Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
IRS Targets Church for Antiwar Sermon
The Bible says "Blessed are the peacemakers." But according to the IRS, they may not be tax-exempt. Rector Edwin Bacon of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Calif., on Sunday told congregants that the Internal...
Resolution Sponsor Says Anti-Public School Sentiment Growing Among Southern Baptists
Resolutions drawing attention to homosexual influences in public schools are expected to be introduced in at least 28 Baptist state conventions this fall, nearly double the number of resolutions critical of public...
Confessing Christ in a World of Violence
In 2004, Christian activists and theologians in the United States issued a statement on confessing Christ in the context of debates over the Iraq war. The following statement draws heavily upon that confession in...
C.S. Lewis Fans Excited About ‘Narnia’ Film
With a mammoth film adaptation of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe now only one month away from release, it's evident that the producers have stayed on message and the audience has responded: The...
A Blessed, Unique Land
One of the more difficult things in life is to see the world as it is. Not the way we think it should be or how we wish it to be, but just as it is: perverse, compromised and with some outright lies. There are others...
European Baptists Embrace New Approach to Missions
Even today, the image that comes to mind when many people in Europe hear the word "missionary" probably includes pith helmets and the British Empire. Those days are long gone. The work of mission organizations like BMS...
Carson-Newman Trustees Affirm Faculty
Professors at Carson-Newman College reflect "Christian commitment," "respect for Scripture" and "integration of Baptist distinctives into the contemporary classroom," according to a trustee investigation of teaching at...
Ethics of Blogging
In the past couple of years, the Web log, or "blog," has arisen as a new tool for communication. Sometimes, blogs and their writers, called "bloggers," utilize this online diary to record the mundane details of life...
TV Station Stands by Report of Baptist/Beer Brouhaha
A Florida TV station is standing by reports that a Southern Baptist disaster-relief team refused to hand out canned water donated by Anheuser-Busch to hurricane victims, despite claims of misrepresentation and...
Gresham Helps Belmont Audience Celebrate Lewis
C.S. Lewis died more than 40 years ago in England, but his life and work resounded Thursday night in Nashville, Tenn., through stories told by his stepson at a Belmont University gathering. Douglas Gresham, son of Joy...
Personal Note: Why We Do Fund Raising
Why am I writing another piece asking for donations? First, I want to be accountable to those who have shared values and a common vision. I want our readers to be fully informed and to offer them greater ownership in...
Carter Blasts Fundamentalism, Southern Baptist Leaders, in New Book
Influence by religious fundamentalism on American politics has created a "moral crisis" that endangers the nation's values, former President Jimmy Carter says in his newest book, which hit bookstores this week. In Our...
Who Would Jesus Torture?
The issue of torture is very much on the mind of Congress, the Defense Department, and the White House these days. A $440 billion defense bill currently making its way through House of Representatives has an amendment...
U2 Concert What Church Should Be
U2 continued its sold out, worldwide "Vertigo Tour" in Dallas this past Saturday. Once again the biggest band on the planet proved that its unforgettable fire still has considerable heat, as well as light. Frontman...
1956 Missionary Slayings Receive Film Treatments
In 1956, five American missionaries were killed by Waodoni tribesmen in Ecuador. The story gained recognition through a Life magazine spread and a book, Through Gates of Splendor. Now, 50 years later, a documentary and...
Worries About Workplace Reform
Australia's Parliament began debate Wednesday on WorkChoices, a government plan for federal workplace reform. Billed as "a simpler, fairer national workplace relations system for Australia," the bill is aimed at...
Taking Blue-Ribbon Stock of Wal-Mart’s Employees
According to an internal company memo leaked to the New York Times, Wal-Mart is considering hiring fitter and healthier employees in order to combat its own version of a national problem: higher health benefit costs....
Re-examining Capital Punishment
The current race for governor in Virginia has prompted prayerful questions again about our use of capital punishment. Having been a chaplain in two penal institutions and having served as a pastor for over 26 years to...
Religious Right Quiet on Libby Indictment
A religious right leader who in 1998 called on President Clinton to resign said it would be a mistake for President Bush to apologize for actions of White House aides in the Valerie Plame case. On Friday a grand jury...
‘Beyond the Gates of Splendor’
Now available on DVD and VHS is "Beyond the Gates of Splendor," the beautifully told story of five American missionaries who were speared to death by tribesmen in Ecuador in 1956. Audiences might be familiar with the...
Slavery Helped Blacks, Guest Tells Radio Host With Baptist Ties
A black conservative columnist said recently on a radio show that God used slavery to give African-Americans a better life today. The comment went unchallenged by a conservative commentator whose television program...