By Bob Allen A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship pastor and activist judge is asking the state of Arkansas to limit gun ownership in the same way it regulates motor vehicles, including licensure and required insurance. Wendell Griffen, pastor of New Millennium…
Blaming God for tragedy nothing new
By Jeff Brumley Many criticized prominent evangelicals like James Dobson and Mike Huckabee for claiming last week’s Connecticut school massacre was God’s punishment of a morally disobedient nation, but don’t expect such views to change. Scholars say the belief in divine retribution…
Raising a lament
By Bill Leonard “Summon the wailing women to come. Send for the women skilled in keening to come quickly and raise a lament for us, that our eyes my run with tears and our eyelids be wet with weeping…. Teach…
SBC leader supports gun ownership
By Bob Allen Gun ownership and using lethal violence to save lives are applications of the Golden Rule, Southern Baptists’ top leader on moral and ethical concerns said Dec. 19 on National Public Radio. Asked on NPR’s All Things Considered…
UK Baptist leader mourns Sandy Hook
By Bob Allen The head of the Baptist Union of Great Britain issued a statement Dec. 18 mourning “the horrific loss of life” in the Dec. 14 elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and calling for stronger gun control in…
Talking points and tragedy
By Amy Butler There are moments when words fail us, even those of us who wrestle words to a page for a living. Last week was one of those times. What words can possibly console the parents of 20 little…
Accused child predator must stand trial
By Bob Allen A Mississippi judge ruled Dec. 18 that the state’s statute of limitations does not prevent prosecution of a former Southern Baptist music minister charged with molesting five boys in the early 1980s. Hinds County Circuit Judge Bill…
Time to act on gun control
By David Burroughs “It is too soon to talk about the politics of gun control. That would be insensitive to those killed.” I keep hearing this argument. I want to be very sensitive to the people of Newtown, Conn., who…
A prayer for Sandy Hook
By Miguel De La Torre Oh Lord, my God, how majestic is your name throughout the earth. Your love and mercy abound and endure forever. A young innocent sparrow does not fall without your knowledge. And yet, I again find…
Christmas key time for Hospitality House
By Jeff Brumley It’s always tough visiting loved ones in prison. A spouse or parent can see incarceration taking its toll over the years while they continue to deal with the legal, financial, social and emotional impact of the crimes….
ACLU protests sentencing teen to church
By Bob Allen The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma has filed a judicial complaint against a Southern Baptist judge who required a teenager to attend church for 10 years as a condition of probation for manslaughter. The complaint filed…
Pastor charged with sexual battery
By Bob Allen A 71-year-old Southern Baptist pastor in northern Mississippi is in jail on $1 million bond on charges of sexual battery of a child. Larry Singleton, pastor of Bay Springs Baptist Church in Abbeville, Miss., was arrested by…