Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Bellevue Investigation Report Due Jan. 20
A Bellevue Baptist Church committee investigating a longtime staff member accused of molestation reported "significant progress" but provided few details in an interim report. In a Jan. 7 report posted on the Web site...
PBS Profiles Homeschool Movement
In what one homeschool-advocacy group called "one of the biggest homeschool stories to hit mainstream media," PBS' "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly" last week carried an episode profiling the "exodus" movement. "The...
Lent–Why Observe It?
It is written in the gospel of Mark that Jesus came "proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news'" (Mark 1:14-15;...
In Memory Of Martin Luther King
In his elegant little book, "Finally Comes the Poet," Walter Brueggemann writes that the task of the preacher is to be "a voice that shatters settled reality and evokes new possibilities." If he is right about that,...
Richard Land Doesn’t Get Baptist ‘Covenant’
Following the announcement of "Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant," several Southern Baptist leaders offered their criticism of the planned gathering and argued that Baptists do not have an image problem. Perhaps...
Pat Robertson Skeptical Bush Can Sell Troop Surge
Televangelist Pat Robertson, who in 2004 claimed he warned President Bush there would be casualties in the war in Iraq, said Thursday he doubts there is much the president can do to drum up support for his recent...
Churches Subpoenaed in Tennessee Baptist Lawsuit Against School
Belmont University has sent subpoenas to Tennessee Baptist Convention churches asking about gifts made to the Cooperative Program between 1951 and 2005 and whether they knew about or relied on a 1951 document at the...
Lent—Preparing Your Church For New Life
Many years ago, Baptists reacted against the liturgical emphasis of some church traditions and in the process we threw the baby out with the bath water. We lost the natural cadence of the "Christian calendar." In place...
Baptist Leaders Must Take Action for Protection of Kids
If a church building had a serious structural problem, leaders would likely call in a foundation expert to inspect the property and advise on appropriate action. But when a Baptist church has a serious problem with its...
Think Differently About Partisanship Issue at 2008 Baptist Gathering
Baptists are much more than Southern Baptists, who are more southern than Baptist, more exclusive than inclusive, more theocratic than democratic and more negative than positive. The perception of Baptists as the...
Jesus the Truth-Teller
Who is Jesus? We have a feeling that Jesus is someone we can choose to accept or choose not to accept. There is heaven or hell to pay, but little else about his life and teaching seems to have real meaning. First and...
Baptist Leaders Oppose U.S. Troop ‘Surge’ (updated)
Baptist leaders contacted Thursday by EthicsDaily.com disagreed with President Bush's plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq. Baptist leaders contacted Thursday by EthicsDaily.com disagreed with President Bush's plan to...
Kansas City Church Settles Paternity Lawsuit Involving Former Minister
First Baptist Church of Raytown, Mo., held a members-only meeting Sunday night to discuss details of a recently settled lawsuit involving the pastor's son, who fathered an out-of-wedlock child while serving on the...
Lent–Anachronism, Hindrance or Opportunity?
Many Christians in the free-church tradition have deep-seated suspicions of ancient church practices such as Lent. There is a widespread belief that the Reformation dispensed with such traditions for a good reason in...
Great Power, Great Responsibility
When legendary comics creator Stan Lee gave birth to Spider-Man in 1962 he gave the new superhero the maxim, "With great power, there must also come great responsibility!" This guiding truth for Spider-Man is a lesson...
Scientists Say Exxon-Mobil Misinforms Public About Global Warming
ExxonMobil has underwritten the most sophisticated and successful disinformation campaign since tobacco companies sought to downplay the health effects of smoking in order to deceive the public about the reality of...
The Quran Comes to Congress
Keith Ellison, a newly elected Democratic Congressman from Minnesota, took the oath of office last Thursday. Many words have been spoken about the fact that Ellison, who converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam when...
Moderate Baptists Seek Unity to Work on 21st Century Issues
Former U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton joined leaders of 40 Baptist organizations Tuesday to announce a major meeting in early 2008 to offer an alternative Baptist voice to often-negative messages of the...
Author Says Bellevue Pastor Should Be Sued
The founder of a conservative "biblical discernment" ministry says Memphis pastor Steve Gaines endangered children at Bellevue Baptist Church by treating molestation allegations against a staff member as a church...
Will Baptists Step Up to Take on Global Warming as Moral Issue in 2007?
Three days after Christmas the Bush administration backtracked on global warming when it proposed under a court-ordered deadline to place the polar bear on the threatened-species list due to the rapid loss of Arctic...
‘Red State: The Movie’
In the independent documentary "Red State: The Movie," self-described California liberal Michael Shea sets out from his Blue State Venice Beach home to travel across America, stopping mainly in Red States to talk to...