“Can you imagine being in a place where you do not know how to communicate??” That is how my friend from South America began a short presentation she will be giving as a panelist for a breakout at this year’s…
Fifty years from now
What might it mean to be a Baptist Christian at the mid-point of the 21st century? I’m hesitant to try and answer such a question. In my experience, actual developments over time usually take unanticipated forms. If someone 50 years…
Success or significance?
By Bill Wilson Novelist Walker Percy often said that the trouble with most people is that they are not up to anything significant. In his book Halftime: Moving From Success to Significance, Bob Buford suggests that many of us come…
My Boston take-aways
These posts are truly difficult to write; partly because if you want to be real then you have to confess some things and partly because events such as occurred last week are not easy to process. I am not sure…
Mission needs benefit public health
By Jeff Brumley Technologies like water purification systems designed for use by Christian missionaries are getting notice from secular agencies for their potential impact on economic development, a trend faith-based groups see as a “collateral benefit” of the doors they…
Students find plenty to do in Haiti
By Jeff Brumley College student Shelby Johnson missed the March 3 announcement that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was shifting its work in Haiti from disaster response to long-term projects, like community health and economic development. But the English and Spanish double…
Longtime denominational worker dies
By Bob Allen Quentin Lockwood, 90, a longtime administrator with the SBC Home Mission Board, died March 20. He led the agency’s rural/urban department in an era marked by expansion into new work areas that transformed the Southern Baptist Convention…
When all else fails, you gotta support your kids
Two giants in North American Christian ministry died this week. One was well known across various Christian traditions. The other was not, but was no less a giant. Gordon Cosby of The Church of the Saviour fame died this week….
Being Easter people in the interfaith environment
I sometimes preach a sermon entitled “The Four Little Candles.” The author of the original story is unknown. In it I tell the story of four little candles that were burning softly and quietly. Listening closely you can hear them…