WASHINGTON (BP) — Basic human rights, including religious freedom, have deteriorated under Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, witnesses testified in a Capitol Hill hearing. Iranian citizens have suffered “systematic oppression by the regime, … denial to freedom of religion, expression, politics…
A giving life
Iris Brammer loved people. She also loved books and she especially enjoyed bringing people and books together. Maybe such passion helps explain why the public library in Narrows, Va., bears her name. She worked in the Narrows library in Southwest…
Kidnapped Christians forced to ‘reconvert’
(BP) — Hindu extremists in northern India's Himachal Pradesh state kidnapped at least 60 Christian families in late February and pressured them to “reconvert” to Hinduism, despite a new law that prevents forced conversions. Lawmakers in Himachal Pradesh passed a…
OUT LOUD
“A sound theology of creation-care will consider human achievement (building dams, erecting skyscrapers, mining for fossil fuels, etc.) as much a cause for celebration of God's creative purposes as a picnic in a virgin forest.” David Hankins The executive director…
FIRST HAND: Busting the top four food myths
DALLAS (BP) — Have you noticed how complicated food is these days? Trying to select an item in a grocery store or restaurant can prove to be quite a head-scratching experience, especially if you are trying to choose a healthier…
FAITHSHAPERS: Spiritual formation 2: Indoctrination
During the school years, children develop greater ability to focus and sit still, and their brains are developed enough to soak in staggering amounts of information. As preschoolers, children also learn quickly, but they learn primarily through direct experience —…
Couple urges truce in war between faith and science
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) — The poster in Deborah Haarsma's office at Calvin College bears the bold title, “Long, long ago in galaxies far, far away” — appropriate Star Wars jargon for an astronomy professor. It shows photos of galaxy…
Study links subprime mortgage crisis to U.S. poverty & hunger
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The poorest counties in the United States are among the hardest hit by the subprime mortgage crisis, according to a study released by the Christian anti-hunger advocacy group Bread for the World. The report, titled “Home Ownership,…
News about Virginia Baptists and the ministries for March 20, 2008
DEATH • Retired Virginia Baptist pastor Donald P. Stroud died Feb. 15 in Yorktown at the age of 72. He served as pastor of churches in Florida, North Carolina and Georgia, before coming to Virginia and serving as pastor of…
Opinion: The utilitarian temptation
A few weeks ago, I was reminded in a news article that Judge Paul Pressler had actually said, at the beginning of the Southern Baptist controversy, that his side must “go for the jugular.” This is an image of slaying…
British Baptist leader to head U.S. seminary
CHICAGO (ABP) — The head of British Baptists' mission agency will become the head of an American Baptist seminary, according to the Baptist World Alliance. Alistair Brown, general director of BMS World Mission since 1996, has been selected to be…
Jim Smith named CBF head of global-missions field teams
ATLANTA (ABP) — Jim Smith has been named the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's director of field team ministries for CBF global missions. The position was previously held by Jack Snell, who died in October after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer….