Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Deacons Minister to New and Emerging Family Structures
I've had several conversations recently with pastors and deacons who are struggling to minister effectively to today's changing family models. The biblical model for marriage and family hasn't changed, but the family...
One Baptist Seminary after Another
The Baptists have established a new seminary in Kentucky. Over the last 30 years Baptists have averaged one new seminary per year somewhere in these United States. So what else is new? Over the last 30 years Baptists...
Vouchers Are Not a Smart Choice
The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the Cleveland, Ohio, school voucher program is about to open a floodgate of voucher initiatives across the country. Several states have watched this case closely, ready...
Giving Higher in 2001 Despite Recession, Terrorist Attacks
Despite a recession and the terrorist crisis, Americans gave an estimated $212 billion to charity in 2001, according to a recent report by the American Association of Fundraising Counsel Trust for Philanthropy. The...
Celebrating Independence by Celebrating Religious Liberty
July Fourth is an opportunity for churches to celebrate religious liberty, but it is not a time for holding a patriotic pep rally, according to a church-state expert. "A healthy sense of patriotism is good. But we are...
Practicing the Three Rs
When people ask me what simple things they can do as individuals and as families to care for God's creation, something I suggest is that they practice the Three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. Reduce Find ways to reduce...
New Tanning Drug Could Also Make You Thinner, Increase Sex Drive
Within the next few years, EpiTan Limited of Melbourne, Australia, hopes to make its tanning drug, Melanotan, available with a prescription. Melanotan is a synthetic version of the naturally-occurring...
“The Bourne Identity”
If you go to the movies often, you may notice that most of today's movies have one theme: the fish out of water. These movies place a character in a foreign setting and wait for sparks to fly. "The Bourne Identity" is...
“About a Boy”
Lurking in the smaller theaters of your multiplex is an easily overlooked movie. Amid the galaxy-spanning tale of a brooding and obnoxious savior who is to bring balance to a mystic energy field, and the...
Bivocational Pastors Making a Difference in Rural America
Most of the row crops have been planted. The first cutting of hay has been made. The wheat harvest is moving well to the north across the Great Plains. Cultivation is underway elsewhere. Gardens are providing fresh...
Exercise, Diet and Supplements Slow Aging
While previous generations have given into their aging bodies, baby boomers are not buying it. They are learning how to rewind the clock with simple, sensible lifestyle habits. There is no magic pill and no one has...
“Lilo and Stitch”
There is an old formula used for movies. You find it in varied forms like "The Three Stooges" short, "Hoi Polloi" and the very funny Eddie Murphy movie, "Trading Places." It focuses on this idea: people are what they...
“Bored Meeting” Cancelled
There are many lists of church bulletin bloopers that are circulating on the internet. On one copy of these humorous mistakes, I found a comical entry that read, "Church Bored Meeting this Sunday at 4 o'clock." The...
Taxpayers Pony Up for Losing Ten Commandment Cases
Government funds are paying legal fees across the country in losing court cases over the posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings. Taxpayers may have to pony up as much as $90,000 in legal fees in Hamilton...
“Minority Report”
Steven Spielberg's new film, "Minority Report," may be appropriate just now. Just as our attorney general is reporting that we will hold someone indefinitely for crimes he may commit in the future, along comes a film...
Three Places to Post the Ten Commandments
"We post the Ten Commandments in our school," said the principal to a church full of people, "as part of a historical display." Vigorous applause swept through the gathering as he turned to me and said, "We have good...
Each American Wastes 300 Pounds of Food Per Year
Jell-O mud-wrestling, egg-throwing contests and bowling with frozen turkeys may be recreation to some people but to a former missionary who has seen hunger firsthand, these games are not fun—they are wasteful. One in...
Operation Inasmuch: Churches Taking Local Missions to the Next Level
It all began in 1995 when Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, N.C., decided it needed a comprehensive focus on missions in order to penetrate its community. That's when they created Operation Inasmuch....
Amish Baptism
The Radical Reformation, which occurred alongside Luther and Calvin's reforms during the 16th century, produced a number of new religious groups. These groups were called "radical reformers" because they adopted the...
Holding Your Tongue
In the rural South, where I grew up, if you were about to speak out of turn or to speak negatively about someone, an older adult would usually interrupt you with the reprimand, "Hold your tongue." The tongue is a small...
Bible Business Booming, and Anabaptists Have Their Favorites, Too
Not that long ago, Bible readers had fewer choices. Today, with a proliferation of specialized Scriptures such as the Extreme Teen Bible and numerous study editions, there seems to be a Bible for every walk of life....