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Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Forgive Us Our Debts
"The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender." Anyone who has ever been in debt has experienced the truth of this biblical proverb. And let's be honest with each other--debt is something we...
BCE Director Predicts SBC Isn’t Going to Change
Robert Parham of the Baptist Center for Ethics downplayed expectations that election of a dark-horse presidential candidate and declining to consider a resolution calling for a strategy to exit public school signals...
Southern Baptists Plot Takeover of Public Schools, Observer Says
Failure to report a Southern Baptist Convention resolution calling for an exit strategy from public schools is not an affirmation of public education, but rather a strategic shift aimed at controlling the school system...
Parental Guidance And Matters Of Faith
In what is becoming the latest clash between fundamentalist Christianity and the rest of the world, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) recently assigned a PG rating to an explicitly Christian film. The...
‘Family Integrated Church’ Centered in Home
Homeschooling parents often discuss the importance of having a strong support network at church. That isn't a problem at Grace Community Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Magnolia, Texas. All the families...
Reading the Green Bible
The Bible is God's green book, staking out the divine imperative for earth care. Even the red-lettered Bible, the one that has what Jesus said in red letters, is really a green Bible. In fact, Jesus' Great Commandment...
‘Exit Strategy’ Proponents Optimistic Despite Setback
Southern Baptist homeschooling and Christian-school advocates remained optimistic despite failure of a resolution calling for an exit strategy from public schools to make it out of committee. The Southern Baptist...
Things Can’t Be All Bad When You’ve Got Ice Cream
While our country has problems with illegal immigration, Iraq has the exact opposite worry: legal emigration. According to the New York Times, officials in Baghdad say during the last 10 months, some 1.85 million...
Southern Baptists Oppose Use of Alcohol
The Southern Baptist Convention on Wednesday passed a resolution declaring "total opposition" to the manufacturing, advertising, distributing and drinking of alcoholic beverages. While teetotaling was the...
SBC Refers IMB Investigation to Agency’s Trustees
The Southern Baptist Convention Tuesday evening turned down a request by an International Mission Board trustee for an outside investigation to determine sources of controversy dividing IMB trustees. Wade Burleson, a...
Henlee Barnette: Teacher, Friend, Encourager
Editor's Note: The Baptist Center for Ethics' 15th anniversary luncheon, June 22 in Atlanta, honors the legacies of T.B. Maston and Henlee Barnette. Today Jim Holladay, a former student and friend, profiles Barnette....
‘Irenic Conservative’ Wins 3-Way Race for SBC President
Newly elected Southern Baptist Convention president Frank Page termed Tuesday's first-ballot election in a three-way race "a defining moment" in the denomination, marked by appreciation for the past but emphasizing...
Defense Rests in Baptist Foundation of Arizona Trial
Nearly nine months of testimony ended Friday in the trial of two former Baptist Foundation of Arizona officials on trial for felony fraud, when the defense rested its case. Closing arguments by lawyers are scheduled...
SBC Declines to Re-Visit WMU Auxiliary Status
Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention rejected a proposal to invite Woman's Missionary Union to surrender its auxiliary status and submit to convention control. The SBC Executive Committee recommended Monday...
Reading Project Links Kids with Parents in Prison
Children love it when someone reads a book to them. They love funny sounds, rhyming words and silly pictures. They love the sound of their mom or dad's voice. Sometimes, their mom or dad can't read to them, because...
Bird Flu Pandemic Scenario Sparks Ethics Debate
It might happen next flu season, or the following, or five years from now. Sometime soon, almost inevitably say the experts, a deadly flu virus will ravage the earth and its human inhabitants. Vaccine and antiviral...
Pastor Alleges Interference Into IMB Affairs
GREENSBORO, N.C.--A Texas pastor has offered to produce evidence of efforts to collect information on political enemies if the Southern Baptist Convention decides this week to investigate causes of controversy that has...
“A Prairie Home Companion”
I've never been a fan of Garrison Keillor's radio variety show, but when I met the man on screen in director Robert Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion," I instantly liked him. "Companion," which opened nationwide...
T. B. Maston–As I Knew Him
Editor's Note: The Baptist Center for Ethics' 15th anniversary luncheon, June 22 in Atlanta, honors the legacies of T.B. Maston and Henlee Barnette. This week Joe Trull, a former student, profiles Maston. The first...
Tiptoeing Through the TULIP: Southern Baptists Divided Over Calvinism
Many observers predict next week's Southern Baptist Convention in Greensboro, N.C., will be the most contentious meeting in 15 years. While controversies about doctrinal parameters, alleged mismanagement, principled...
GuideStone Heavily Invested in Companies with Sudan Connections
In 2005, GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, formerly known as the Annuity Board, invested nearly $72 million in corporations doing business in Sudan. Government-sponsored genocide in...