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…
Preparing a church for a pastor’s departure
Editor's Note: Recognizing that a number of pastors in Virginia will soon retire from active pastoral ministry, we began this series two issues ago with a foundational book review by Gary Chapman, who directs the Southwest Virginia Christian Leadership Network…
FIRST HAND: What I wish I had known before I became pastor
Early on in my ministry as a pastor, I asked a deacon to tell me about the congregation's future plans and vision. He replied, “Preacher, we'll do anything that you can get us to do!” That deacon may not have…
ANOTHER VIEW: Fear factor slows growth of gospel in Egypt
Some time ago, the elder sister in an Egyptian Muslim family decided to follow Jesus Christ as Lord. Instead of keeping her faith a secret, as many Muslim-background believers do, she told her younger sister-who also became a believer. One…
ANOTHER VIEW: Entertaining ourselves to death
Aerican society and even Christians, it seems, are surrendering to the insatiable desire to be entertained. Our quest for amusement has become not only a national pasttime, it has become an addiction. There is little about life in the United…
The house of educators
Heritage Column for May 4, 2005 By Fred Anderson There is a pretty brick house tucked away on a side residential street in a Petersburg suburb. There are signs of life everywhere-in the flower garden so lovingly tended, in the…
EDITORIAL: Discovering the missing power of evangelism
After they had observed the Passover in the upper room, as the end approached, Jesus allowed his disciples to overhear a conversation with his Father. How well they listened is evidenced by John's Spirit-assisted recollection of Jesus' prayer. Jesus prayed…