By Bob Allen The president of Hong Kong Baptist University drew criticism after refusing to hand diplomas to graduates on stage carrying yellow umbrellas, symbols of a student led civil-disobedience movement started in September called Occupy Central. The university allowed…
Tennessee megachurch pastor succumbs to cancer
By Bob Allen The pastor at the largest Southern Baptist church in Tennessee died Nov. 18 after a nearly two-year battle with cancer. Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., announced that David Landrith, pastor since 1997 and the third…
SBC leader speaks at Vatican conference on the family
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top ethicist, speaking at a Vatican interfaith conference to support traditional marriage, said Christians cannot afford to capitulate to demands of the sexual revolution. “Many would tell us that contemporary people will not…
Georgia Baptists join ‘personhood’ campaign
By Bob Allen Georgia Baptists have joined an effort to switch the abortion debate from a woman’s right to choose to the “personhood” of the unborn fetus from the moment of conception. The Georgia Baptist Convention passed a resolution at…
Jewish leaders worry sermon could fuel anti-Semitism
By Bob Allen A former Southern Baptist Convention president is under fire for a recent sermon that Jewish leaders say could be used to fuel anti-Semitism. The Anti-Defamation League in Houston said Nov. 14 that Jewish leaders are “in a…
Court upholds clergy housing allowance
By Bob Allen Clergy can keep their tax-free housing allowance for now, because a group challenging its constitutionality lacks legal standing to sue, a federal appeals court ruled Nov. 13. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the…
Alabama Baptist convention opposes Common Core education standards
By Bob Allen Alabama state leaders were urged to repeal Common Core standards promoted by the U.S. Department of Education in a resolution adopted at the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting Nov. 11-12 in Birmingham. The resolution titled “On Parental…
Interim seminary head praises progress against Ebola in Liberia
By Bob Allen Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced Nov. 13 the end of national state of emergency, citing progress in the fight against Ebola. Richard Wilson, a Mercer University professor forced to leave his temporary appointment as president of…
Evangelicals already working to mobilize vote in 2016
By Bob Allen Bolstered by success in the recent 2014 elections, an under-the-radar campaign to mobilize evangelical voters is asking 63,000 pastors to consider running for public office in 2016. CBN News chief political correspondent David Brody recently published an…