Steve Burger, former executive director of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, urges Americans not to give money to the homeless on the streets. “If you give a dollar to a panhandler, often you are really funding the local tavern…
Words of Hope ministry changes outlook for people with AIDS
AKOPE STATION, Uganda (BP)—Saidat Makop is sick. To look at her, a casual observer would never know. She looks as healthy as the next person. Her cheeks are rosy. She works in the garden for hours. Her eyes might look…
Lectionary helps some Baptist preachers feed their flocks a ‘balanced diet’
RICHMOND—It's Saturday night. Do you know where your pastor is? A pretty safe guess might be “in a study, frantically developing the next day's sermon.” But how does a preacher decide on the Scripture text? Some free-church Baptist pastors find…
British Baptists apologize for slavery, acknowledge ‘appalling consequences’
SWANWICK, England (BWA) — Baptists in Britain have apologized for the slave trade. The Council of the Baptist Union of Great Britain — widely known as BUGB— which met in Swanwick, England, on Nov. 12-14, passed a resolution saying, “We…
Integrity demands preachers avoid pulpit plagiarism
If preachers pass off other people's work as their own, they automatically limit themselves to preaching about only eight commandments. “Thou shalt not steal” and “thou shalt not bear false witness” become off-limits. But preachers can avoid plagiarism by beginning…
Opinion: Building bridges with Calvinists
(ABP) — Dick McCartney, my editor when I worked at the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger, used to wander into my office, bottom feeding for an editorial idea. “What should I view with alarm this week?” he would ask. There are always…
Stand and deliver: ‘Knowing the people’ is key to successful preaching
(ABP) — God chose “the foolishness of preaching” as the preferred instrument for communicating the message of salvation, the Apostle Paul wrote. But when the time arrives to stand and deliver that message, how does a preacher measure whether it's…
Lectionary helps some preachers ‘divide word of truth,’ avoid repeats
(ABP) — It's Saturday night. Do you know where your pastor is? A safe guess might be “in a study, frantically developing the next day's sermon.” The pastor's task is to “carefully divide the word of truth,” but many pulpiteers…
Stand and deliver: Preachers urged to avoid pulpit plagiarism
(ABP) — If preachers pass off other people's work as their own, they automatically limit themselves to preaching about only eight commandments. “Thou shalt not steal” and “thou shalt not bear false witness” become off-limits. But preachers can avoid plagiarism…
Hillary Clinton garners applause at Warren’s AIDS conference
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) — Despite controversy over her appearance there, Hillary Clinton has reportedly gotten rave reviews for a speech on combating AIDS she gave Nov. 29 at one of the country's largest evangelical churches. The Democratic New York…
Appeals court upholds ruling against funding for Christian prison programs
ST. LOUIS (ABP) — A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court's decision saying state funding for a Christian prison program in Iowa was unconstitutional. But the three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in its…
New Baptist Covenant program, breakouts focus on unity theme
ATLANTA (ABP) — While known for their historic independence and stubbornness, Baptists from more than 40 American and Canadian denominations and groups will converge under a banner of unity next month in Atlanta. Organizers of the Celebration of a New…