Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Making Social Change with Help from Mister Rogers
If the sky were clear, the aluminum foil wrapped just so around the rabbit-ears antenna, and no one tried to make a piece of toast in the toaster, I could watch occasionally an episode of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood"...
8 Deadly Sins That Will Undermine Your Church’s Future
All organizations, including churches, have a reason for being. Only a few actually know that reason and articulate it and live into it. Sometimes the reason is clear and crisp, other times it is fuzzy and nebulous....
Support for Gun Control Laws Jumps After Parkland Shooting
A majority (69 percent) of U.S. adults support stricter gun control legislation following the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research...
March 26, 2018
Christian Faithful Near and Far Celebrate Palm Sunday (CBS New York) Why Mark Anthony Conditt – a White Christian – Isn’t Called a Terrorist (The Guardian) A Former Playboy Centerfold Complicates Donald Trump’s...
Troubling Considerations About Christian Zionism – Part 2
I'm concerned, as a Palestinian Christian, about the expressly stated view that Christian teaching requires Christians today to take specific political positions regarding Zionism, the modern state of Israel and its...
Biblical Texts to Plan Sermons on Ministering to Prisoners
The first public speech of Jesus in Luke's Gospel, an adaptation of Isaiah 61:1-2, declares his calling to "proclaim freedom for the prisoners." In one of his final public speeches in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus identifies...
U.S. Protestant Congregations Diversify but Slowly
U.S Protestant congregations are diversifying but progress is slow, according to a LifeWay Research report released on March 20. When asked if their congregation is predominantly comprised of a single racial or ethnic...
March 23, 2018
Why Evangelicals – Still! – Support Trump (The Nation) Austin Bomber Was Part of Christian Survivalist Group (The Independent) Pressler Lawsuit Moved to Federal Court (Baptist News Global) Here’s How Religion Produces...
March for Our Lives: Will You Join Our Teens Saturday?
Teenagers from around the world will march in Washington, D.C., and in their local communities on March 24 to protest gun violence, demanding that adults seriously consider sensible gun legislation. The march was...
Troubling Considerations About Christian Zionism – Part 1
I am a Palestinian Christian. The most pressing question about Christian Zionism for me is not its theological predictions about the end times, prophecy or the Second Coming. The Bible makes clear that no one knows the...
The Keys to an Effective, Impactful Prison Ministry
My sister shared a moving testimony last week concerning what she witnessed at a recent funeral service. The deceased was an elderly woman who had committed her adult life to prison ministry. Sister Eva's pastor...
March 22, 2018
Austin Bomber was Christian, Homeschooled, and Opposed Gay Marriage, Abortion (Christian Post) Alabama Bill Would Allow Bible Study in Schools (Decatur Daily) N.C. Church Involved in Immigration Dispute Withholds...
Profiles in Goodwill: Daniel Trusiewicz
Daniel Trusiewicz is mission partnerships coordinator at the European Baptist Federation. 1. Where did you grow up? I was born to Baptist parents who were peasants and active members of a local Baptist congregation in...
3 Things Your Church Needs to Know About Prison Ministry
"I know you wonder if all the conversions are real," Joe said to our church council. He was right. The number of conversions reported by our prison minister (he was a part-time, contract minister) was amazing. "Even if...
Former AG’s Warning: Threats Could Undermine ADA
Dick Thornburgh was recognized at a March 13 event in Washington, D.C., for his leading role in the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and his lifelong commitment to the civil rights of people with...
March 21, 2018
Raleigh Church Will Regroup About Parking Lot Plan After ‘Intense’ Community Meeting (News & Observer) With White Evangelicals, Trump Weathers Stormy Daniels Saga (Morning Consult) ‘Downright Destructive’:...
A Different Lens: Seeking Biblical Ethic on Incarceration
Incarceration is, by definition, a problem because its reason for being is a response to behavior outside the legal norms of a society. It is also an arena for many "problems within the problem" because of the...
Why Evangelicals Align with Ethically Challenged Trump
The question of how prominent evangelical leaders can continue to support a president whose morality and ethics are questionable is perplexing. How can the same people who questioned President Obama's religious beliefs...
Report: Immigrants Detained in Substandard Holding Cells
Immigrant women and children detained along the U.S.-Mexico border are regularly housed in cells with conditions that do not meet the policy standards of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a Human Rights...
Why You Should Give Up Your Rights for the Gospel
The Apostle Paul presented a strong case that he and his fellow ministers had the right to be paid for their service. In a letter written in the middle of the first century to Christians living in the Greek city of...
One Philosopher Gets It: Why Christians Should Be Purple
There is enormous pressure these days to conform to the world's standards and expectations whether in fashion or politics or religious thought. We see it in the now fading bumper stickers on the backs of our cars: "I'm...