Blog Archives

Are you opening — or closing — your children’s hearts?

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Rabbi Rami Shapiro — No Comments ↓

There are only two ways to raise your children: you either shut them down or you open them up. If you shut them down you raise them in a zero-sum world of winners and losers. You teach them that the…

Looking for our fathers

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Roger Lovette — 1 Comment ↓

Somewhere I read of a young man who in a fit of rage killed his father. That night when everyone was asleep in the jail, the jailer heard the boy sobbing: “I want my Father. I want my Father.” Almost…

Tagged with: father, fathers, Fathers Day
Posted in Faithful Living, Family, Parenting

How to interpret the Scriptures

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Mike Smith — No Comments ↓

A church member will sometimes ask how I go about interpreting the scriptures. I am tempted to answer, “On the run,” since I preach and teach several times each week. Thinking more about the question, here are some guidelines. First,…

Tagged with: interpretation, Scripture
Posted in Faithful Living, Scripture

Remembering Will Campbell, a spiritual brother

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Todd Heifner — 2 Comments ↓

Some years ago, songwriter and poet Mickey Newbury sat down to pen a song about Cortelia Clark. With the background full of sounds of distant trains and despair dripping from the trees, he led with this verse . . .…

Time to count our blessings

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Tommy Deal — No Comments ↓

My ministry “day job” is to give leadership to my church fellowship’s national disaster response. In this role with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, I interact with our churches, other churches and faith-groups, NGO’s and voluntary organizations active in disasters. I…

Tagged with: Blessings, DIY, Gratitude, Oklahoma, Shelter, Tornadoes
Posted in Blog Posts, Faithful Living, Grief, Ministry, Suffering

Thais of the heart

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Rebecca Husband Maynard — 2 Comments ↓

A Catholic nun and a Baptist minister walked into a Thai restaurant. They sat down and ordered Pad Thai. Over noodles and conversation they discovered that, long ago and some 500 miles away, they were connected to the same roots. …

Good news for exiles

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Chris Robertson — No Comments ↓

My morning routine is pretty standard. After my alarm goes off, I hop in the shower, fix some breakfast, and head to work. Sometimes I find a few minutes to read my Bible and pray, but even then, I have…

There is life after the storm

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Barry Howard — No Comments ↓

In 1994 I was serving at the First Baptist Church of Williams near Jacksonville, Ala. when a tornado touched down on Palm Sunday near Ragland and cut a trail to Rome, Ga., demolishing hundreds of homes, destroying five church campuses,…

Tagged with: Alabama, Oklahoma City, Tornadoes
Posted in Death, Faithful Living, Grief, Leadership, Ministry, Suffering

Fifty years from now

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Mike Smith — 1 Comment ↓

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…

Learning to love a thermostat God

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Alan Bean — No Comments ↓

By Alan Bean “Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?” This question was originally scrawled in the margin of an Alabama newspaper by an exasperated Martin Luther King Jr. The…

Tagged with: Economic Justice, gay rights, Martin Luther King Jr
Posted in Blog Posts, Faithful Living, Public Policy

Have Christians become opportunistic omnivores?

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Jayne Davis — 1 Comment ↓

Opportunistic omnivores. What a great phrase! No, it has nothing to do with ruthless mergers and acquisitions. It’s how our Walk in the Woods guide, Sam, described the black bears in the Smoky Mountains on our hike up Mt. LeConte…

Tagged with: bears, hiking, intentionality, Spiritual Practice
Posted in Faithful Living, Ministry, Spiritual Formation

The best/worst graduation speech ever

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Barrett Owen — 2 Comments ↓

A couple of years ago, I attended a graduation ceremony at Emory University. The keynote speaker was the chief of surgery at one of the nation’s leading hospitals. I didn’t know him, but apparently he was a huge deal. As you might…

Tagged with: Failures, Graduation speeches, Growth, life lessons
Posted in Blog Posts, Education, Faithful Living

Life balance for clergy remixed

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Mark Tidsworth — No Comments ↓

Life balance is important and necessary for sustained ministry over time, but there are some things that life balance is not.

Tagged with: Balance, clergy, Donald Hands, life balance, ministry, normal, Spiritual Wholeness for Clergy, Wayne Fehr
Posted in Faithful Living, Health & Wholeness, Leadership, Ministry

You don’t bring me flowers anymore

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Barry Howard — No Comments ↓

When it comes to observing Mother’s Day at church, traditions vary around the country. Factors influencing a congregation’s contextual practice include geographic location, denominational heritage, liturgical preference, and congregational precedent. In my first pastorate, I inherited that southern tradition I…

Tagged with: Mother's Day
Posted in Faithful Living, Leadership, Parenting