If I had ever learned of the Cape Coast Castle and Dungeon on what was then called the Gold Coast of Africa, I didn't remember it long after the exam. So when I arrived at the castle with 10 busloads…
CBF governing council endorses New Baptist Covenant
WASHINGTON, D.C. (ABP)—Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship endorsed the New Baptist Covenant, saying the mission of the diverse Covenant coalition is consistent with the Fellowship's core values. The New Baptist Covenant, launched by former president and Baptist layman Jimmy…
SECOND OPINION: Think about immigration and Jesus
Don't you wish America's political leadership had an ounce of moral imagination? The Senate's failure to improve our immigration system represents a new low in legislative ineffectiveness. (Coming from someone who's watched the Texas Legislature at un-work, that's a mouthful.)…
CBF considers U.N. campaign to fight poverty, hunger, disease
WASHINGTON (ABP)—The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship at its general assembly took the first step toward joining the United Nations' campaign against global poverty and disease, called the Millennium Development goals. In a break from business-as-usual during the Fellowship's national meeting, participants…
Remembering Jamestown
Everyone should visit Jamestown once in their life. My once occurred years ago when our children were young. We walked the dusty trails. We climbed aboard one of the tiny ships. We marveled. And then we boarded the Jamestown-Scotland ferry,…
CBF moderator says God’s covenant gives responsibility
WASHINGTON (ABP)—God's covenant with Christians “places the responsibility for being the presence of Christ squarely on our shoulders,” Emmanuel McCall told participants at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly. God is a covenant-keeping God, insisted McCall, the Fellowship's moderator and…
RIGHT OR WRONG?
Our pastor recently called for us to be model citizens. Then, the pastor said, “Be sure, though, you sacrifice your political party's platform on the altar of the gospel, and not vice-versa.” I'm left with the question, “What can I…
BAPTIST BRIEFS
Buckner International, BGCT forge immigration ministry. The Baptist General Convention of Texas and Buckner International are partnering to create the first nationwide effort for local, church-based ministry to help immigrants become U.S. citizens. Through their new Immigration Service and Aid…
Scholar mulls the possibilities of U.S. relations with Muslims
WASHINGTON (RNS)—What if, Akbar Ahmed asks, America had limited its military response to 9/11 to liberating Afghanistan from the Taliban and al-Qaida? What if, instead of invading Iraq and waging a global war on terror, the United States had expanded…
Baptist papers, ABP create new media venture
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) —The Religious Herald has joined three other Baptist communication organizations to form a new media venture that will collaborate on expansive websites, print publications and other media options for Baptists. The partnership, tentatively called NeoVox, currently includes…
Opinion: 17 rules for Christian engagement in politics
It's election season again. Actually, it never ceases to be election season in our politics-obsessed culture — and in politics-obsessed evangelical America. I have been thinking a lot about the intersection of evangelicals and politics. In a new book coming…
Gushee appointed professor of Christian ethics at Mercer
MACON, Ga. (ABP) — David Gushee, a Baptist theologian and author, has been named to the position of distinguished university professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University. Gushee currently serves as a professor of philosophy at Union University in Jackson,…