When you are driving keep in mind this cost savings tip: Never exceed the legal speed limit. Primarily they are set for your traveling safety; however, better gas efficiency also occurs. Traveling at 55 mph gives you up to 21…
Churches breaking sacred silence in a hookup culture
CLEVELAND (RNS)—Some of Antonio James' classmates laugh when they learn the 15-year-old has pledged not to have sex until he marries. It's not just male bravado that puts pressure on the 6-foot-1, 219-pound football player to be sexually active. “There's…
FAITH SHAPERS: Teaching tricky topics: Where does God live?
Have you ever thought about how confusing it must be for children when we talk about where God is? Although we rarely sit them down to talk about God's location, they pick up ideas from things we say. We tell…
Third World faith: The new center of Christianity
Laughter, tambourines and native instruments fill the air of a tiny apartment as a small group of Christians gather for fervent worship. Despite the oppression they have experienced under Islam and the Soviet system, these Central Asian Christians dance and…
Survey finds U.S. faith is more nuanced than most might think
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Think you know what Americans believe about religion? Think again. Seven in 10 Americans who follow one particular faith believe many “religions” can lead to eternal life. Despite the intense attention paid to evangelical and Catholic voters in a…
Baptist student missionary killed in Peru bus accident
ST. LOUIS (ABP) — Southern Baptist student missionary Gregory Gomez IV died July 5 in a bus crash in Peru. The 22-year-old Gomez was serving as a short-term field worker with the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board. According to…
Helms, ultra-conservative icon, steeped in moderate Baptist life
RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — Jesse Helms, the Baptist former senator who battled communist oppression but backed right-wing dictators and opposed abortion while appealing to racist sentiment, was a polarizing figure who was lionized by some conservatives and vilified by many…
To support military families through divorce, a few tips
(ABP) — Col. Bob Page, command chaplain for the Air Force’s Air Combat Command, believes that, while the military branches have developed more programs and services for military families, support from churches and other non-governmental groups remains crucial. That support…
‘Dear Jane’ letters a problem for military spouses at home
(ABP) — Divorce — the word seemed to leap out of the e-mail from her soldier husband that Nancy (not her real name) had so eagerly opened. Discussions of divorce among military personnel generally conjure the idea of a…
Third World Faith: Church tells story of Jesus to Sudanese
DALLAS (ABP) — People remember the stories, because with each retelling, moments come alive once again. In largely illiterate cultures, such as many in southern Sudan, storytelling preserves hundreds of years of history for people groups dependent on oral records….
Third-World Faith: Hub of world Christianity shifts to ‘Global South’
(ABP) — Sounds of laughter, tambourines and native instruments reverberate through a tiny apartment as a small group of Christians gathers for fervent worship. Despite oppression under Islam and the Soviet system, these Central Asian Christians dance and sing with…
Jesus in MySpace: Churches use social-networking sites
(ABP) — Social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are redefining the way many Americans build and maintain relationships — and also how their churches communicate. In the last few years, relating to social contacts through such sites has become practically…