By Marv Knox and Jeff Brumley Today’s memorial service for 12 firefighters killed in West, Texas, on April 17 was laced with prayer, scripture and the theme that tragedy brings people and communities together. Even President Obama came bearing a…
West, Texas, church gathers for worship
By John Hall and Jeff Brumley Its church building still in lockdown four days after a fertilizer plant explosion killed 14 people and injured 200 others, members of First Baptist Church in West, Texas, gathered in a makeshift altar in…
Can Christianity and evolution co-exist?
By Jeff Brumley A two-day conference beginning Sunday, April 21, in Dayton, Ohio, seeks to dispel the notion that science and faith are natural enemies and to prove that acceptance of evolution and the Big Bang theory are compatible with…
Baptists respond to blast with aid, prayer
By Jeff Brumley Local, regional and state church groups responded April 18 to the deadly fertilizer explosion that leveled portions of West, Texas, on Wednesday night. Baptist pastors and secretaries in congregations dotting the map around the central Texas city…
Cancer patients ‘Sojourn’ in Houston
By Jeff Brumley Imagine being 800 miles from home receiving radiation treatments while bouncing from hotel to hotel – or having to live out of a car or hospital lobby. Thanks to a housing ministry of Houston’s South Main Baptist…
Storms prompt ‘compassion adrenaline’
By Jeff Brumley It’s called “compassion adrenaline” when someone feels a nearly overwhelming urge to help others in need, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Tommy Deal felt a wave of it coming his way Thursday night. As huge, violent storms…
‘Bapticostal’ comic rising Hollywood star
By Jeff Brumley Nowadays, comedian Michael Joiner is billed as “God’s Smart Aleck” to gently remind audiences that his clean humor comes from a Christian perspective. But there was a time when the Indiana native, raised a Baptist, was anything…
Mission needs benefit public health
By Jeff Brumley Technologies like water purification systems designed for use by Christian missionaries are getting notice from secular agencies for their potential impact on economic development, a trend faith-based groups see as a “collateral benefit” of the doors they…
Book series result of interfaith friendship
By Jeff Brumley A shared passion for studying and interpreting Scripture helped inspire a Rabbi and Baptist pastor to pen the ongoing “Reverend and the Rabbi” series of books on the Bible. “I think the first thing is we both share a…