Do you wish for a GPS to guide you into the future? Do you despair at only seeing your life, like Paul, “through a glass darkly”? How does God reveal what’s ahead to us? Most of us are interested…
LETTER: Nativity scene demonstrates meaning of Christmas
The editor’s desire to remove the nativity scene from the public square is disturbing [Crèche evangelism?]. For Christians, Christianity would not exist without the birth of the little baby laid in a manager. For the secular public, it is one…
OPINION: From somewhere to everywhere and back again
Many of my friends know that, at best, I am a “low-church” liturgist. A few years ago, most of the rigidity of the liturgical calendar was more binding than loosing to me — both as a pastor and as a…
OPINION: The real question in the homosexual debate
Recently, as I was nearing the end of my weekly walk through the Religious Herald, I came across Drexel Rayford’s opinion piece in which he charged the Baptist General Association of Virginia with having a “Galileo moment.” I confess that…
OPINION: Whispering the sacred songs
A few weeks ago I had the rare opportunity to sing next to my daughter during Sunday morning worship. She loves to sing, and reads well for her age, but she is not capable of reading fast enough to sing…
LETTER: History of discrimination repeats itself
I usually find the opinion column by Lisa Cole Smith to be “cutting edge” and quite insightful. Her “Missing the forest for the trees” is no less so, except for her statement that (as Virginia Baptists) “we missed an…
Poll: More than one-third of Americans see signs of end times in extreme weather
WASHINGTON (RNS) — More than a third of Americans believe the severity of recent natural disasters is evidence that we are in the “end times” described in the New Testament — a period of turmoil preceding Jesus’ Second Coming and…
OPINION: Emmanuel, God with us — no matter what
The lectionary epistle reading for last Sunday contained this well-known verse from Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say rejoice!” In light of the school shooting that took place in Newtown, Conn., Friday morning, Paul’s words almost seem…
Volunteers from Tappahannock, Va., church make impact with $100 given for ‘Kingdom Assignment’
TAPPAHANNOCK, Va. — Has your pastor ever given away $5,000 in cash following a Sunday worship service? It happened on Sept. 30 at Beale Memorial Baptist Church in Tappahannock, Va., when 50 volunteers were handed a crisp $100 bill by…