Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Resources on Mel Gibson’s Upcoming ‘The Passion’
Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" hits theaters in less than a month. It will open Feb. 25—Ash Wednesday—on 2,000 screens, finally giving audiences a look at one of the most controversial films in recent memory....
Former BWA Leader Labels SBC Fundamentalism ‘Heresy’
Southern Baptist leaders don't need to look for heresy in the Baptist World Alliance. It's right under their noses in the form of fundamentalism, suggests a former seminary professor and longtime BWA leader, now a...
Caring for Those Who Care
Thirty-five American Baptist pastors and other ministerial leaders are one step closer to better physical, spiritual and emotional well-being, thanks to "wellness grants" they received in late 2003. The grants grew out...
The Postmodern Parish: New Ministry for a New Era
"Grow a Gen-X church in five easy steps." The bookshelves are filled with "how-to" books on church change. But discerning leaders know that there is no single prescription which will restore health and vitality to...
Clergy Support Striking Grocery Workers
Clergy are coming to the aid of striking grocery workers in Southern California, preaching that affordable health insurance is a moral issue. Religious groups have joined 70,000 striking grocers with "walking prayer"...
A Rear View of History
A short decade ago, Russian cosmonaut Sergie Krikalev set the record for man's space endurance at the time and needed more than smelling salts upon returning to Earth. Not only were the cosmonaut's legs wobbly from his...
‘Calendar Girls’
Sometimes the trailer for a film can be deceptive. This can be a very bad thing when the trailer shows several great moments that, one discovers upon seeing the film, are the only inspired scenes in the film. Deception...
A Biblical Worldview
I am a white, male, middle class, East Coast, Southern, formally educated, married, American, baby boomer, Baptist Christian. This does not make me better than anyone. It does, however, mean I view the world from a...
Conservatives Gaining Ground in State Conventions, Editor Says
The "conservative resurgence" continues to gain ground in Baptist state conventions, according to a fundamentalist editor analyzing developments in 41 state and regional bodies affiliated with the Southern Baptist...
‘Cold Mountain’
One of the great horrors of our national history—the Civil War—has been the backdrop of some wonderful stories. The most famous is "Gone With the Wind." The love triangle of Scarlet O'Hara, Rhett Butler and Ashley...
North Carolina Moderate Meeting Draws 500
Moderates in North Carolina didn't take a formal vote on starting a new organization but began what is likely to be a continuing conversation about finding ways to cooperate apart from the conservative-led Baptist...
The Dos, Don’ts and Differences of Organizations: Management Tasks
Very few roles allow someone to operate solely as a leader or a manager. Most job descriptions include aspects of both leadership and management. Leaders direct the inputs of an organization while managers direct the...
Not So Lonesome
On a recent Monday night in Nashville, I went to a small music club to hear a performance by a local singer and songwriter named Walt Wilkins. Wilkins played his guitar and sang, accompanied by Tim Lorsch on the fiddle...
Undoing the New Deal
There is growing interest in President Bush's call for "faith based initiatives." The idea is to create partnerships between government and religious groups to help people in need. The idea is not entirely new. In 1996...
The Baptist World Alliance and Religious Liberty
Religious liberty has been a hallmark distinctive in Baptist life. Thomas Helwys, Roger Williams and John Leland are familiar figures in the pantheon of Baptist "heroes" who are known for their support of freedom. At...
‘Starving to Death’ v. ‘Allowing Natural Death’
The elderly widow cried as she told a visiting pastor about her husband's death a decade earlier. My morally distressed congregant gave voice to a significant problem in pastoral care and bioethics, arising out of the...
Coming Clean
Enron's Andrew and Lea Fastow did it. Pete Rose did it, but he's sorry (sort of), although he continues to engage in a form of it "recreationally." Kobe Bryant claims he didn't do it, but he did do something else he...
SBC Leader Says BWA is Obsolete
The Baptist World Alliance was formed in a "steamship age" and has outlived its purpose, says seminary president Albert Mohler. "Now we're in an age of instant communications, Internet, air travel," Mohler told the...
North Carolina CBF Head Stepping Down
North Carolina's first full-time Cooperative Baptist Fellowship coordinator is stepping down after five years on the job. Bob Patterson, 60, told the state CBF's 26-member Coordinating Council Tuesday of his desire to...
To Kill and Take Possession
As a member of the sometimes snobbish guild of professional biblical scholars, I am perturbed by the current trend which finds nearly everybody writing a book about the Bible. I grudgingly admit, however, that these...
Moving Matters, Part II
Two seeming miracles have taken place in Edmond, Okla.—and now I am wishing for even more. As I reported in a previous column, our house went under contract a week after being put on the market, the first miracle. The...