ORLANDO, Fla. (RNS)—Lynn Thompson quit paying the mortgage on her investment property—not because she couldn’t afford the payments, but because she thinks walking away is better for her long-term financial health. trategic defaults on home mortgages accounted for 31 percent…
Researchers probe whether, why, free will exists
ORLANDO, Fla. (RNS) — Are people really responsible for all the things they do? Do they have what theologians call God-given “free will” to choose between right and wrong? Those questions are at the heart of a four-year research project…
Tumultuous times fuel End Times preparations
WASHINGTON (RNS) — For years, Ken Uptegrove believed another Great Depression was at hand. A computer professional in Springdale, Ark., Uptegrove started a garden and researched ways to live more simply. He studied the lives of early Christians and launched…
Tweeting churches discover the gospel according to Twitter
ORLANDO, Fla. (RNS) — Tweeting during church? Isn’t it rude? David Loveless doesn’t think so. Loveless is lead pastor of Discovery Church, a nondenominational congregation that draws about 4,000 on Sundays to three locations in Orlando. The congregation always has…
Domestic missionaries seeking new converts online
ORLANDO, Fla. — For centuries, missionaries have ventured to the farthest reaches of the globe to share the gospel. Today, the new mission field is just a mouse click away. Some 2 million surfers a day type keywords like “God”…
When it comes to counting church members, the devil’s in the details
WASHINGTON (RNS)—The Southern Baptist Convention, with about 16.2 million members on the books, claims to be the nation's largest Protestant denomination. But Tom Ascol believes the active membership really is a fraction of that. Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church…