By David Wilkinson Forty-nine years ago my mother and I advanced to the second-grade Sunday school class together. This year, on her 50th “Promotion Sunday,” Mom finally made it out of the second grade. It nearly broke her heart. In…
In this woman’s story, God has the last word
By Laura Rector What happens when a Southern Baptist girl takes God’s love story for her to heart? What happens when she grows up with heroines like Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong? What happens when she prays for missionaries every…
Out of the post-Katrina darkness
By Lacy Thompson Darkness. Of all the Hurricane Katrina memories and images, the one that endures in me is darkness. For weeks after the storm, I had to travel through New Orleans’ devastated Lower 9th Ward. Each night, as I…
Remembering an unwelcome trio of storms
By Barry Howard The summer of 2005 will be permanently etched in the minds of Gulf Coast residents. And for me that summer of multiple hurricanes provided a most unusual welcome to a new community. In May of 2005 I…
Day 6 in Haiti: It had to happen
(Editor’s note: Norman Jameson returned Aug. 30 from a week in Haiti to report on the work of North Carolina Baptist groups working in the aftermath of that nation’s devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. This is the fifth and final of…
Review: ‘Eat Pray Love’ focuses on path to self-discovery and balance
By Pam Parry The wonder of life is often lost in its frenetic pace, but openness to self-discovery can restore balance and even happiness. That’s the message of “Eat Pray Love,” a movie that has already earned more than $60…
Day 5 in Haiti: Rain at last
(Editor’s note: Norman Jameson returned from a week in Haiti Aug. 30 to report on the work of North Carolina Baptist groups working in the aftermath of that nation’s devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. This is the fifth of several daily…
As the Iraq war ‘ends,’ a retrospective
By David Gushee Barack Obama came into office, in part, on the strength of his promise to end the United States’ war in Iraq within 16 months. On Aug. 31 he will offer a major speech that is supposed to…
Baptists, Islam and the greatest danger
By Alan Sherouse I come to the escalating debate over the Islamic center proposed near Ground Zero as a Baptist pastor in the heart of Manhattan. A New Yorker. A Baptist. A pastor. Each of these parts of my identity…