Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Is There Hope for Evangelical Women? – Part 1
My daughter and I were walking our new puppy when my phone buzzed. It was a Twitter notification from my fellow blogger Chris Gehrz about Beth Moore's open letter. I stopped dead and started reading. It was a few...
This 1 Assumption Could Be Dangerous for Your Church
Have you learned that nothing "goes without saying" anymore? That sobering truth runs counter to our tendency to think there are some universally shared assumptions that all of us agree upon. We may think that everyone...
May 22, 2018
Nonprofit Using Community Garden to Feed “Food-Insecure” Moves to First Baptist Gainesville (Gainesville Times) At Liberty University, Jimmy Carter Takes a Jab at Trump Over the Size of the Crowd (Daily Mail) The...
Southern Baptist Resolution Calls Social Justice ‘Evil’
I remember well when Glenn Beck first spoke out against social justice. In a March 2010 radio broadcast, Beck urged listeners, "I beg you look for the words social justice or economic justice on your church website. If...
Living in the Shadow of Those Women – 2,000 Years Later
I have been thinking a lot about the women in 1 Timothy, specifically the ones referenced in 1 Timothy 2:11-14. "Let a woman learn in silence with full submission," the author writes. "I permit no woman to teach or to...
Barna: Personal Evangelism Wanes Among U.S. Christians
The number of U.S. Christians who feel they have a personal responsibility to share their faith has declined over the past 25 years, according to a Barna Group report published on May 15. Those who affirm the...
The Naturalization of Violence Against African-Americans
The national news has covered recent incidents involving African-American persons being physically and verbally assaulted, bullied, disturbed, falsely arrested, harassed and questioned. This treatment is not the result...
The Church’s Role in Creating the Loneliest Generation
Generation Z is the loneliest generation currently alive around the globe, according to a survey conducted by Cigna, a global health service company. This came as a surprise to many people who naturally assumed that...
When Your Belief in God Doesn’t Align with the Manuscript
James 2:19 observes, "It's good that you believe that God is one. Ha! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble with fear." Rather than using the more commonly translated - "Good!" or "Good for you!" - the Common...
Profiles in Goodwill: Michael Ruffin
Michael Ruffin is curriculum editor with Smyth & Helwys Publishing in Macon, Georgia. 1. Where did you grow up? Barnesville, Georgia, which is about halfway between Atlanta and Macon on Highway 41. 2. What is your...
Hiding Prejudice Toward Women Behind Religious Mask
Baptist author and Bible study leader Beth Moore published "A Letter to My Brothers" last week, in which she shared, lovingly but honestly, her experience as a woman in the male-dominated world of evangelicalism in...
Jimmy Carter (and Hope) in the News
"True evangelical hope," a headline in the current (May 23) Christian Century, drew and held my attention this week. It signaled an interview by Elizabeth Palmer with President Jimmy Carter. They got right to the point...
Jerusalem, Jerusalem: A Prayer of Hope and Peace
When Jesus delivered his condemnation of the Pharisees and scribes in Jerusalem, he did so knowing both the city's vast history and potential future. "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones...
Amid Gaza Aftermath, Searching for Mutual Solution
We lament the killing of almost 60 of our people in Gaza. We lament the injury of hundreds of our children, the trauma of our people, their hunger, their humiliation and their dehumanization. We bleed tears and feel...
Report: Gulf States in U.S. Lag Behind in Social Justice
U.S. Gulf States lag behind most of the U.S. in social justice, according to the JustSouth Index 2017, a publication of the Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI) of Loyola University New Orleans released on May 3....
EthicsDaily.com Plans Significant Presence at CBF Assembly
EthicsDaily.com will have a significant presence at the 2018 Cooperative Baptist General Assembly, taking place June 11-15 at the Hyatt Regency Reunion in Dallas. An EthicsDaily.com booth will be a part of the...
Why Big Issues Can Leave You Feeling Overwhelmed
A colleague noted on his Facebook page that he had seen little reference to World Earth Day (April 22). There could be numerous reasons for this. One of them is what ethicist Willis Jenkins calls "moral incompetence."...
Dinner Churches: Reaching Isolated People for Christ
"There's a natural beauty in a big, huge, family table that says, 'You'll be included here,'" explained Verlon Fosner, director of the Dinner Church Collective, a stream of the Fresh Expressions movement. He and his...
Poor People’s Campaign Launches Drive Against Poverty
Today is the launch of the new Poor People's Campaign (PPC) activities. The original PPC was inaugurated by Martin Luther King Jr. Mainly because of his tragic assassination 601 months ago, it didn't accomplish what he...
Why a One-Sided View of Middle East Peace Won’t Work
Jonathan Kuttab is a well-known Palestinian-American lawyer. His recent thought-provoking series of articles ("Troubling Considerations About Christian Zionism" - parts one and two) concludes with an invitation to...
Why Your Church Should Practice Civil Christianity
We are nicer when we journey together. In writing about civility, Gil Rendle ("Behavioral Covenants in Congregations: A Handbook for Honoring Differences") cites the work of Yale professor Stephen Carter, who argues...