By Bob Allen More than 80 Asian-American Christians have signed an open letter to evangelicals calling for an end to racial stereotyping of Asians in religious literature. Christian leaders including Ken Fong, a California Baptist pastor who spoke at the…
Compassion fatigue hinders aid to poor
By Ken Camp Chronic poverty, hunger and homelessness can leave even the most committed Christian feeling overwhelmed and defeated. “After you finish providing one set of meals, more hungry people are in line right behind them. And there’s more after…
SBC leader says don’t talk to press
By Bob Allen There’s no room in the church for whistleblowers, a Southern Baptist seminary president said in a chapel sermon Oct. 15. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson said the prohibition in First Corinthians 6 on church members…
Former assn. secretary sentenced for theft
By Bob Allen The former financial secretary at an Alabama Baptist association will spend the night in jail for a year after pleading guilty of theft. Tonya Renee Woodward, 52, confessed in August to stealing money from the Columbia Baptist…
EDITORIAL: Seasons and purposes
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven,” wrote the ancient preacher of Ecclesiastes (3:1). I write to you with a sense of seasonal change. I have noticed lately the chill in the morning…
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 Kyle Cooley, to Cooper’s…
OPINION: Partners in faith: A theology for merger
You’ve read on this website that the Religious Herald and Associated Baptist Press are merging on Jan. 1, 2014. The decision of the two respective boards is more an act of faith than a business arrangement, in my view. We…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Dealing with criticism and critical people
Eventually, every pastor or staff member will do something about which a church member becomes angry or disappointed. I still remember the time a few weeks into my first pastorate when I learned this painful lesson. One of our deacons…
OPINION: The hand we’re dealt
I spend a lot of time thinking, writing and teaching on the current religious climate in America and how churches and individual Christians can thrive despite the seemingly downward spiral of decline. While practicing Christianity in the 21st century, especially…
REVIEW: ‘Captain Phillips’ offers a cautionary tale to an America facing a growing gap between rich
Captain Phillips is an action movie with an important underlying social message. It is one of those movies that is filled with all manner of exciting scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Yet when you…
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Start being the Church again
I’m so tired of some of the church putting down gay people. When will they see the log in their eye? Come on, you know God loves all of his kids. Sometimes it makes me feel ashamed of calling myself…
How can Christians really help the poor? Develop a strategy, say advocates
Though Christians seem to disagree about how best to help the poor, experts agree that developing a strategy based on the needs of a particular community will help churches minister to the needy around them. Giving money to a person…