What are we trying to do to our children? You have probably read or heard the statistics that indicate the importance of instilling faith in children. The likelihood of a person coming to faith declines significantly with the onset of…
Specter moves to allow churches to show Super Bowl
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Commitee, plans to introduce legislation to allow churches to show the Super Bowl on widescreen televisions, just as bars do now. “There's absolutely no reason why…
Shared meals at church take on a different flavor to meet changing needs
AKRON, Ohio (RNS) — Andrew Hamilton still can taste the homemade apple, cherry and peach pies that capped off the covered-dish church meals of his youth in Lakeville, Mass. In those days, children played on their own for hours while…
Gore: ‘Heaping contempt’ on creation inconsistent with glorifying God
ATLANTA (ABP) — Christians who speak out for environmentalism can combat skepticism and end America's addiction to carbon fuels, Al Gore told 2,000 Baptists who gathered to hear him Jan. 31 in part of a three-day celebration of denominational unity….
FAITH DIGEST
Lost bird helps raise funds for English church. A tiny bird blown across the Atlantic Ocean from North America on winter winds is helping raise funds to repair the roof of an ancient church in the tiny English village where…
Tony Campolo to Baptists: ‘Rise up, you suckers, and do the work of Jesus’
ATLANTA (ABP) — Author Tony Campolo challenged Baptists from across North America to examine which Jesus they preach — the one who incarnates American values or the one who incarnates God. Campolo, professor emeritus at Eastern University near Philadelphia, and…
Former Virginian shows God’s love in Hell’s Kitchen
NEW YORK — Walking along the streets of New York, Amanda Hambrick is reminded that life can be unfair. She passes people sleeping in doorways and alleys — fixtures of the city's sidewalks — and she asks herself, “How do…
Regain respect by rejecting exclusion, Grisham urges Baptists
ATLANTA (ABP) — The name “Baptist” is not widely respected in America “because for so long so many Baptists have worked so hard to exclude so many,” best-selling author and Baptist layman John Grisham said Jan. 31. Grisham told a…
Fredericksburg church funds Bluefield project
BLUEFIELD — Thanks to a generous donation from Fredericksburg Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, Bluefield College recently completed renovations to a guest cottage on campus. The church offered a $10,000 gift that enabled the college to completely restore the exterior portion…
SECOND OPINION: Torture is the bone caught in America’s throat
It is clear to me that the problem of torture is like a bone caught in our national throat. We can't swallow it, but we can't quite spit it out. And so we are choking on it. The sound of…
CBF council approves budget, reports shortfall
ATLANTA (ABP) — Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship approved a $16.5 million budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year and heard of budget shortfalls during the CBF Coordinating Council's Feb. 7-8 meeting in Decatur, Ga. The council's finance committee reported…
SECOND OPINION: Politics through Lenten eyes
The so-called “Christian vote” is making its quadrennial appearance in election coverage, as if “Christians” were a voting bloc that debated candidates' religious credentials and cast a unified vote for the candidate deemed most compatible with the gospel. Reality, of…