World Web site:--There are 854 million people across the world who are...
Another Anniversary: Six Years of War in Afghanistan
Six years ago, Sunday, Oct. 7, was the day we buried my wife's mother in the old cemetery in Farmersville, Texas. Following the burial services the family gathered for a late afternoon lunch. It was a time of...
Holding off Christmas
Advent — the four-week period leading to Christmas — has been gaining recognition in recent years among Baptist churches that otherwise have given little or no attention to an observance of the Church Year.Worship...
Too much Jesus?
Chowan University, a small Baptist school in northeastern North Carolina, is experiencing a revival on more fronts than one. Since taking office as interim president in 2003 -- and being named permanent president in...
National Council of Churches Charts New Course
The National Council of Churches, America's leading ecumenical group, charted a new course by selecting a long-time educator and ecumenical leader to head a newly restructured and downsized organization. After...
Faith Leaders Denounce Veto of Children’s Insurance Program
Religious leaders expressed disappointment after President Bush on Tuesday carried out his threat to veto legislation to provide health insurance for 10 million American children. Bush used the fourth veto of his...
A War For Oil
From the very beginning of the war in Iraq, faith leaders, and others, have raised concerns that the conflict did not meet the criteria for a "just war." Just-war theory has been taking shape for centuries. In its...
New BWA leader looks for SBC return
On Oct. 1, exactly one month after starting his new job, General Secretary Neville Callam of the Baptist World Alliance and I sat down for a conversation. He was in Atlanta as part of an 18-city tour throughout the...
Guidelines for the Political ‘Crazy Season’
What's a Christian to do during the political "crazy season"--i.e. the race for the presidency of the United States? When asked, I usually answer in terms of what a Christian should and should not do.My personal list...
Gay-Sex Sting Operation Nabs Baptist Pastor
A Southern Baptist pastor was among 40 men arrested on indecency charges in a two-week investigation of city parks in Johnson City, Tenn. Robert E. Riley, 55, stepped down as pastor of Rogersville First Baptist Church...
Preachers Are What’s Wrong With the World
"Preachers," said Lewis Perkins, "are what's wrong with the world." I confess I have very few close friends whose vocation is the same as mine. Growing up, I did not like many preachers. They seemed to me less than...
Goatees get your goat?
While working on an earlier post about Doug Pagitt being axed from the upcoming Wired2Grow conference in North Carolina, I couldn't help being reminded of something I'd noticed before: the "preacher" uniform has really...
Blackwater Head Disavows ‘Mercenary’ Label
A private security contractor at the center of a congressional probe of alleged war profiteering and misconduct objected to characterizations of his business as a "Republican" company that employs "mercenaries." "We...
An Open Letter to Pastors: Have You Ever Preached A Sermon About Domestic Violence?
Pastors, have you ever preached a sermon against domestic violence? Odds are you haven't. I've listened to approximately 4,000 sermons and have yet to hear a pastor condemn domestic violence from the pulpit. Southern...
SBC’s ‘Public Theology’ Failed to Win Support for Iraq War, Scholars Say
The Southern Baptist Convention spoke with a unified voice in support of the war in Iraq but failed to persuade Americans outside the denomination to join them in supporting an increasingly unpopular war, according to...