By Jeff Brumley Steadily declining mission trips to Mexico due to drug violence has left many Mexicans feeling abandoned just when their anxiety levels are peaking, missions experts in Texas say. “It’s unprecedented,” said E. Daniel Rangel, director of River Ministry…
Trial nears for accused peeping evangelist
By Bob Allen A former traveling Southern Baptist evangelist and popular youth speaker under investigation in three states for video voyeurism has so far escaped prison in exchange for guilty pleas in two cases but now faces a June 25…
State convention held liable for abuse
By Bob Allen A jury found May 17 that the Florida Baptist Convention is liable for failing to do an adequate background check before recruiting and training a former church planter now in prison for molesting a 13-year-old boy. According…
Slavery continues in U.S. in 21st century
By Marv Knox Although the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865, predators still buy and sell other human beings across America, a social work professor and a police detective told a gathering of Texas Baptists. Kim Kotrla, assistant professor in…
Show death penalty the door
By Jimmy Carter For many reasons, it is time for Georgia and other states to abolish the death penalty. A recent poll showed that 61 percent of Americans would choose a punishment other than the death penalty for murder. Also,…
Race & Faith
By Ken Camp A neighborhood watchman in Florida shoots and kills a hoodie-wearing African-American teenager. Two white suspects in Tulsa, Okla., confess to the Easter weekend shooting of five people in a predominantly black neighborhood. Elizabeth Eckford, one of the…
Stand Your Ground sponsor sees no contradiction with his Baptist faith
By Jeff Brumley The state legislator and Southern Baptist layman who championed the Stand Your Ground law made infamous in the Trayvon Martin case was relieved when the killer was charged with second-degree murder. “I was redeemed by it because…
Pastor says SBC should repudiate and/or replace Richard Land
An influential black pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention should repudiate remarks about race by the head of its ethics commission, and if Richard Land does not repent he should be fired. Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in…
Alliance takes aim at gun deaths
By Bob Allen The Alliance of Baptists adopted a statement of support April 14 for the family of Trayvon Martin and others who have experienced similar losses. Citing an article from the Alliance covenant affirming “the calling of God to…