By Marv Knox Our Bible study class has been reading from the Old Testament prophet Amos in the weeks leading up to Easter. This is the season the church calls Lent, a period of preparation for commemorating Jesus’ death, burial…
Handling violence in ‘The Hunger Games,’ and the Bible
By J. Muckenfuss News is still buzzing with talk of The Hunger Gamesand its spectacular opening weekend. With three kids in my house who have read the book, we too were anticipating the opening. I took one of my girls…
Absorbing the violence
By Bill Leonard “We absorb so much violence and insecurity everyday that we are like time bombs ready to explode. We need to find a cure for our illness.” That quotation, taken from the book Living Buddha, Living Christ and…
Messy narratives
By Alan Bean The Trayvon Martin case is following a predictable trajectory. Calls for the arrest of George Zimmerman centered on the self-appointed neighborhood watch captain’s unprovoked vigilante pursuit of an unarmed citizen. Now comes the inevitable backlash as the…
White churches on sidelines of Trayvon Martin outrage
By Jeff Brumley The killing of Trayvon Martin has sparked rallies in black communities nationwide and is now leading to questions about why white Christians aren’t more visibly involved. Pastors of both races offer a number of theories about the…
Trayvon and Troy
By Zachary Bailes In the past week people gathered to hold vigils, protests and to speak out for the one who can no longer speak: Trayvon Martin. We find ourselves caught in a whirlwind of understandable fury and anger over…
Offering plates took hit in 2010, according to new report
By Bob Allen Membership trends remained stable in American denominations, but offerings were down $1.2 billion from a year ago, according to the National Council of Churches’ 2012 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches. The drop in giving is nearly…
VA offers training to help rural clergy minister to vets
Associated Baptist Press The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is offering free, one-day workshops for clergy in rural areas on how to minister to needs of veterans in their communities. Six training events are scheduled between April 10 and June…
Good Christian Baptists?
By Brett Younger GCB does not stand for “Good Christian Baptists.” ABC’s new, unfunny and uninteresting sitcom was named “Good Christian Bitches” just long enough to get attention for offending the easily offended. The consistently irritating title became “Good Christian…