Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
‘Firewall’
Harrison Ford's recent box-office track record hasn't been good. Though his history as Han Solo and Indiana Jones is enough to keep him (for now) as one of the all-time most bankable stars, his films since then have...
Report: Senate Majority Leader Rigged Bill to Benefit Drug Firms
A new report says Senate Majority Leader and likely presidential contender Bill Frist slipped into a defense-appropriation bill--without knowledge of a bi-partisan committee that had already allotted all crucial...
Church Fires Hit Home
The rash of rural church burnings in Alabama became personal to me this week. On Tuesday, Feb. 7, the First Baptist Church of Dancy was damaged by smoke and fire. The good work of the volunteer fire department in the...
Who Would Burn a Church and Why
Once again churches are being burned in Alabama. Nine so far, but with great fear that there will be more. We've seen this before in the 1990's, rural churches, mostly African-American congregations, torched and left...
Why the Outcry Over ‘Brokeback Mountain?’
As we move closer to this year's Academy Awards, there seems to be more and more discussion about the frontrunner for Best Picture, "Brokeback Mountain." Most of the discussion, especially among Christian groups, seems...
More Church Fires Hit Alabama
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--Fire erupted at three more rural Alabama churches Tuesday, less than a week after five Baptist churches burned in the state. State and federal investigators were dispatched to the sites, said Ragan...
Evangelicals Divide Over Global Warming
Eighty-six evangelicals broke ranks with religious-right kingpins including James Dobson and Charles Colson and urged the Bush administration to limit carbon-dioxide emissions to battle global warming. Rick Warren,...
‘Landmark’ Prof Defends Missionary Baptism Requirement
A new policy requiring that Southern Baptist missionaries be baptized in a church that "practices believer's baptism by immersion alone" is being defended by a seminary professor and pastor associated with a largely...
A Biblical Budget
After reviewing President Bush's $2.77 trillion budget for 2007, I am convinced that he is a man who reads the Bible literally. Specifically Matthew 25:29: "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an...
Just War in Iraq Requires Reasonable Hope for Success
Does the present U.S. course in Iraq constitute a just war? The Christian ethic of just war theory is a time-honored method for determining whether a nation should go to war. According to this ethical method, some wars...
Blogging Trustee Drops ‘Crusading’ Conservative Label
An International Mission Board trustee under fire for blogging about internal politicking among Southern Baptist leaders has rewritten a December blog that attacked "crusading conservatives," using softer and...
Don’t Make American Workers Pay for Corporate Graft in Health Care
I was very surprised that President George Bush brushed over the health care crisis in his State of the Union address last week. "Crisis" is not an exaggeration. Nearly one-quarter of Americans walk around in a...
Senator Warns That Environmentalists Taking Over Evangelical Group
A conservative United States senator warned against "far-left" environmentalists he claimed are trying to dupe the National Association of Evangelicals into adopting a policy statement on global warming. The Washington...
The Plague of Crystal Meth
Ministry in rural areas, particularly poor ones, is becoming increasingly challenging due to the growing plague of crystal methamphetamine. Its production and use is destroying persons and families. It breaks the...
Southern Baptist Congressman Defeated for GOP Leadership Post
A Southern Baptist congressman's rapid rise to power in the Republican Party hit a snag on Thursday, when Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) lost a runoff vote to Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a bid to become House Majority...
Few Churches on Board Toward 1 Million Baptism Goal
Four months into his goal of leading churches in the Southern Baptist Convention to record 1 million baptisms in a single year, SBC president Bobby Welch has some catching up to do. According to a table on Welch's...
Memories of a Great Soul
I was fortunate this past week to have been in a meeting with Gardner Taylor, pastor emeritus of Brooklyn's Concord Baptist Church. For nearly 50 years, this eloquent and wise minister guided a diverse congregation...
Pastor Pleads Not Guilty to Lewdness Charge
A former Southern Baptist pastor and denominational leader on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to offering sex to a police officer decoying as a male prostitute, while the American Civil Liberties Union filed a...
Baptist Church Continues Prayers for Member Held Hostage in Iraq
The pastor of a British Baptist being held hostage in Iraq welcomed news that he is still alive and urged prayer for his release. Norman Kember, 74, along with three other peace activists, has been held hostage by a...
Slavery Alive and Well in 21st Century Europe
In Britain slavery was abolished in 1833. In France it was abolished in 1848. Other European countries followed suit, some taking longer than others, but today Europe prides itself in it declaration that all men and...
Trustee Predicts Motion Calling for his Removal Will be Rescinded
A blogging trustee of the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board said Wednesday that after meeting at length with the board's chairman and vice chairman he is now confident "wisdom will prevail," and a...