Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
3 Keys for Your Church Calling Women to Lead Ministry
Women starting out in ministry need space to learn. So do men. All people with a pastoral calling need room to grow into the practice of ministry. Too often, however, a culture of disbelief surrounds well-intentioned...
17 Phrases That Indicate You’re Fluent in Christianese
People who attend church regularly often are bilingual, usually without realizing it. As a young child, I began noticing that folks who attend church regularly tend to use a "normal" vocabulary throughout the week....
February 22, 2018
Billy Graham Supported Al Mohler's Role at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville Courier-Journal) Certain Perceptions of God Make Democrats More Conservative, Republicans More Liberal in Some Ways (Baylor...
Last call!
I know you're out there, and you know who you are: someone who has always wanted to spend a couple of weeks on an archaeological expedition, to get down in the dirt and dig up amazing things from the soil of ancient...
Give Thanks for a Letter from Billy Graham
Editor's note: Baptist Center for Ethics founder Robert Parham (1953 - 2017) wrote the following editorial in Jan. 2014 in the event of Billy Graham's death following Graham's hospitalization in late 2013. Parham wrote...
Profiles in Goodwill: Chris Smith
Chris Smith is pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Euclid, Ohio. 1. Where did you grow up? Akron, Ohio. 2. What is your favorite verse, book or story in the Bible? Why? Proverbs 3:5-6. These are my life verses. The...
The Uphill Battle Women in Ministry Must Still Fight
"You're a what?" "I'm a pastor," I responded to the blank stare of a woman who lived in my neighborhood. After 30 seconds of dead silence, I said, "I'm a preacher." I concluded trying to connect to her. "I work at a...
Lent: When God Brings You Back to the Drawing Board
The Holy Spirit convicted me about 10 years ago that I needed to learn a thing or two about submission and obedience. I had been a Christ-follower for some time, but I have always had a flavor for independence and...
February 21, 2018
Billy Graham, 99, Dies; Pastor Filled Stadiums and Pastored Presidents (New York Times) BGCT Board Removes CBF as Recognized Giving Option (Baptist Standard) What 'Black Panther' Means for Christians (Christianity...
How Churches Can Stop Stunting Women Called to Ministry
I registered for a class called "The History of Women in Preaching" during my second semester at Beeson Divinity School. I took the course out of sheer curiosity; at the age of 35, as a life-long Baptist, I had never...
Giving Up Our Obliviousness to Racism for Lent
It is fitting that Lent begins smack dab in the middle of Black History Month. Celebrating the heritage and contributions of African-Americans is always accompanied by grief and lament. There were and are too many...
When Prayer, Peaceful Action Change a Nation
Emergency. That was the word Alberto Mamani, president of the Bolivian Baptist Union, used to describe what was beginning to unfold in Bolivia. Early last month, as part of broader legislation meant to address human...
February 20, 2018
Florida Baptist Ministers and Advocacy Group Call for Action in Wake of 7-Year-Old Being Shot and Killed (First Coast News) In Iowa, a GOP-Sponsored Bill Promoting Bible Classes In Schools is Dead (Patheos) Making...
Think summer — out West!
By John D. Pierce Nurturing Faith Experiences (NFEs) strike a unique balance between traveling with a large tour group where you’re herded like buffalo — or striking out on your own without insider knowledge and...
2 Women, Different Centuries, Aid Women Preachers
Among my favorite collaborative partnerships has been one between Martha Stearns Marshall and Melissa Rogers. Martha and Melissa have worked together to amplify the voices of Baptist women preachers. You are thinking...
Christ-like Response to Mass Shootings Can Change World
When a tragedy of human violence occurs, what is our general reaction? Revenge? Retaliation? Hatred? Do we seek to follow the teachings of the one we call Lord, or do we follow our own convictions in the name of...
Which U.S. Christians Are Least Familiar with Liturgy?
Evangelicals and non-mainline Protestants are the least familiar with liturgy among U.S. Christian traditions, according to a Barna Group report released on Feb. 13. Only 19 percent of self-identified evangelicals said...
February 19, 2018
Church Services Held for Florida School Shooting Victims (WDIO) Gunfire Erupts at a School. Leaders Offer Prayers. Children are Buried. Repeat. (New York Times) Group Chat Messages Show School Shooter Obsessed with...
TESTIMONY TIME: Jimmy Carter affirms his faith, pays tribute to influences
A review by John D. Pierce Anyone who grew up in church where “testimony times” were frequent will feel at home reading Jimmy Carter’s latest book, Faith: A Journey for All (2018, Simon & Schuster). Indeed the...
Illumination Refraction: Bending Light Toward Good
The scientific term for altering the direction of light is refraction. Light moves consistently in a straight line until the moment it encounters an object that either redirects it or stops it altogether. Usually, this...
Yet Another Mass Shooting; More Blood on Our Hands
I tried to keep from weeping the last time I went through an airport security check. I had to take my shoes off at the metal detector because one terrorist, a few years back, tried to light a fire on an airplane. As I...