Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Pondering Religious Liberty on Independence Day
As is my custom on the Sunday before Independence Day, I preached a sermon about religious liberty. This year, after reflecting on Jesus' instruction that we "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God...
A Prayer for Independence Day
Gracious God, as we celebrate our nation's Independence Day, we approach you with hearts that are simultaneously brimming with gratitude and weighted with concern. We are grateful for the privilege of living in "the...
BP Says CBF Inflates Numbers, After SBC Rejects Resolution on Integrity of Church Membership
Baptist Press published a news story accusing the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of inflating its membership numbers, two weeks after the Southern Baptist Convention refused to vote on a resolution calling for greater...
Denton Lotz Reflects on Almost Three Decades of BWA Leadership
Every day is sweeter than the day before is how Denton Lotz reflects on the twilight of his 27-year career as a leader of the Baptist World Alliance. In an interview with EthicsDaily.com, Lotz spoke with clarity and...
The Re-Segregation of U.S. Schools?
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court made the re-segregation of U.S. public schools a strong possibility. Maddeningly, it did so in language drawn from the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, which outlawed school...
New DVD Challenges ‘Myth’ That GOP is ‘God’s Only Party’
A workshop at last week's Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly previewed an upcoming Baptist Center for Ethics DVD challenging the notion that GOP stands for "God's Only Party." "Golden Rule Politics"...
Free Online Bible Study for New Baptist Covenant Now Available
Student and leader guides for "The Agenda: 8 Lessons from Luke 4" are now available. The online, eight-lesson Bible study supporting next year's New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta is offered free of charge by...
Global Baptists Hold Historic Gathering in Ghana, West Africa
A man who traces his ancestry to the slave trade in Ghana will be elected this week in that West African nation as the general secretary of the largest umbrella organization for worldwide Baptists with some 110 million...
Study Suggests CBF Churches Open to Women Pastors
A non-scientific survey by Baptist Women in Ministry suggests the conventional wisdom that Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches "aren't ready" for a woman pastor is eroding. "I think the myth that churches aren't...
American Baptists Donate to Iraq, Urge Leadership on Trafficking, Children in Poverty
Meeting in the Washington, D.C., church where their denomination was formed 100 years ago, leaders of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. this week acted on problems of modern-day slavery, children in poverty...
Evangelism About More Than Just Souls, CBF Moderator Says
Keeping God's covenant requires doing more than just preaching the gospel, but also helping the needy and challenging injustice, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Moderator Emmanuel McCall said in a Thursday address....
Have You Changed Your Mind Lately?
When did it become sinful to change one's mind? When did the ability and willingness to think, learn and adjust cease to be a sign of maturity and wisdom and become the sin we labeled "flip-flop?" Don't get me wrong. I...
Born on the Fourth of July
This coming week we celebrate the 231st anniversary of the founding of our nation. All across our land there will be fireworks and parades commemorating our successful fight to free ourselves from British rule. And it...
BCE, Belmont Offer Bible Commentary for Luke 4 Bible Study
Belmont University's School of Religion is partnering with the Baptist Center Ethics to write Bible commentary for "The Agenda: 8 Lessons from Luke 4," a free, online study to help prepare churches for next year's New...
Being First African-American CBF Moderator Nothing New for Baptist Pioneer
This week in Washington, Emmanuel McCall will become the first African-American to preside over the General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Being first is nothing new for McCall, 71, a pioneer in...
Micah Challenge Calls On New British Prime Minister to Reduce Poverty
The anti-poverty coalition Micah Challenge has called on Britain's new prime minister to take a stand to stamp out global poverty. Former Chancellor Gordon Brown takes over today as 52nd prime minister of the United...
Mugged by Reality
Books on the Iraq tragedy continue to come off the presses with lightning speed. Nearly all of them point out the mistakes by our side in starting or managing of the invasion of Iraq. Few explain it as fully as John...
BGCT, Buckner, Launch Church-Based Immigration Ministry
The Baptist General Convention of Texas and Buckner International have launched a new partnership working with local churches in Texas and beyond to help undocumented immigrants file papers to become U.S. citizens....
First Be Reconciled
Breaking up is hard to do, but we Baptists seem to be pretty good at it, at least when it comes to our preferences about with whom and how we worship. We find points on which to disagree with an alarming regularity,...
Obama Touts ‘Politics of Conscience’ at UCC Meeting
Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama told a religious gathering over the weekend the Christian Right has "hijacked" faith to drive Americans apart and called for a renewed "politics of conscience" that bears moral...
New Resource Gives Baptist Readings, Interpretation of Luke 4
The Baptist Center for Ethics is offering a free resource to support Bible studies and sermons from Luke 4 to help prepare churches for next year's New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta. Excerpts from a...