Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
RockyResources.com: Balboa Trades on Faith
"Rocky Balboa," the sixth and allegedly final installment in the "Rocky" franchise, hits theaters Dec. 22, and the filmmakers have wasted no time courting religious America for the release. MGM has enlisted Motive...
‘Emergent’ Pastor Apologizes for Haggard Remark
Emergent church leader Mark Driscoll apologized for comments on the fall of former National Association of Evangelicals head Ted Haggard, saying they were misconstrued and he never meant to blame Haggard's wife for his...
The Reduction of Christmas by Christians
This past Christmas season, folks on the Fox network prompted alarm among some churches because Wal-Mart and other retailers were greeting people with "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Some seemed to think...
Iraq Study Group Calls Situation ‘Grave and Deteriorating’
An Iraq Study Group mandated by Congress on Wednesday called for a new United States strategy in Iraq, calling for broader diplomatic efforts, more emphasis on training of Iraqi troops and withdrawing combat troops by...
William Knibb: Missionary and Social Prophet
A popular contemporary stereotype is that Christians concerned with global evangelism and missions are tone deaf to questions of social justice, and those concerned with the latter have no evangelistic or missionary...
‘Christmas is Not Your Birthday,’ Web Campaign Reminds Readers
Unless you are Jimmy Buffett, Sissy Spacek or Karl Rove, Dec. 25 is probably not your birthday, but it's no secret to anyone that consumerism is rife this time of year. A philanthropic Web site, CoolPeopleCare.org, has...
Unsafe Harbors
North Carolina Baptists have trumped Missourians over who can exclude whom. A few weeks ago, the Missouri Baptist Convention dismissed 19 churches from its ranks for not being exclusively (singly) aligned with the...
Peace on Earth, Except in Iraq
When I lived in the Rocky Mountains, it was sort of a novelty to be an evangelical Christian. We had them, but they, along with most folks there, kept pretty much to themselves. People were conservative, but in a "if...
Bush Administration Ends Hunger
The Department of Agriculture has dropped the word "hunger" from its annual report. Now 35 million Americans suffer instead from "low food security." Such a euphemism is almost Orwellian. There are still 10.8 million...
Graphic Novels New Battlefield in ‘Library Wars’ (updated)
Graphic novels, which use comic-book like graphics and dialogue balloons to address sometimes adult themes, are the latest front in what has been called the library wars. The Marshall Public Library in central Missouri...
SBC Leader Says Fighting Over Baptist Colleges a Waste of Time
A pioneer in the movement to move Southern Baptist seminaries sharply to the right two decades ago says conservatives shouldn't fight moderate colleges that want to leave the Baptist fold. "Candidly, most everything is...
The Audacity of Hope
'Tis the season for audacity. As Christians around the world enter the season of Advent we embrace hope. In a world hell-bent on immediate gratification with its attendant impatience Christians will light a simple...
Combating the Stigma of HIV/AIDS
World AIDS Day is Dec. 1. Around the world there have been special seminars and public gatherings to call attention to the fact that 40 million individuals have HIV. Among those infected are members of our own Baptist...
‘The Nativity Story’
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from New Line Cinema that "The Nativity Story" should be produced … And so it was. Released nationwide today, "The Nativity Story" tells the emotional...
Southern Baptist Leaders Claim Ties to Council on Foreign Relations
Two prominent Southern Baptists recently boasted about being selected for membership in a prestigious New York-based think tank that conspiracy theorists such as Pat Robertson view as a secret society plotting a...
Bacon Eaters And Greedy Gossips
North Carolina Baptists, meeting in their annual convention a few weeks ago, changed the way they determine membership for churches in their convention. In addition to things like believing in God, Jesus and the Bible,...
Advent: A Christian Countdown to Christmas
In the rural church of my upbringing, we didn't observe Advent. We jumped directly from Thanksgiving to Christmas. In our close-knit congregation, the non-negotiable liturgical dates on our church calendar other than...
Carson-Newman Trustees Hold ‘Listening Sessions’ on President
Carson-Newman College trustees this week are hearing firsthand complaints of faculty members who want them to fire President James Netherton. Faculty at the Baptist-affiliated school in Jefferson City, Tenn., passed a...
Racism And Memory: I Am What I Remember
"Not that I'm not disturbed by all the proud bigots, but it is alarming to think that everyone is walking around harboring all this ill will, and it takes a few drinks or a bad day to unleash it." -- Richmond Times...
Church Affirms Public Schools
Observing perceptions that Southern Baptists are of two minds about public education--both critical--a former Southern Baptist Convention church in Virginia sent a message to its local educators that some Baptists...
‘Nativity’ Gives Hollywood Chance to Talk Faith
Literary agent Marty Bowen had represented screenwriter Mike Rich for several films, including "Finding Forrester," "The Rookie" and "Radio." Both men were, and are, Christians, and when Rich told Bowen in 2005 he was...