Your Dec. 6 article, “Lectionary helps some Baptist preachers feed their flocks a ‘balanced diet' ” generated a host of questions as I read it. I have preached for 60 years (off and on, lately) and have never used the…
Christian website offers YouTube alternative for wary Baptists
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ABP)—Move over, YouTube. Baptists have video cameras. And they're using them, now that they have a “safe” place to share their videos online, said Bill Nix, CEO and president of Axletree Media. Axletree's E-zekiel, a website builder and…
Use care with initials
The Herald needs to exercise more care in what it prints. The phrase “Stand and deliver” leaped up off the page of the Dec. 6 front page. I thought it was used by British highwaymen robbing horse drawn coaches. The…
Two traditions inspire faithful Boy Scouts
MIDDLESEX, N.J. (RNS)—As Boy Scout Troop 114 cooked lunch during the recent Highland Games near their tents in a Middlesex County, N.J., park, a senior Scout summoned his fellow members. The Scouts huddled around tree trunks in Thompson Park and…
Setting up obstacles
I see in the Dec. 6 issue of the Religious Herald that the subject of drinking alcohol is still a problem for weak brethren. At the age of 12 I signed the pledge that the Women's Christian Temperance Union promoted….
Tech professor named most inspiring person
BLACKSBURG (RNS)—The Holocaust survivor who helped save students' lives before dying during a shooting spree at Virginia Tech last April was named by Beliefnet.com as its Most Inspiring Person of the Year. Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, was one of 32…
Red Letter Days: Christmas gifts with a conscience
NEW YORK (ABP) — What's the perfect revenge for the flannel-lined hot-water bottle Aunt Sharon gave you last Christmas? Or the Michael Bolton CD from your brother-in-law? A toilet. Or an ox. A bag of seeds would work, for that…
Happy New Year? For some Christians, it has already begun
COLUMBIA, Mo. (ABP) — When does the new year begin? For Christians observing the church calendar, it began with the start of Advent on Dec. 2. The traditional Christian season of Advent, which begins four Sundays before Christmas, is to…
With Corzine’s signature, N.J. officially bans death penalty
TRENTON, N.J. (ABP) — Stating his firm opposition to what he called “state-endorsed killing,” New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) has signed into law a legislative ban on capital punishment — the nation's first in decades. Shortly before he signed…
Faith leaders reject ‘hateful speech’ while Hispanics leave GOP
NEW YORK (ABP) — Republican presidential candidates appeal to fears over immigration in the primary campaigns at the risk of alienating an important constituency – conservative Hispanics – religious leaders in several early primary states said Dec. 17. In a…
Opinion: Does Christmas matter to the world?
(ABP) — On a recent trip to my hometown, I was surprised to hear some beautiful Russian Orthodox music performed by the “Singing Christmas Tree” in my childhood Southern Baptist church in North Carolina. Perhaps I should clarify this. I…
Mo. Baptist leaders restrict funding for church starts, angering some
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — A decision by Missouri Baptist Convention leaders to cut off funding for certain new church starts has set off a firestorm of protest and further widened a rift among conservative Baptists in the state. The…