Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Baptist Pension Funds Built to Withstand Bear Markets
While headlines of people losing their retirement savings shock the world, pension board executives say diversity and long-term investments help Baptist retirement plan funds weather bear markets. People who lose their...
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Every December I find my Mormon Tabernacle Choir tape and listen to the beautiful sounds made by that well-trained and dedicated group. Whenever I see television commercials produced by the Mormons, I am inspired and...
Evangelical Leaders Ask Bush for Even-Handed Policy in Middle East
Prominent evangelical leaders urged President Bush last week to pursue a balanced Middle East policy, offering a sharply different perspective from fundamentalist leaders who believe God will bless America if America...
Funeral Webcasts Offer Unique Opportunity to Pay Last Respects
A Syracuse funeral home has proven that the Internet doesn't stop for death. Since February 2002, Fergerson Funeral Home has offered broadcasting of its services over the Internet free of charge. "It was slow to start...
The Cyber-body of Christ
If the church is the body of Christ, then perhaps the biggest church body is the one found on the Internet. With Christian sites dotting every inch of the spiritual spectrum, believers can find their special place in...
Getting an E-ducation on the Web
Online education. Distance learning. Internet courses. Virtual study. For some folks, those terms seem oxymoronic. They stand for everything that's wrong with culture in general and education in particular. They read...
Life on the Web
Sick of getting dressed in the morning and fighting traffic on your way to the office? Tired of fighting crowds of people for bargains at the grocery store? Weary of the trendy singles nightlife and dating scene? Dread...
Til Death, or a Mouse-Click, Do Us Part
Click to get hitched. Or unhitched. Whatever your marital status, online services abound to help you change it. Dating, marriage and divorce are all just a click, questionnaire and check away because mating...
Internet Makes Daily Tasks Easier
A mother of three frantically tries to check off daily activities as her busy day closes in. Just across the street, another working mother finishes twice as fast. For her, working through daily activities is...
Managing God
I heard a pastoral counselor once say if you can keep people talking long enough, they will eventually tell you what is really on their mind. I have come to believe he was right. Here's an example. For months now,...
Parents Choose Homeschooling for Different Reasons
Cheryl Certain taught her children at home for six years. She found homeschooling rewarding—and grueling. Nobody knows for sure how many children are homeschooled, but in 2001 the National Center for Education...
Columnist Visits Australian Agriculturalists
I recently returned from nearly a month in Australia. I visited rural churches and communities across New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria, speaking at conferences for pastors and church leaders in each state. I saw...
Amid Turmoil, Nazareth Village Faces Uncertainty
ELKHART, Ind. -- When Mike Hostetler continues his work for Mennonite Mission Network at Nazareth Village in the Holy Land later this year, he knows he will be among friends again. This in a place where friendships...
What Some People Think about What I Write
For more than four years I have been preparing commentaries on religion in American life: first for the radio, now for the newspapers. This week, reaction to these columns went off the charts. First, I discovered that...
“Reign of Fire”
A tradition seems to have developed in the summer movie season: The big films are released in May or June, and July is for the "second string." Last year, no one in Hollywood thought "Jurassic Park 3" or even the...
‘Millennials’ More Spiritual, Cooperative
Today's youth are more spiritual and cooperative than their parents, according to a recent Dallas Morning News article. The July 20 article interviewed several teens, as well as religion and culture scholars. "When my...
Americans Distrust CEOs, Polls Find
Two national polls found Americans distrust corporate executives. A CBS News poll asked, "Are most corporate executives honest?" Over two-thirds of Americans responded negatively. Sixty-seven percent said most CEOs...
The 1968 Statement Concerning the Crisis in Our Nation
For the average Southern Baptist living in the election year of 1968, the world seemed to be crumbling. The civil rights movement had resulted in the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis that spring, and...
West Virginia Church Experiences Faith, Life ‘in the Raw’
For eight days in June, more than 100 members of Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in Huntington, W.V., experienced what pastor Allen Reasons described as "faith in the raw" in Managua, Nicaragua. A group of 112 from the...
The Power of a Proper Gratitude
I was taught to say "thank you." My parents wanted me to know that it is not proper to take for granted the good things that come to us in life. I am sure this is true for everyone who was raised to observe this basic...
Model the Mind of Christ
When I took a human anatomy course during my junior year in high school, our class learned to identify the left and right hemispheres, the synapses, the cerebral cortex, and the meninges. Most of the time we were...