Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Speaking of Theology
Theology is "thinking about God." When I attend church, I want to be surrounded by other people who are practicing and processing their theology. What is theology anyway? Is it a word for sophisticated and complicated...
The Salvation Army: Sharing Is Caring
Although perhaps best known for its social ministries and quasi-military style of organization, The Salvation Army is an international movement of evangelical Christians whose message is biblically-based and whose...
Nashville Religious Leaders Deal With Church’s Anti-Semitism
More than 40 Nashville-area churches and synagogues studied Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews, a 756-page book about the Christian roots and history of hatred of the Jews. The two-month, congregational...
Many Say Family Is Key Measure of Success
What is the measure of success? According to a recent Barna survey, to many it is "a strong family unit, a solid and lasting marriage or if they had done a good job of raising their children." Family life was the...
Mentoring: The Ministry of Spiritual Kinship
A church too focused on the "bottom line" needs to get more interested in what is at "the bottom of our souls" and help people who are asking for it. Edward Sellner believes this hunger is not a fad but a harbinger of...
Bush Observes Ramadan, Needs to Get Tough with Christian Fundamentalists
Staying on the high rhetorical road about Islam necessitates staying away from the mud puddles of Christian fundamentalism. "Tonight we honor the traditions of a great faith by hosting this Iftaar at the White House,"...
Resisting the Growing Gun Culture
What we are not seeing are the cold, dead bodies of thousands of people shot dead every day in our own dear America, by virtue of which we have become the most violent nation on the face of the earth. What is not dead...
Interpreting the Times
In our digital, high-tech, fast-paced lifestyles, we are bombarded by calls to focus our attention on ourselves, what we can have and what we deserve. If we're not careful, we can spend our time and energies "watching...
Congregational Study Yields Baptist Figures
An alarming statistic from the report is that only about 20 to 25 percent of the adherents to the Baptist movement will be found in worship in a Baptist church on a given Sunday. This suggests that there is a lot of...
American Youth’s Values Are Sliding, Study Says
Thirty-five percent of youth admitted to having stolen something from a store, while 28 percent said they had stolen from a parent or relative. Twenty-five percent of students with "personal religious convictions" said...
What Is Postmodernism?
However you define or describe postmodernism, the reality of its growing impact on our culture and on the work of the church within our culture requires the church reaffirm its mission, re-think its strategy, and...
A Red-Light District on Main Street
If you have children who have unlimited, unsupervised access to the Internet, it's time you discovered what you can do to protect them, lest they be led astray by the evils that await their curious minds. Of course...
Theme Funerals Catch On
With theme funerals, families are finding new and different ways to memorialize their loved ones. Wade Funeral Home in St. Louis, Mo., is one of several funeral homes offering its clients a wide range of service...
“The Santa Clause 2”
If these movies must be made, do with them what should be done. Put them on the Wonderful World of Disney the week before Christmas, not Nov. 1. All the latter does is make us think about Christmas when we have yet to...
James H. Cone: Midwife of Black Theology
Black Theology is a Christian response to the persistent sin of racism that has stamped—and continues to stamp—American culture. Black Theology is more than a response to racism, however. It is also an invitation and...
Ministering to Adoptive Families
Churches need to take seriously their responsibility to support and minister to families blessed by adoption. This task is not an easy one, for the most helpful ways in which to minister to these families is not always...
A Personal Story of Adoption
Our journey through the adoption process and our entry into parenting has not been without bumps in the road, but the fact is that our eight-year experience with adoption has been the best experience of our lives. When...
Jesus Left No Bones
Christians don't believe in Jesus because of artifacts. They believe in Jesus because of his life-changing impact in their lives today. First, as historical "proof" of the existence of Jesus Christ, the discovery is...
“Punch-Drunk Love”
"Punch-Drunk Love" is a wonderful movie. Billed as a dark comedy, it really is a parable about what family can do to a person. Barry is the grown-up version of the kid who ate paste in your elementary school. That kid...
Beginning a Ministry Well: Part 2
Just as the final word in real estate is "location, location, location," so also there is a final word in beginning a ministry. That word is "relationships, relationships, relationships!" First, celebrate your...
Gamblers Win, Smokers Lose in Election 2002
Voters in the buckle of the Bible Belt cast their ballots yesterday for a state lottery, adding Tennessee to the list of 34 others states that have the lottery. Tennesseans voted 53 to 47 percent to amend the state...