Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
When Churches Work Together for the Common Good
I bragged on the response that Houstonians had made shortly after Hurricane Harvey and made an appeal for churches to consider making Houston a destination for mission work in helping us rebuild. I was driving down a...
Social Justice: A Danger in Individualism – Part 2
Steve Holmes, in his 2012 book "Baptist Theology," notes that ours is a model of church where "God deals directly with each particular human being." "Believer's baptism is an expression of this intensely individualist...
April 17, 2018
‘That is a Start’: Indiana Church Collects Semi-Automatic Weapons, Bump Stocks to be Melted (Indianapolis Star) Athens Condo in Converted Church Sanctuary Makes Statement for $419k (Atlanta Curbed) Going to Church with...
Social Justice: A Time for Reflection – Part 1
Among the many delights brought to us by the internet is its capacity to enhance our memories of the past, to sharpen the detail of the reminiscences we might have of prior events. I took the same sort of trip down...
Taking Time to Stop and Notice Life’s Simple Beauty
My shoes thumped the city sidewalk, pounding out the rhythm that runners make as they use their feet to travel from one place to another. I was close enough to the end of my three-mile run and far enough from the...
Want to Choke the Life Out of Your Church? Try This.
I met with many pastor search teams to help them in that process while serving as an area resource minister. The majority of the churches in my area were smaller churches, and many of them were looking for bivocational...
April 16, 2018
More Men Accuse Former Texas Judge, Southern Baptist Leader of Sexual Misconduct (Houston Chronicle) Is Trump’s Presidency Turning White Evangelical Christianity into a ‘Cult’? This Religion Scholar Thinks So...
Leveraging Privilege to Enact Social Change – On a Bike
The hum of the wheels, the rush of the wind and the pattern of pedaling a bike ease many of my life's stressors. At times, I use my favorite hobby to do bigger things for people I don't know but whose stories need to...
When Was the Last Time You Heard a Sermon on Taxes?
Taxation is rarely discussed in local churches. It seems that analyzing taxation from a faith perspective has become taboo. Researching taxation and faith for this article and reviewing what EthicsDaily.com found when...
How White Christians Can Make Peace with Black Muslims
When I heard about the first annual Black American Muslim Conference, I knew I had to attend. As a white evangelical Christian, I wanted to hear this group's stories and stand in solidarity with them against the...
April 13, 2018
‘When You Google Evangelicals, You Get Trump’: High Profile Evangelicals Will Meet Privately to Discuss Their Future (Washington Post) For Many, Christianity and Trumpism are Synonymous. These Evangelicals are Pushing...
Calling All Social Justice Investors and Practitioners
EthicsDaily.com is seeking courageous investors who want to combine theoretical and applied ethics into an ecumenical Christian movement for social justice. Warren Buffett, one of the world's greatest investors,...
Faithfully Paying Taxes to Support the Common Good
People have all kinds of feelings about taxation. Some are convinced that taxation is just the government taking hard-earned money out of our pockets, while others hold a more indifferent attitude. Generally speaking,...
5 Steps to Lead Your Church to Be Innovative
There is a natural resistance or pushback when I talk with church people about innovation. I try to point out that the reason that the Christian movement has not only survived but also prospered over the years is the...
April 12, 2018
The Faith of Jimmy Carter (America Magazine) Prominent Megachurch Pastor Bill Hybels Resigns from Willow Creek After Women Allege Misconduct (Washington Post) Hybels Steps Down from Willow Creek Following Allegations...
Profiles in Goodwill: Sue Smith
Sue Smith is a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel who works with LUCHA Ministries in Fredericksburg, Virginia. 1. Where did you grow up? South central Arkansas in a small town named Carthage in Dallas...
Paying Taxes is Our Duty, Not Our Reason to Rant
Did Jesus pay taxes? In all likelihood, he did. The Roman tax system made it virtually impossible for anyone to avoid paying taxes. If you raised crops, produced oil or wine from your vineyard, traveled on roads and...
Gallup: Southern U.S. Remains Most Religious Region
Southern states remain the most religious in the U.S., according to a Gallup report released on April 6. The southwest (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas) was the most religious U.S. region in 2017, with 45...
April 11, 2018
The 2nd Commandment Outweighs the 2nd Amendment, Thousands of North Carolina Churches Say (Charlotte News & Observer) ‘We’re Glad You’re Our Neighbor’: A Simple Church Sign Means a Lot (Miami Herald) LDS Church...
Graduated Income Tax Creates Fair System for Everyone
The Bible doesn't provide much guidance on tax policy, other than suggesting we ought to "give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar." Fortunately, when it comes to designing a tax system, fiscal policy textbooks have...
Why Your Public Library Matters Now More Than Ever
Public libraries cost money. In fact, public libraries are expensive. No surprise then that when it comes to cutting the cost of public services, our public libraries and their budgets are also up for grabs. I posted...