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…
Ministries blending food and faith
By Jeff Brumley They say an army travels on its stomach. According to the proponents of “creation care,” the same can be said of the church. As they observe World Food Day today, those activists are reporting a dawning awareness…
Baylor alumni leaders resign
By Ken Camp About one-third of the Baylor Alumni Association board of directors — including four officers — have resigned in the wake of a failed attempt to approve a transition agreement with the historically Baptist university in Waco, Texas….
SBC leader defends ‘sectarian’ prayer
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top expert on religious-liberty concerns says the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold a New York town’s practice of opening its city council meetings with sectarian prayer. “A prayer, by definition, isn’t a speech…
Mohler reflects on 20 years at Southern
By Bob Allen With two decades under his belt as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s flagship seminary, Albert Mohler’s 10-year plan includes writing a systematic theology, according to a 2,800-word story published Oct. 15 in the campus newspaper The…
Arrest made in Charlotte church arson
By Bob Allen Police in Charlotte, N.C., have arrested an 18-year-old in connection with an arson-related fire this summer at the city’s Providence Baptist Church. Local media reported the arrest of Jonathan Paul Dover on charges of setting fire to…
Baptist leader blasts ‘civil religion’
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s chief spokesman on public policy said Oct. 10 that issues facing military chaplains are part of a larger trend in society to endorse “a bland, generic, nothing blob of civil religion over genuine…
HERITAGE: ‘The Column’ at 30
Thirty years ago this fall the editor and associate editor of the Religious Herald, Julian H. Pentecost and Tom Miller, respectively, invited this soon-to-be-columnist to lunch. They presented a proposition that their lunch guest begin to write a Baptist history…
VITAL SIGNS: The high cost of self-preservation
A young pastor was recently recounting the events that led to his dismissal. Throughout the painful ordeal, he had relied upon a small group of spiritually-mature trusted advisors to help him navigate the uncertainties he faced. As events unfolded, he…