Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Botulism, Wine and Friends: The Botox Party
Just over one week after the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Botox as an anti-wrinkle treatment, people are celebrating—Botox-style—with champagne, hor d'oeuvres and injections of the paralyzing...
The Value of Personal Prayer
During Jesus' life and ministry, he regularly advocated and practiced the discipline of private, personal prayer. For Jesus, public prayer had a didactic purpose. For example, Jesus offered a model prayer in teaching...
‘Ambient Advertising’ Consumes Consumers
In a stall, on the wall. In a hole, on the pole. In a store, on the floor. There's more, more, more … "ambient advertising." There's more, more, more … "ambient advertising." By its very definition, there's virtually...
Making Family Television: An Interview with Dave Johnson
It's difficult to make a TV show. Actually getting one on the air is even more difficult. And when it's "family television," the odds are even less forgiving. Yet, family TV shows do make their way into living rooms,...
Koinonia Farm Grows Disciples
Most Baptists concerned with social justice have heard of Clarence Jordan and Koinonia Farm. Powerful anecdotes abound about the author of the Cotton Patch Gospels. On one occasion, Jordan spoke to a Southern...
Churches Must Act to Prevent Clergy Sexual Abuse
Stories of children abused by Catholic priests have horrified the nation in recent weeks. Sadly, Baptists are not immune to clergy sexual abuse. Just ask Charles. That's not his real name, but he's a real young man. He...
Biblical Literalism Is No Blueprint for U.S. Foreign Policy
Israel is entitled to the West Bank, according to Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., "because God said so." Speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Inhofe gave seven reasons why Israel has the right to its land. The first...
Lessons from the Cloth
A couple of years ago, Bo Prosser, minister of education at Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C., teamed up with Charles Qualls, now associate pastor at Second Ponce De Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., to...
Serving Country, but What about Self?
Sailors receive constant pressure from a variety of sources, including home, work, even play. Making good decisions under pressure is a challenge for everyone. Sailors are no exception. Chaplains witness such struggles...
Americans Less Concerned about Environment
With Earth Day 2002 festivities over, a look at Americans' feelings about the environment reveals that fewer are concerned this year than last. According to Gallup's annual survey on the environment, concern over the...
The Jews, the Church and Baptists: Time for a Change?
Christendom has dissolved, but the seeds of anti-Semitism remain, as evidenced by the burning of synagogues in Marseilles and the anti-Semitic attacks in Montpellier and Paris at the beginning of April. Of course,...
Can I Give a Witness on Behalf of Roman Catholics?
There is much discouraging news for Roman Catholics. Pope John Paul II is frail and faltering; the Benedictine Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is under siege; an embarrassing and expensive scandal has engulfed the...
End Times Fiction: A Biblical Consideration of the Left Behind Theology
It is impossible to walk into a Christian bookstore and not be confronted with the marketing blitz and amazing popularity of the books written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Many pundits credit the new wave of...
Interfaith Dialogue Takes Different Forms
In a pluralistic world, Christians dialogue with people of other faiths. Such dialogue need not be the "official" kind that takes place between religious leaders in political or academic settings. It may be: a...
River of the Soul: A Spirituality Guide for Christian Youth
Youth workers combing their local Christian bookstore for student devotional material often leave empty-handed. For all the books that exist in this genre, few deal with topics more complex than crowded lockers and...
Majority of Americans Made Donations in 2001
Despite the economic recession and the Sept. 11 attacks, more Americans made donations in 2001 than in 2000. Four out of five adults, or 80 percent, gave charitable gifts in 2001, compared to 78 percent in 2000, 84...
“Changing Lanes”
In John Ford's masterpiece, "The Grapes of Wrath," Casy, the preacher who lost the call, says, "So maybe there ain't no sin an' there ain't no virtue. It's just what people does. Some things folks do is nice and some...
Stem Cell Research Juggles Technical Possibilities, Ethical Concerns
Stem cell research has once again embroiled Christians in ethical debate. The remarkable potential for therapeutic interventions with stem cells is evidenced by the frequency with which bone marrow transplants save...
Family Films Make Money
Sex and violence may sell movies, but so do family values. The box office proves it. Some of 2001's biggest financial successes were family films: "Shrek," "Monsters, Inc." and—despite the controversy in Christian...
Peace in a Land Where the Wars Never Cease
There are no words to describe the horrific despair that must permeate daily life in Israel and the occupied territories of the West Bank. In the bomb-lashed markets and streets of Jerusalem, and the tank-shelled...
Bush Encourages Charitable Giving, Gives Smaller Percentage to Charity
Speaking at a faith-based initiative meeting in the White House last week, President Bush urged support for legislation that would encourage more charitable giving. "Charitable giving is important for all of the people...