By Bob Allen “The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many,” Matthew’s Gospel quotes Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount. “The gate is narrow and the…
Pastor says stats not ministry measure
By Bob Allen During 25 years as a minister, every church where Jim Somerville has served had stories of a legendary pastor and glory days when they had to put extra chairs in the aisles to accommodate overflow crowds. Somewhere…
Liberty lifts campus gun ban
By Bob Allen Trustees of Liberty University have changed the Christian school’s weapons policy to allow students, faculty and staff and visitors with concealed-carry permits to bring weapons into all campus facilities except for dormitories. The policy change went into…
SBC leader retracts radio comment
By Bob Allen The president of the Southern Baptist Convention said April 3 on CNN that he misspoke and was misunderstood in an interview on Christian radio linking North Korea’s nuclear threat to arguments about gay marriage in the United…
BJC weighs in on NC religion bill
By Bob Allen A Washington-based organization that represents several national Baptist groups in defending religious liberty for all Americans says a resolution introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly asserting the state’s right to establish an official religion is just…
Duke McCall funeral arrangements set
By Bob Allen Visitation for longtime denominational leader Duke McCall is scheduled for 1-5 p.m. Sunday, April 7, at a pavilion bearing his name on the campus of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. His funeral will be 10…
‘Celebrate Life’ composer Buryl Red dies
By Bob Allen Buryl Red, a renowned composer, conductor, producer and arranger known around the world as musical director of The CenturyMen and composer of the 1972 classic Celebrate Life, died April 1 after a battle with cancer. A graduate…
Duke McCall dies
By Bob Allen Duke McCall, a denominational leader known by Baptists worldwide for a ministry that spanned four decades, died April 2 at age 98. Chris Caldwell, pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., said McCall died this morning…
Luter says SBC watching Boy Scouts
By Bob Allen The president of the Southern Baptist Convention warned the Boy Scouts of America that the nation’s second-largest faith group behind Roman Catholics will be watching when the organization decides at its upcoming annual meeting May 22-24 whether…