Voices first heard in childhood often continue to impact us with potent echoes from the past. At the speed of thought I return to that small church in Jefferson County, Mo., where I grew up. It was Sunday evening and…
HERITAGE: Wheeling and dealing
Hunter Riggins is forever engaged, quite literally, in wheeling and dealing. He is one of America’s leading automobile dealers; and across the years he has honed and refined the skills of relationship building, customer satisfaction and sealing the deal. And…
VITAL SIGNS: Disagreeing agreeably
After one particularly frustrating performance by his Green Bay Packers, legendary Coach Vince Lombardi called his team together. He was determined to get them refocused on the things that made for winning. As they knelt before the coach, he held…
OUT LOUD
“The Phelps family represent only themselves, but we do not have a copyright on the Baptist name, so they have the freedom to use and abuse that name. As a result, Baptists everywhere are defamed by them." A. Roy Medley…
SBC leader fears Japan quake will cause fallout for nukes
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention's top public policy official predicted Japan's nuclear plant crisis would prompt calls to halt the expansion of nuclear power in the United States. Richard Land "That would be a tragedy," the head…
Poverty simulations have long history
ATLANTA (ABP) — Dragging middle class folks out of the classroom or out of their comfortable homes for a brief immersion experience into poverty is not something new. Larry McSwain, who popularized poverty plunges while teaching at Southern Seminary, now…
Poverty simulation begs middle class questions
ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. (ABP) — Tensed like a hungry cat watching a mouse emerge from a hole in the floor I watched the string of numbers on my lottery ticket as Anna Anderson read aloud numbers on the ticket she…
Debriefing a poverty simulation
ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. (ABP) — After spending 24 hours among the poor and homeless in a "poverty plunge" in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., participants were tired, some were grieved but all felt the calm satisfaction of having done something that will…
Plunge soaks participants in ways of poverty
ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. (ABP) — Nine participants in a "poverty plunge" stuffed their fears into a drawer with their personal identities and immersed themselves for 24 hours into the unfamiliar and frightening world of the poor and homeless March 4-5…
BWAid head Paul Montacute plans to retire
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (ABP) — Paul Montacute, director of the Baptist World Alliance's relief-and-recovery arm BWAid, will retire in July 2012, the BWA executive committee learned in meetings March 7-9. Paul Montacute BWA leaders are expected next March to elect…
Some foreign aid helps, other kinds do more harm than good, experts assert
(ABP) — Even though the Green Bay Packers won this year’s Super Bowl 31-25, up to 100,000 individuals in developing countries are wearing new T-shirts erroneously labeling the losing Pittsburgh Steelers as NFL champions. Children and adults in Zambia receive…
D.C. Baptists to vote on new exec
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A former director of missions in Alabama is being nominated as executive director of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention. If elected by the convention's board March 15, Ricky Creech, 47, would succeed Jeffrey Haggray, who resigned…