By Jeff Brumley Nowadays, comedian Michael Joiner is billed as “God’s Smart Aleck” to gently remind audiences that his clean humor comes from a Christian perspective. But there was a time when the Indiana native, raised a Baptist, was anything…
Lawsuit against Baptist camp dismissed
By Vicki Brown Camden County Circuit Court Judge Ralph H. Jaynes has dismissed legal action against Windermere Baptist Conference Center and several financial institutions the Missouri Baptist Convention executive board filed in Camden County on Nov. 1, 2006. The MBC…
SBC leader calls HHS mandate ‘persecution’
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral concerns charged the Obama administration with “religious persecution” for requiring religious employers to cover preventive health-care services including FDA-approved contraceptives. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known…
Beeping eggs help seeing-impaired children participate in Easter tradition
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Two-and-a-half year old Paul Bloxom experienced the joy of his first Easter egg hunt on April 6. His parents brought him from their home in Chincoteague, Va., to First Baptist Church in Newport News, Va., to…
OPINION: The art of doing nothing
The art of being busy is not art at all. It is illusion — movement masked as purpose, distracting one’s audience from realizing that there is not much going on at all. The real art, the difficult, lost, and hard…
OPINION: Creating contexts for conversion, part 1
What is the likeliest context in which someone who is not currently a Jesus follower will take up such a journey? This is the question readily apparent and to which several answers were given at a recent conference I had…
OPINION: Why things break apart and how they get back together
“A few years ago, researchers completed the most meticulous survey ever made of the San Andreas Fault. They found detailed features that nobody could have seen before. “ (Headline from Earth and Science, December 2005) Everyone agrees: it’s just a…
AU calls for access to birth control
By Bob Allen A Washington-based religious-liberty watchdog group says the Obama administration should reject demands of conservative religious groups seeking to curb access to contraceptive coverage in the name of religious liberty. “Americans want and deserve access to safe and…
AU calls for access to birth control
By Bob Allen A Washington-based religious-liberty watchdog group says the Obama administration should reject demands of conservative religious groups seeking to curb access to contraceptive coverage in the name of religious liberty. “Americans want and deserve access to safe and…
Ethicist says drop ‘i-word’
By Bob Allen A Baptist ethicist says it’s time for churches to stop using the word “illegal” when talking about immigration. “Let’s drop the ‘i-word’ in church and community conversations,” Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics,…
Mother’s Day hunger goal $1 million
By John Hall Texas Baptists are seeking to raise $1 million on Mother’s Day for an annual hunger offering that provides relief and aid to hungry people across the state and around the globe. “In the heart of mothers throughout…
Retreat center hosts autism camp
By Barbara Francis A Baptist camp in Virginia is sponsoring its first retreat geared for families affected by autism. Piankatank Camp and Conference Center, located near Hartfield, Va., plans to hold its first Autism Family Camp May 30-June 2. “Every…