By Bob Allen A Baptist church in Kentucky has severed ties with its local association of churches, saying doctrinal uniformity has trumped cooperative missions in the Southern Baptist Convention. : “All are welcomed here,” proclaims the Central Baptist Church website….
White to black — or black to white
By Bob Burroughs It is rare to go from white to black or black to white without passing through some shades of gray. Experience and common sense should teach us that sudden and drastic changes in everyday living, daily schedules…
Funeral procession rules of the road
By Amy Butler A long-time member of our church went on to her heavenly reward a few weeks ago. Flora was the soul of kindness and grace, serving as an usher every single Sunday, welcoming people to worship from the…
Missionaries heading from East to West
By Vicki Brown The traditional view of missions is Western Christians sending missionaries to nations in the East and South, but these days missionary work is more of a two-way street, with missionaries coming from Africa, Asia and Latin America…
Effective global missions demands multicultural partnerships
By Ken Camp Missions in the 21st century demands multicultural partnership, global missions researcher and author Patrick Johnstone insists. And pastors of some churches filled with first-generation immigrants agree. “Like it or not, we have a multicultural missions force that…
Fulfilling the Great Commission
By Ken Camp Churches composed primarily of first-generation immigrants to the United States often face obstacles — linguistic, financial and cultural — in terms of fitting into an Anglo-dominated society. But they may possess a strategic advantage in fulfilling Christ’s…
Study: 2/3 of Americans support renting school buildings to churches
By Bob Allen Two-thirds of Americans believe public schools should rent to churches and other community groups, according to a new study by LifeWay Research. The study by the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention publisher LifeWay Christian Resources…
Our bodies do matter
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan First Corinthians 6:11-20 can be the preacher’s worst nightmare — a passage full of directives about sex, food and all things bodily. Yet, I chose it as part of a six-part series about God’s calling on…
What is good preaching?
By Amy Butler This week I began teaching a preaching practicum at a local seminary. As a place to start, my students received and turned in the assignment of a short reflection paper on one of my favorite topics, “What…
Church administrator charged with theft
By Bob Allen A former administrator at a prominent North Carolina moderate Baptist church was arrested recently and charged with embezzling more than $136,000 in church funds over a five-year period. Robert Lahr, 49, is accused of taking $136,324.58 from…
Ministry off the list
By Amy Butler On my desk I have an old-fashioned pad of paper on which I write, every day, all of the things I must accomplish. My list is a list of those tasks that hang over me — reports…
Resolve to find God’s presence outside the church
By Chris Hughes We’ve all made the mistake Jacob did when he woke up from sleep and declared the warm stone under his head “Bethel,” the house of God — as if X marked the spot for God’s dwelling place….