Baptist News Global

What made America great after 9/11

Twenty-five years ago, America was attacked. On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed after al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes, striking the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pa. America awakened the next morning…

Why think of a star called Chernobyl?

Forty years ago, a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The consequences of this largest technological disaster in history — environmental contamination, ecological catastrophe and socio-economic losses — will continue to affect us for many decades. But the…

Small talk

I often reminded my students that there’s no such thing as small talk. All talk is big talk! Why? Because with our daily outpouring of talk, we create the social worlds we then inhabit. It’s sometime referred to as “the…

The spirit of New York (and your town, too)

New York steals your soul — sensory overload, hyper-competition and financial pressure. Constant noise, crowded streets and concrete surroundings are disheartening. My hometown is overpriced, overcrowded and overbearing. On bad days, the city chips away at your spirit. New Yorkers…

Responding to those who are different

It puzzles me that there are Christians who are unwilling to accept people who, for one reason or another, are inherently different from themselves. I have been a Christian for more than seven decades and an ordained minister, missionary, professor…

I was there on 9/11

Every year I’ve been on Facebook — for nearly 20 years — I’ve posted the same message on September 11: Every year on this day, I wake up remembering the clear blue sky. It was a perfect September day in…

Second Baptist Houston members try one last legal maneuver

The legal action against Second Baptist Church of Houston isn’t dead yet — although it is hanging by a thread. Jeremiah Counsel, the group of church members who filed suit against the leadership of the megachurch over governance changes, has…

Another SC church accused of not limiting known sex offender

A second Southern Baptist church in South Carolina has made headlines recently for allowing a registered sex offender to participate in congregational ministry. Ministry Watch reported Aug. 31 that Brookwood Church in Simpsonville recently disqualified an adult male from serving…

Trump administration thwarts global vaccine catch-up

Over the last 40 years, worldwide access to childhood vaccines has saved more than 150 million lives and lifted tens of millions out of poverty. However, aid organizations still struggle to reach the world’s poorest children, especially those whose countries…