Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Fellow Baptist Challenges Cecil Staton for State Senate
Baptist publisher Cecil Staton's recently announced bid for the Georgia State Senate could be shaping up as a Baptist battle, with a minister from Macon entering the race. Ben Taylor, an ordained minister and staff...
Telling the Truth
The first attack ads of the political season are airing now. Extravagant in their claims and vicious in their tone, they remind us that nothing is necessarily true just because somebody says it. They also provide an...
Dispute Over Woman Pastor Divides Georgia Association
A controversy over whether a woman ought to be allowed to be a Baptist pastor is brewing at an association in northern Georgia. The executive board of Floyd County Baptist Association in Rome, Ga., voted Monday to...
Release of Administrators’ Salaries Sparks Debate at Baylor
Baylor University's president got a large pay raise in 2002-2003, while the average faculty member's salary increased by single digits, according to an IRS form released last week by the Baptist-affiliated school in...
Chosen: Part Two
Why did the religious ruling elite dog Jesus' path? In the gospels, it seems this group attended all of Jesus' public events. Was it merely a clash over theology? Or could there have been something deeper and more...
What Church Growth Says
I believe that church growth says almost nothing about a church's faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, I believe that a church's decline says almost nothing about that church's lack of faithfulness to the...
Study Finds TV Shows Still Don’t Reflect Diversity of Audiences
Prime-time television is getting better at reflecting the diversity of the U.S. population, but it still falls short on this all-important front, a new study says. While Latino characters are more prevalent on...
‘Hellboy’
It seems like every other movie released has a comic book as inspiration. A message board on comics has a thread that asks the question: "Are there too many comic-based movies?" That looks to be a moot point; movies...
Movie on Marriage Has Actors Talking Commitment
A general feeling of insecurity may be prompting society to embrace one of its oldest institutions: marriage. So say the director and stars of "Laws of Attraction," a romantic comedy about two divorce lawyers, which...
EthicsDaily.com Wins Journalism Award
The Baptist Center for Ethics won recognition in an awards competition for Baptist communicators. Bob Allen, managing editor of EthicsDaily.com, won a first-place award for an article exploring whether cutbacks in...
New Romantic Comedy Has Flare of Old
Movie-goers who long for the zippy dialogue, smart characterization and delicate restraint of yesteryear's romantic comedies can find an admirable throwback to the genre in the upcoming "Laws of Attraction." "Laws,"...
Environmental Agenda Making Progress Despite Spin and Distortion
Jerry Falwell's approval score among evangelicals? 45.8 (out of 100). The favorability score of environmental organizations among evangelicals? 52.3. Enviros are viewed more favorably than Falwell! These are just some...
Around Our Table
The extended family seated around the dinner table chatters about the day's events. A middle-aged man recently released from prison where he served time for fraud expresses cautious optimism about a job interview. A...
Critics Say Happiness Equation Doesn’t Add Up
If you're happy and don't know it, there's an equation that can show it. So say two British researchers who last year developed a formula they say can be used to quantify happiness. The equation: P+5E+3H. P represents...
Pro Baseball Uniforms: A New Advertising Frontier?
Little League jerseys are often splotched with the name of the local company who paid for the uniforms: Sparky's Garage, Dalton's Plumbing, Billy Bob's Bar-B-Q. To this point, however, big league jerseys have avoided...
Seminary Professor Criticizes Baptist-Jewish Dialogue
A Southern Baptist seminary professor is criticizing the Baptist Center for Ethics and a church in Alabama for efforts to improve relations between Baptists and Jews, saying Christians should be more concerned with...
Seminary Professor Criticizes Baptist-Jewish Dialogue
A Southern Baptist seminary professor is criticizing the Baptist Center for Ethics and a church in Alabama for efforts to improve relations between Baptists and Jews, saying Christians should be more concerned with...
Pastor Wants North Carolina to End Multiple Giving Options
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina could stop forwarding church funds to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and other moderate organizations, if one conservative pastor has his way. Bruce Martin, pastor of...
A Haunting Question
Greetings from the campus of Mount Meru University near Arusha, Tanzania, in eastern Africa. This is my third and most gratifying voluntary mission to the only Baptist university in the whole of East Africa, a tribute...
Alliance of Baptists Decries Gay Marriage ‘Politicization’
The Alliance of Baptists has issued a statement decrying "the politicization of gay marriage" in the current presidential campaign and supporting all Americans' rights to "full marriage equality." The 115-church...
Book Says Bush Prayed for Strength to Do God’s Will in Decision to Go to War
President Bush said he tried to be "a messenger" of God's will in deciding to go to war with Iraq but did not use God to justify the war, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward. In an interview Sunday on...