American Sniper is a polarizing movie. If you have paid attention to the stories in the media you can see all manner of opinions about whether it is good or bad. Those opinions generally fall along the lines of the…
In thick of Syrian refugee crisis, couple learns to ‘love the enemy’
By Aaron Weaver For Chaouki Boulos, learning to love his enemy has been a Christ-celebrating, and life changing, process. And it’s been a 30-year process as Chaouki has shared Christ with anyone willing to listen. Today, he and his wife,…
1914 Christmas truce inspires debate, hope for peace in modern times
By Jeff Brumley The Christmas Truce of 1914 has been called heart-warming, inspiring and even miraculous. But could it ever be called repeatable? The historic event occurred on Christmas Day that year during World War I, when German and Allied…
‘Fury,’ an enlightening war movie not for the faint of heart
By Mike Parnell Some of my favorite movies are war movies. From “Patton” to “MASH,” “The Great Escape” to “Kelly’s Heroes,” war movies made up a huge part of my early life. Being a child of the ‘60s, we would…
Missionaries serving refugees fleeing Mid-east violence exercise extra sensitivity
By Jeff Brumley As complicated and sensitive as the situation in the Middle East is for Western governments, it is just as tricky for Christian organizations with missionaries in the region. The region historically hostile to evangelism and ministry has…
BWA allocates funds for persecuted Iraqi Christians
By Jeff Brumley The Baptist World Alliance has issued a call for Baptists and other Christians to provide funds to help Iraqi Christians displaced by war, and the global organization has sent an initial donation of $20,000 for that cause. The funds…
Wars and rumors of … religion
By Bill Leonard “On July 28, 1914, World War I began when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.” That’s how the “Today in History” column in the Winston-Salem Journal referenced the centennial of World War I. The “Great War” lasted from…
Gaza children learn NC Christians care about them
As the bombs began to fall, we grieved that we could leave but they could not. My wife, Emily and I are members of Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, N.C. In November, 2012, we had the unique opportunity to visit…
Christians, war and neighbor love
By David Gushee Follow David on Twitter: @dpgushee As I write, this is the lede on the main New York Times Iraq story: “Wielding the threat of sectarian slaughter, Sunni Islamist militants claimed on Sunday that they had massacred hundreds of…