Have you ever had the opportunity to drive through an old neighborhood and thought, “Why haven’t they just bulldozed this whole place? This is a mess! This is an eyesore! The people still living here should get a medal.” Jonathan…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Prophets: champions of compassion
Prophets are rare today. Traditionally, they expose our blind spots, unclog our deaf ears and rub raw our calloused hearts. Mostly, these pesky truth-tellers enlarge our world’s vision. Prophets point us to God’s kingdom, awaken our consciences and stir our compassion….
VITAL SIGNS: Making sense of change
Everywhere I look, I see transitions underway as we close out 2013. Whether it be friends in the news business, local congregations, ministers in transition, my own employment situation or significant family transitions, everyone is undergoing some sort of change….
Ruling removes what has been called the most important tax benefit available to ministers
(ABP) — A federal judge said Nov. 23 that an IRS rule allowing clergy to avoid paying taxes on a part of their income designated as a housing allowance violates the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state. Senior United…
Bible Belt Baptists can learn from small Baptist minorities overseas
If they have ears to hear, Baptists in places like the United States’ Bible Belt, where Christianity is the norm, can learn lessons from Baptist minorities in other parts of the world, Baptist World Alliance leaders insist. Many Baptists in…
Humanitarian aid, human rights advocacy bolster Baptist witness
Aid and advocacy create a positive witness for Baptists globally, leaders of the Baptist World Alliance noted. When Raimundo Barreto, director of the BWA division of freedom and justice, was in Vietnam a couple of years ago, a government official…
EDITORIAL: Parting words
As I write this I am sitting in the pastor’s study of Williamsburg Baptist Church, where I am serving as interim pastor. Outside the window a large red-tailed hawk stands like a sentinel in a stout, leafless walnut tree growing…
Baptists admire, mourn Mandela
By Jeff Brumley Huge voices, including past and present world leaders, are flooding the web with praise for Nelson Mandela, saying he showed the world how love can overcome hate. Other voices are speaking up, too, turning to social media…
Calvinists plan student mission confab
By Bob Allen Students of the New Calvinism movement identified by titles including “young, restless and reformed” will head to Louisville, Ky., during Christmas break for a missions conference organized “for the global purpose of magnifying the kingly majesty of…
Arkansas Baptists oppose medical pot
By Bob Allen Arkansas Baptists urged voters to oppose two medical marijuana law proposals that supporters are trying to get on the state’s general election ballot in Nov. 2014 with a statement calling the idea “poor policy” that is “based…
HeraldBeat: Tracking Baptists across the Mid-Atlantic
Accepted a new call? Been ordained? Church celebrating an anniversary? Mission trip or project that you would like highlighted on the HeraldBeat page? Send info to HeraldBeat editor Barbara Francis at [email protected]. Transitions ON THE MOVE David Williamson, to County…
Baptists celebrate Judsons in Burma
By Bob Allen Baptists from the United States and around the world traveled this week to Myanmar to celebrate the 200-year anniversary of the arrival of an American Baptist missionary credited with bringing Christianity to the country in Southeast Asia…