Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Politics in Sheep’s Clothing
The idea of candidates stumping about from church to church, leaving worship with their pockets full of consecrated dollars, may turn out be the shell game of all time. By means of some creative procedural moves,...
Lessons from the Exodus
The Exodus journey is the central story of the Old Testament. This ancient adventure teaches us many relevant lessons about walking with God in the postmodern era. After Moses overcame his personal reluctance to accept...
Henlee Barnette: Giant in the Land
Into his 10th decade now, Baptist ethicist, author and preacher Henlee Barnette continues his unflinching call to Christian integrity in thought and action. His career spans seven decades of Baptist history in the...
End Time Tabernacle
Off the Mountain Parkway at Slade and up State Road 77 sits a white frame church. The sign facing the traffic names the structure as the "End Time Tabernacle," which leaves the traveler wondering about doctrine,...
Guard the Gate of Your Character with Integrity
A person with integrity discerns right from wrong and acts on it, unafraid to state why a particular position was taken. Integrity takes courage because sometimes being a person of integrity comes with a personal cost....
Texan Teams Take Gospel to Afghanistan
KELLER, Texas --The U.S. State Department advises against travel to Afghanistan, but the gospel should compel some Texas Baptists to go there anyway, according to Keller pastor Bob Roberts. Roberts, pastor of NorthWood...
Ukrop’s CEO Walks the Ethics Talk
Most Christians would say the Golden Rule—treating others as you wish to be treated—is a good way to live. For Virginia food store executive Bobby Ukrop and his family, it's also a good way to do business. For Virginia...
Churches Minister to Rural Schools
We must not spend all of our time and resources trying to change national policies and "get God back in the schools." That really didn't work in previous centuries. Let's focus on telling children and youth "the rest...
Breaking Free: Bible Studies on the Liberating Call of Jesus
Olson provides a practical way of reading Mark through the lens of one of the themes of the Gospel: liberation. Olson holds a master's of divinity from Bethel Seminary and a master's in journalism from Northwestern...
No Ordinary Grief
As obscene as it sounds, the United States has discovered a new weapon of mass destruction -- one most would never have conceived until the past dozen years or so. That weapon is food -- and medicine and other...
Human Hopes ‘Push the Envelope’ with Animal Organs
What are we to think of "pushing the envelope" such that tissue or organs are surgically excised and implanted, more or less permanently, from other mammals into human bodies? Is it ethically permissible to carry...
Smyth & Helwys Owner Faces Runoff in Congressional Race
Cecil Staton, owner of Smyth & Helwys Publishing, a publishing house for moderate Baptist Sunday School materials and books, placed second in a three-way race for the Republican nomination in the 11th congressional...
Trade Center Memorial Designs Express Values, Hopes
The designers responding to CNN's request don't have the authority to decide what should be rebuilt on the World Trade Center site. But they've responded anyway with proposals simple and complex, scribbled and...
Franklin Graham Speaks Before He Thinks
Franklin Graham needs to apologize to Islamic leaders for his repeated misstatements of fact. His criticism of Islam fertilizes the fields of hostility among conservative Christians toward Muslims. His unnecessary...
Entertaining Strangers, Encountering Angels
My three children, young single adults, are scattered this week—Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, a situation that prompts an oft-uttered prayer, "Lord, send into their lives people who will inspire them and...
The Church’s Environmental Impact on Substance Abuse
A short parable: A man contemplates a pond some distance from his house. Dead fish are floating, lazily drifting in the gentle currents. It becomes clear to him that the water is not suited for the health of his fish....
Waco Laypeople Draw Attention to Impending Iraq Action
WACO--While another war with Iraq may appear inevitable, a small group of Baptists is asking "why" as they attempt to raise discussion about the issue among churches. Friends of Peace, an advocacy group based in Waco,...
Lessons from the Ark
Stories from the Bible often have several different angles of interpretation. The story of Noah, for example, is a story that we learned as children and that we continue to reflect upon as adults. Theologically...
Are Denominations a Thing of the Past?
In his 1972 book The Denominational Society, Roman Catholic Priest Andrew Greeley predicted that organized religion and denominationalism were so important to the fabric of America that, despite the skepticism of...
Poll Finds Americans Divided on Premarital Cohabitation
The percentage of Americans living together before marriage almost doubled between 1988 and 2002, according to a recent Gallup poll. "When Gallup first asked the question in 1988, fewer than one in five married...
Deacon Election, Nomination and Service
This time of year, many congregations begin seeking deacons for service in the new church year. The nomination-election-selection-ordination process is as varied as Baptist churches these days. After 12 years as a...