Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
The Work Continues at the Grassroots
While the Southern Baptist Convention deliberated the great moral and theological issues of the day at the annual meeting in Indianapolis, folks at the grassroots continued their everyday work of giving expression to...
The Will of God in Judaism
"The idea that Judaism starts with is that man is created in the likeness of God.... There is always the opportunity to do a mitzvah.... The central issue in Judaism is the mitzvah, the sacred act. And it is the...
Sexploitation: A Growing Issue for All Women
The sexual exploitation of women by means of trafficking for purposes of prostitution is escalating rapidly throughout the world. Earlier in the year, a Global Women group participated in a ministry to prostitutes in...
BWA Leaders Caught Off Guard by Pro-Gay Charge
Homosexuality and dissatisfaction with American Baptists—two reasons given last week for the Southern Baptist Convention to pull out of the Baptist World Alliance—were never mentioned in discussions between SBC and BWA...
The Making of a Real World
I was recently asked to give an address at a celebration given for the high school graduates at our church. I offer an edited version of it here for other graduates and those around them. I thought I might make a list...
Clinton Calls Affair ‘Moral Error’
Former President Bill Clinton called his relationship with a White House intern a "terrible moral error" in a television interview Sunday night. said in the interview on CBS "60 Minutes" that he committed adultery with...
BWA Charges Southern Baptist Leaders With Slander
Accusations that the Baptist World Alliance tolerates homosexuality are false and slanderous, leaders of the group said in a statement released Monday. BWA officials said statements made to messengers at last week's...
Jewish Group Asks Texas GOP to Drop ‘Christian Nation’ Plank
The American Jewish Committee is asking the Texas Republican Party to remove a plank from its platform that declares America a Christian nation and the separation of church and state a "myth." "Political conventions,...
Molly Marshall to Receive Whitsitt Society’s Courage Award
Soon after his election as president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1993, Albert Mohler declared his intent to pursue only faculty members who would restrict the pastorate to males. Molly Marshall--at...
Southern Baptists Advance ‘Ugly American’ Image
Last week's Southern Baptist Convention ensures that Southern Baptists will become known as the "ugly Americans" around the world. The SBC elected a new president who is widely known for his allegiance to an American...
Political Groups Battle Over Moore’s ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’
As Michael Moore's controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11" nears its June 25 nationwide release, opposing political groups are treating it as a litmus test of patriotism. The 110-minute film, which examines the alleged...
Southern Baptist Leaders Warn Against Decline
While Southern Baptist leaders celebrated the 25th anniversary of the "conservative resurgence" that they claim rescued the nation's largest Protestant denomination from the slippery slope of liberalism, some speakers...
Another View of the Past 25 Years
Baptist Press this week reported on a celebration by the leaders who launched the revolution that altered the course of the Southern Baptist Convention 25 years ago. Neglecting the facts that the membership growth of...
Discipleship Wears a Heart Monitor
David Kirkpatrick and Jason York were high school classmates though not close friends over a decade ago in tiny Tompkinsville, Ky. Kirkpatrick left the area for college and then dental school, while York stayed in...
Southern Baptists Decry ‘Secularization’
The Southern Baptist Convention rejected on Wednesday a resolution calling for a mass exodus from public schools, adopting instead a more generic warning against "secularization" of culture. Two Southern Baptist laymen...
Southern Baptists Reject Name-Change Study
The Southern Baptist Convention Tuesday night voted against a study on the possibility of a new name, an idea backed by leaders. Claude Thomas, a Texas pastor and former leader of the SBC Executive Committee, made a...
It’s been a hard day’s night!
A hot and humid day in Indianapolis did little to warm my soul as I walked around the Southern Baptist Convention exhibit hall. I felt lost and lonely. Where were my Baptist friends with whom I have worked with and...
Southern Baptists End Ties with Baptist World Alliance
The Southern Baptist Convention voted Tuesday with little discussion to withdraw from the Baptist World Alliance, with a convention leader adding tolerance of homosexuality to a list of grievances alleged earlier...
American Baptist Leaders Dispute Comment by SBC Leader
A comment by a Southern Baptist leader that a sister denomination affirms gay marriage is "completely outrageous," said the top executive of American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. Prior to Tuesday's vote at the...
Bush Touts Conservative Policies at SBC Meeting
The Southern Baptist Convention took on the character of a campaign stop Tuesday afternoon, as President George W. Bush touted policies popular with the convention's socially conservative base. Speaking live via...
Southern Baptists Decry ‘Secularization’
The Southern Baptist Convention rejected on Wednesday a resolution calling for a mass exodus from public schools, adopting instead a more generic warning against "secularization" of culture. Two Southern Baptist laymen...