“And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” — Jesus Mike Steenkamp sat erect in his South African home before the CNN camera and delivered a statement many are finding simplistic and confusing. In the…
LEADERSHIP LINK: How to make a hospital visit (or rather, how not to)
The following may be used as a role play during a deacon training period at a deacons’ meeting or a retreat. Sam Sickly has been ill for several weeks. For the past seven days, he has been in the local…
Building bridges among leaders will mark Laura McDaniel’s new role with Spence Network
RICHMOND, Va. — Though she’ll miss her nearly 10 years on the staff of Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia, Laura McDaniel says she’s eager to begin a new role “building bridges” among leaders in the Spence Network. “We will be…
EDITORIAL: After NASCAR, can the Vatican be far behind?
As I write this, the 2013 NASCAR racing season is set to begin this coming Sunday (Feb. 24) with the Daytona 500. While that is generally of little interest to many, this year the race is engendering quite a media…
GuideStone continues opposition to contraceptive regulations
DALLAS — GuideStone Financial Services, a manager of pension funds for many Baptist church employees in the Mid-Atlantic, announced Feb. 4 it continues to oppose contraceptive regulations. On Tuesday, Feb. 5, just four days after the administration released the healthcare…
EDITORIAL: An old question recast
Some of you, like me, are old enough to remember Flip Wilson and his comic assertion, “The devil made me do it.” Now there seems to be research that backs up this claim. Well, maybe not the devil, exactly, but…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Stewardship in February?
Since the budgets of most churches run concurrently with the calendar year, the middle of February is a good time to check how receipts are tracking with expectations. Are the offerings and the anticipated receipts matching pretty well? If not,…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Deacon ministry to the homebound
Among those church families most needing ministry are those who can leave their homes only with difficulty. These “homebound” members often find their worlds have shrunk to their immediate surroundings and are sometimes desperate for human contact and news of…
LEADERSHIP LINK: The family needing ministry most may be your own
“Servants in the church are to be committed to their spouses, attentive to their own children, and diligent in looking after their own affairs.” (1 Tim. 3:12, The Message) In the list of deacon qualifications (1 Timothy 3:8-13), Paul makes…