It might be having an understanding person to talk to. It might be help putting frustrations into perspective. Or it might be a gentle reminder that nobody, not even the pastor, can do everything — and probably shouldn’t try. But…
Baptist teams from Mid-Atlantic continue disaster response in N.Y, N.J. seven weeks after hurricane
Just a week before Christmas, Baptist disaster response teams from the Mid-Atlantic remain at work in New York and New Jersey, assisting residents still impacted by Hurricane Sandy’s landfall there on Oct. 29. In the past seven weeks, Virginia Baptist…
LETTER: There is a guiding principle regarding Old Testament laws
There’s no doubt about it, Drexel Rayford is correct in that today Galileo is remembered and Cardinal Bellarmine is not remembered [For the BGAV, a Galileo moment]. Cardinal Bellarmine was not very wise in his ignoring of fact and his probable…
OPINION: The unlit candle of joy
Today was the Third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy. A group of International students from Virginia Commonwealth University had been invited to light the Advent candle. They processed slowly down the aisle as the youth girls’ ensemble sang….
OPINION: Being free to respond to evil with love
Today, Friday, Dec. 14, a horrible tragedy is unfolding. As I write this they won’t say how many but a large number of students and staff have been murdered at a Connecticut elementary school. As I listen to the reporter…
Is ‘The Hobbit’ a ‘Christian’ film? Yes and no.
(RNS) — Travel along, if you dare, with Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit — either in J.R.R.Tolkien’s beloved 1937 novel, or through the first installment of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy based on the book, which opened in theaters Dec. 14….
At Christmas, the babe in the manger isn’t always white
(RNS) — When Kip Banks’ family pulls out its nativity scene each Christmas, the African features of the baby Jesus provide lessons on both the Bible and self-esteem. Banks’ 8-year-old son, Kip Jr., has told his father that the Christ…
OPINION: How to put Christ back in Christmas
I’m sure this has happened to you this year at least once. There you are, full of Christmas cheer and, like all good Jesus followers have just won the fight for a prime space in a checkout line so you…
OPINION: Missing the forest for the trees
When I was little I hated getting in trouble. I really hated it. It wasn’t so much the possibility of punishment as it was the feeling of tension, knowing I was at odds with my parents or someone else. In…
EDITORIAL: Crèche evangelism?
The night before, Almighty God, creator of the universe, had stepped into actual human existence in that baby boy’s birth. Countless times we have taken our places as spectators in the sanitized stable soon after Jesus was born. The young…
Two Baptist churches recognized for contributions to affordable housing in Washington suburbs
ARLINGTON, Va. — Two Baptist congregations in Washington’s Northern Virginia suburbs have been recognized for their contributions to affordable-housing efforts in the region. The Church at Clarendon sits in the heart of one of metropolitan Washington’s most densely packed neighborhoods….
Concerns about proposed solar project at Baptist conference center in N.C. to be aired at hearing
RIDGECREST, N.C. — A proposed solar energy project on the grounds of a Baptist conference center in western North Carolina will be considered at a public hearing Jan. 9 in Asheville, after the state’s utilities commission received complaints about the…