Baptist News Global

Grieving comic says humor, like hope, springs eternal

SHREVEPORT, La. (ABP) — Jinny Henson, a native of Houston, began doing stand-up comedy when she was a student at Baylor University. While working on a master’s degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, she began touring nationwide. Against the advice…

A time to laugh: What’s the role of humor for Christians?

“For every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven … a time to weep and a time to laugh,” according to the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. What is the role of laughter and…

FAITH DIGEST

Who is responsible for tackling poverty? A phone survey of 1,002 adults revealed 66 percent of Americans believe the United States has an obligation to assist poverty-stricken children around the world. The survey asked respondents whose responsibility it is to…

Fewer than half of Americans link Easter to the Resurrection

WASHINGTON (RNS) — While most Americans describe Easter as a religious holiday, fewer than half of the adults surveyed link it specifically to the Resurrection of Jesus, a Barna Group study shows. Seven in 10 respondents mentioned religion or spirituality…

Grady Nutt a pacesetter for Christian comedy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Singer-songwriter Don McLean’s 1970s hit record “American Pie” mourned the 1959 plane crash that killed rock-and-roll pioneers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper as “the day the music died.” For a generation of humor-loving…

Poll finds religious support for comprehensive immigration reform

WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new survey finds broad support across party lines and religious groups for comprehensive immigration reform that reflects the rule of law and respects the dignity and wholeness of immigrants and families. Robert Jones The study, released March 23 by…

Scholars dedicate book to memory of CBF leader

COVINGTON, La. (ABP) — A group of Baptist scholars who started meeting together to discuss theology in 1990 reflect on faith and friendship in a collection of essays dedicated to a member of the group who died in 2009. Fisher…

Scholars dedicate book to memory of pastor, CBF leader Philip Wise

Baptist colleges respond to Mo. governor’s proposal to cut student aid

ST. LOUIS (ABP) — A five-sentence statement buried toward the bottom of a March 11 speech by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) has kicked up a furor on the state's private college campuses and left some students — including at…

Top 100 Virginia Baptist churches in gifts to Cooperative Missions listed

RICHMOND, Va. — First Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., led churches affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia last year in both in total Cooperative Missions giving and in contributions to the Virginia portion of Cooperative Missions gifts, according…

Q and A: Melissa Rogers on Obama faith-based council report

WASHINGTON (ABP) — Melissa Rogers, former general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and current professor at Baptist-related Wake Forest Divinity School, recently finished serving as the chair of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood…

Analysis: Obama council report partial victory for church-state separation

President Obama greets and thanks members of the President's Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships during a drop-by in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 9. (White House Photo by Pete Souza) WASHINGTON (ABP) — After a…

Supreme Court slides into partisanship

Before the fireworks, be careful what you drink

The contemptible case of Clarence Thomas

The permanent paradoxes of Christian thinking about war