Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
A Voice of Hope from an Urban Wilderness
For Christians, we have entered into that Season of Advent, a season of anticipation of the coming of the Christ Child and a season of expectation of the second coming of Christ. It is a season of hope. Recently, I...
‘Safe at Home’
In "Safe at Home: A Memoir of God, Baseball, and Family," Marc A. Jolley presents a highly personal account of his life as it has revolved around these three poles. The book is a new addition to the "Sports and...
Religious Leaders Meet With Secretary of State About Trade Policy
Religious leaders from various faith groups met Dec. 1 with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss poverty concerns before she participates in the World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong in...
This Isn’t the Real America
In recent years, I have become increasingly concerned by a host of radical government policies that now threaten many basic principles espoused by all previous administrations, Democratic and Republican. These include...
Bible Doesn’t Ban All Drinking, Seminary President Says
A Southern Baptist seminary president told students in October that drinking alcohol can get them expelled from school and destroy their ministry, but he doesn't believe the Bible teaches total abstinence. President Al...
Christians Pray for Release of Hostages in Iraq
An ecumenical group is calling on churches in the United States to sign an open letter and schedule prayer vigils seeking safe release of human rights workers being held hostage in Iraq. Christian Peacemaker Teams, an...
The ‘War’ Against Christmas
Thirty-three years ago, I was attending the police academy in Albuquerque, N.M., preparing to become a police officer in that city. I was one of about 30 young men and women who were completing our last month of...
Far as the Curse is Found
The Christmas story is one of hope and joy. This is a necessary word for men and women of all cultures and languages to hear, particularly this year. What a tragic year. It began with thousands being killed by the...
Church Remembers Homicide Victims With Crosses
Members of Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., gathered at noon Sunday for a somber Advent tradition remembering people who died violently during the last year. For the last nine years the church has closed the...
‘Munich’ Takes Early Criticism Despite Attempted Low Profile
"Munich" won't arrive in theaters until Dec. 23, but Steven Spielberg's historical drama/thriller is already catching media flak for its alleged approach. Various commentators and organizations have expressed concern...
Poll Shows Decline in Wal-Mart’s Public Image
Nearly four in 10 Americans hold a negative view of Wal-Mart, and its public image is worse now than it was a year ago, according to poll released Thursday, encouraging groups seeking to organize workers and improve...
Justice for Tookie
On Dec. 13, Stanley Tookie Williams has a date with death. He sits in California's Death Row. The only thing that now stands between him and the executioner is a final appeal for clemency from Gov. Arnold...
‘A Pilgrimage of Faith: My Story’ by Henlee Hulix Barnette
Henlee Barnette was one of the most influential of Southern Baptist's Christian ethicists of the 20th century in his work as college and seminary professor, author of substantive works in the field, activist in a...
‘Soul Molesters’ Have Revised Baptist History, Author Says
Will Campbell--author, civil-rights activist and iconoclastic Baptist minister--denounced leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention as "soul molesters," who have turned their back on Baptist principles like the...
Who Took Christ Out Of Christmas?
Now that Thanksgiving Day has passed, we face the single most commercialized event in our culture, even more than the Super Bowl. Christmas time is upon us. And when I say commercial, it is serious business. Many...
Reading the Signs of the Place
Just as I was finishing my book "The Postmodern Parish: New Ministry for a New Era" for the Alban Institute, I received a new call to ministry. For the previous 23 years, I had served as a pastor in two congregations...
Groups Asks IRS to Investigate Focus on the Family
A Washington-based group on Monday filed a complaint asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether Focus on the Family should lose its tax-exempt status, because its founder, James Dobson, endorsed...
Southern Baptist Professor Touts ‘Biblical Patriarchy’
Christians need to recover an "authentic biblical patriarchy" to save families from encroaching feminism, a Southern Baptist theologian argued before the Evangelical Theological Society in mid-November. Russell Moore,...
‘The Gospel According to Oprah’
Love her or hate her, talk-show host Oprah Winfrey is undeniably a force in American culture and across the world. Her syndicated TV show, magazine, Web sites, book club, charities and more draw the dollars and...
Christian ‘Reconstructionist’ Says View at Odds With Neoconservativism
End-times theology and support for Israel have undermined the Christian right's founding vision of bringing about social change through political involvement, says a veteran leader of a controversial movement known as...
What Has Happened To My Country?
Lately I feel like a stranger in the United States. I am a remnant of what has been called "the greatest generation," but it's not the thinning ranks of my generation that has me feeling lost and confused. It's the...