Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
‘Christian Exodus’ Group Focuses Strategy on South Carolina County
A movement that wants to disassociate from the federal government and form a sovereign state built on Christian principles is focusing efforts on a South Carolina county the next two years. Christian conservatives have...
People Can Hear the Gospel Now
I have found that a funeral, the occasion on which we come to church when all other gods have failed, is a good place to speak the gospel. The god of "saving for a rainy day" is dead, because cash has failed us. Modern...
Lebanese Baptists Request Prayer for ‘Critical Time’
Baptists in Lebanon watched with apprehension as tensions built leading up to a Valentine's Day rally marking the second anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Tuesday bomb blasts hit a pair...
Religious Groups Oppose Mandatory HPV Vaccination
Christian conservatives are leading criticism of a Feb. 3 executive order by Texas Gov. Rick Perry requiring sixth-grade schoolgirls to get vaccinated for a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer....
Abolitionist Film Helps Churches Focus on Modern Slavery
Churches across the globe will celebrate "Amazing Grace Sunday" this Feb. 18 in an effort to draw attention to the modern-day slave trade. The event coincides with the upcoming film "Amazing Grace," which tells the...
Discovering God’s Creation Through Digital Photography
Fifty years ago when I got a Kodak pony and started shooting pictures for color slides, it was an expensive, "middle-class" kind of hobby. In the years since the pony was replaced with an Olympus SLR with a telephoto...
Running From War While Running For Office
Would it be out of place for a humble country boy ask the U.S. senators to take up some serious business--especially those running so fast for president? There are more important matters to be done than running around...
Report: SBC President Supports Dialogue on Women’s Ordination
Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page believes the denomination should be open to discussing the ordination of women as deacons or junior staff members but not as senior pastors, according to a TV news...
Author Describes Culture of Waste at Baptist Agency
A radio interviewer Sunday dubbed it "Branson's Law:" The extent of misuse of mission dollars is directly proportional to the distance between the giver and the spender. Mary Kinney Branson, author of Spending God's...
Obama Preaches Trial Sermon, Brownback Issues Pastoral Letter
When Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) announced his presidential candidacy on a bitterly cold Saturday in Springfield, Ill., he preached a trial sermon, similar to those given in some Protestant traditions where a...
First Amendment Expert: Common Ground on Public Schools Vital to Democracy
The "culture-war" debate over public schools is about far more than education, an expert in helping schools and communities find common ground in conflicts involving religion and public schools told a recent summit...
Teaching Abstinence Alone is Not Enough to Protect Girls From Cervical Cancer
A pleasant surprise occurred in Texas politics this past weekend. For the first time, in a long time, Texas may be the first state to be proactive in an issue of public health. Gov. Rick Perry has announced plans to...
Second Group Leaves Glorieta Over Anti-Gay Policy
A second group canceled plans to rent LifeWay Glorieta Conference Center in response to a recently publicized policy banning groups using the Southern Baptist Convention-owned facility from promoting homosexuality....
Jimmy Allen Views 2008 Baptist Confab as ‘Golden Moment’ for Racial Unity
The coordinator of a New Baptist Covenant celebration views the meeting scheduled in early 2008 as "a golden moment" to move Baptists in North America forward together, overcoming racial and doctrinal differences in a...
Science, Faith and Politics
From Africa comes a story of an interesting convergence of science, faith and politics. The national museum in Kenya is planning to display what is known as Turkana Boy--the skeletal remains of a young male who lived...
The Religious Right is not Pro-Life
Despite support for the death penalty and the Iraq war, the Religious Right consistently claims to be pro-life. And while advocates of these positions are often able to pull out Scripture passages as support, there is...
‘Devil in the Details’ of No Child Left Behind, Teacher Tells Education/Faith Summit
America's teachers affirm the federal government's goals of increasing student achievement, closing learning gaps and ensuring that every child is taught by a highly qualified teacher, said Becky Pringle, a member of...
Exxon-Mobil-Funded Think Tank Solicits Criticism of Report on Global Warming
An Exxon-Mobil-funded think tank offered scientists $10,000 to write papers undermining a new major report on climate change. First reported by The Guardian, the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative,...
Trust, Relationship Vital to Church Involvement in Public Education, Minister Says
Pastors can help public education and expand ministry opportunities by building relationships and trust with local school officials, a Houston pastor told clergy and educators at a faith summit in Memphis last week. Ed...
Free Lenten Bible Study Has International Appeal
Baptists from more than 15 countries have downloaded student guides for a Lenten Bible study offered by the Baptist Center for Ethics free of charge. About 560 copies of the student guide of Eyeing Easter, Walking...
African-American Baptist Pastor Blasts Georgia Voucher Bill; Baptist Publisher Votes ‘Yes’
A speaker at last week's faith/education summit in Memphis denounced "knuckleheads under the gold dome" after Georgia's state senate passed a bill that would allow students with disabilities to receive tax money to...