As I write this, I am preparing to attend the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina. Aside from the anticipated bickering over the presidency and predicted controversy over resolutions, messengers are sure to hear a challenge from current…
ANOTHER VIEW: Mission givers break cultural mold
American evangelicals stand accused of being captives of culture—selfish, materialistic, unconcerned about the world. If we're honest, sometimes we have to plead guilty as charged. Christian pollster George Barna frequently supplies the evidence to convict us. His research measures the…
A long friendship
The days around Memorial Day weekend 2006 will long be remembered as the visit to Virginia by a delegation of some 25 Chinese from the China Christian Council, who were hosted by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. For several years…
Religious broadcasters fear viewers may opt out
Evangelical Christians are on the front lines in the battle over indecency on cable television, calling for a pick-and-choose pricing plan that would allow viewers to keep certain channels out of their homes. But on the opposite end of the…
A vision fulfilled
Last week this column told the background of assemblies in Virginia Baptist history. The column managed to get as far as the critical meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia in November 1950 when “Eagle's Eyrie”—a large expanse of…
Da Vinci hype?
I agree that Dan Brown's page-turner of a book is a work of fiction, but he makes a very disturbing declaration on the very first page, that there are certain facts of history (like Opus Dei and the Priory of…
Mocking Jesus
I am responding to the letter of Raylene Harton from the May 25, 2006 issue of Religious Herald. She says that she is not upset about the book or movie “The Da Vinci Code.” She says that, “God does not…
ANOTHER VIEW: Would you run?
What would you do if a group of hooded strangers walked into your church service and asked who would be willing to take a bullet for Christ? This is the premise of a popular internet parable. In the parable, most…
‘Nevaeh’ soars in popularity
Spell heaven backwards and what do you get? The 70th most popular name for American baby girls. Nevaeh, usually pronounced nuh-VAY-uh, cracked the top 100 names for newborn baby girls for the first time in 2005, with 4,457, according to…
News about Virginia Baptists and their ministries for June 8, 2006
STAFF CHANGES Jim Graham, to Wallers Church, Partlow, as interim pastor. Susan Harvey, to Mount Ararat Church, Stafford, as children's minister. Connie Scruggs, to Rivermont Church, Danville, as part-time minister to children. Retirements Frank W. Casper Sr., pastor of Calvary…
Virginia Baptist is state’s teacher of the year
When the members of the Virginia Senate rose to their feet and applauded earlier this year to honor Debi Goforth as Virginia's teacher of the year, the elementary school librarian's thoughts turned to a small pouch she had been carrying…
Truck stop missionaries meet the needs of truckers
Anyone who has driven on Interstate 81 doesn't have to be told that 18-wheelers are more numerous than a pagan's excuses for not attending church. According to Laura Bullock, who represents the Virginia Department of Transportation to media representatives in…