By Bob Allen Loss of the historic Baptist commitment to religious liberty has left U.S. evangelicals ill-prepared for current threats to the free exercise of religion, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral and public policy concerns suggested April…
Tennessee Baptist school fights Obamacare
By Bob Allen Southern Baptist-affiliated Union University filed a lawsuit April 4 challenging insurance coverage of contraceptives mandated for employers by the federal Affordable Care Act. The Tennessee Baptist Convention-affiliated school in Jackson, Tenn., joined numerous secular and religious employers…
Russian, Ukrainian Baptist leaders meet in Kiev
By Bob Allen The heads of the Baptist unions in Ukraine and Russia met April 8 for the first time since a political crisis began last November putting the two nations on the brink of war. Presidents of the All-Ukrainian…
Baptist leader diagnosed with breast cancer
By Bob Allen The first woman to lead the Baptist Union of Great Britain has requested prayer after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Lynn Green, elected last year as general secretary of the 2,100-church union founded in 1832, says a…
Water missions surge as churches see spiritual connection
By Jeff Brumley Water, it seems, is all the rage. Experts say the demand for global mission projects focused on providing clean water has become unquenchable as churches increasingly see water as one of the most efficient means of meeting…
Mohler defends exclusivity of Christ
By Bob Allen The idea that Christianity is the only saving path to God is a hard sell in a culture that increasingly celebrates religious diversity, Southern Baptist seminary President Albert Mohler told preachers gathered for this year’s Together for…
Jeb Bush to meet with Southern Baptist leader
By Bob Allen Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will meet privately next month with Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore, the Washington Post reported April 8, an effort to reach out to evangelicals should he…
PBS examines Calvinism in SBC
By Bob Allen While other U.S. denominations face schism over homosexuality, Southern Baptists are rehashing a 17th-century debate about why a loving God would create billions of souls predestined to an eternity in hell. “I think it’s a fantastic thing,”…
Government should leave religion alone, Baptist leader insists
By Ken Camp Government should let religion “flourish or flounder on its own,” not promote it or prohibit liberty of conscience, a religious freedom advocate told a chapel assembly at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. In spite of their diversity…
‘What’s mine is yours’ defines ‘kingdom economics,’ New Testament scholar insists
By Marv Knox Jesus’ perspective on economics can be up summed in four words — “What’s mine is yours,” New Testament scholar Hulitt Gloer stressed during the annual T.B. Maston Lectures in Christian Ethics. And while such a standard may…
Healthy church, preacher produce rare gift: pastoral longevity
By Jeff Brumley Jack Glasgow has seen things at Zebulon Baptist Church that fewer and fewer modern pastors have seen — or likely ever will see. Things like shepherding members of his North Carolina congregation from birth to ministry, and others from…
Patterson urges ministers not to drink
By Bob Allen Moderate drinking and the ministry don’t mix, a Southern Baptist seminary president said in a chapel message April 2. Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, said it’s just the second time…