Blooms and bug spray

The Good News
23 Oct 2009
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As soon as we moved into our new house, I had an urge to plant a garden. But seeing as we moved in the middle of winter, we had to settle for an indoor, winter box garden. So, the kids and I headed over to Home Depot, and I let them each pick out some seeds and the necessary planting gear. We promptly returned home and started assembling our indoor garden on our kitchen floor. The kids loved digging in the dirt and dropping seeds into the little soil nests we created for them. The thought of something so tiny […]

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Slavery still exists

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A few years ago the film “Amazing Grace” captivated the attention of evangelical believers in North America. The courage of William Wilberforce, John Newton and several others in the fight to end the slave trade in Great Britain reminded us of what it means to give our lives for a worthy, timely concern. Time and again, when passion subsided it was the reality of human suffering and ultimately the call of God to remain in the struggle that stayed with them through many ups and downs. What if I told you that the evil of human slavery today is worse […]

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Learning from Scrooge in a recession

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‘A Christmas Carol Special Edition’ offers families biblical lessons as Disney releases a 3D movie on the subject starring Jim Carrey If there’s a silver lining to a Christmas season in the worst economy in decades, this may be it. With less money to spend this year, perhaps consumers will finally get beyond the distractions of shopping, gifts and parties to finally focus on the deeper meanings of the season and reach out to those in need. Author Stephen Skelton hopes so. “Most Americans have been affected in some way by the nation’s economic woes, and for many people, that […]

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Miller DVDs help groups get real

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Donald Miller’s new Convergence DVDs – which include frank dialogue between Miller and leading Christian thinkers – gives viewers a glimpse of recent changes in the American church. For instance, now believers prefer relational learning over reading assignments and Q&A sessions. In the words of Erick Goss, creator of the Convergence DVDs, “The former ‘What do you know?’ gives way now to ‘What is your life about? And who are you?’ The shift is from teacher-student to shared spiritual formation.” Convergence, in stores  Nov. 17, rides the demographic shift in an unprecedented series of 15-minute videos for small groups – […]

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‘A Wonderful Life’ built on thrifty foundation

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Some social analysts observe the United States in the past half-century has shifted from a Bedford Falls-like culture of small businesses and community-friendly financial institutions to a Pottersville-style nightmare of predatory lenders and seedy businesses that target the poor. And for American society in general, the result is anything but “a wonderful life.”  Some social analysts are calling for a renewal of a “thrift culture” in America. “We have created a debt culture,” David Blankenhorn, executive director of the Institute for American Values told the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission’s statewide conference earlier this year. Blankenhorn and some of his […]

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Gay Mardi Gras: Life homosexuals

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It’s officially known as “Southern Decadence” and informally as “Gay Mardi Gras” in New Orleans’ French Quarter. It’s difficult to ignore, drawing tens of thousands of people in a homosexual or lesbian lifestyle and pumping millions of dollars into the city’s economy. At Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, 100 local pastors and church members gathered just days before the Labor Day weekend festival to broach a subject some felt has been too long ignored: How to minister to those in same-sex attraction without compromising biblical principles. Fred Luter Jr., pastor of Franklin Avenue, said the “Embracing Restoration” summit […]

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ALA urged to include ex-gay books

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In recognition of the goals of Banned Books Week by the American Library Association (ALA), Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) asked the ALA to include ex-gay books in its annual promotion of ALA’s “celebration of the freedom to read” program. “For several weeks, PFOX has attempted to secure a statement from the ALA opposing the censorship of ex-gay books,” said Regina Griggs, executive director of PFOX. “According to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, ALA policy recommends diversity in book collection development by libraries, regardless of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. However, Caldwell-Stone refuses […]

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Dolphins cheerleader teaches dance

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For Ariann and Eddy Denison, starting a dance studio was not a simple business venture; it was a way to give the community a place to get a taste of enduring Christian values. Their dance studio, The Studio in Davie, was birthed from Ariann’s childhood dream of opening a dance studio. She says she always wanted to be a role model to influence children in a positive way. So, she and her husband opened up The Studio on Sept. 13, 2007. The Studio offers ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, hip hop, musical theater and advanced technique classes. Ariann brings a […]

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U.S. carbon footprint: a one-child policy

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Andrew Revkin, who reports on environmental issues for The New York Times, floated an idea recently for combating global warming: Give carbon credits to couples that limit themselves to having one child. Revkin later told CNSNews.com that he was not endorsing the idea, just trying to provoke some thinking on the topic. Revkin participated via Web camera in an Oct. 14 panel discussion on “Covering Climate: What’s population got to do with it?” that was held at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. The other participants on the panel were Dennis Dimick, executive editor of National Geographic, and Emily […]

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Hindu idol worship stirs Christian witness

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The Hindu god who removes obstacles was no match for a tree limb. Southern Baptist representatives Brendan and Alyson Strizek* watched from a balcony as celebrating Hindus tried to navigate a trailer-mounted image of Ganesha through a narrow alley. A low tree limb soon blocked the 10-foot idol’s progress. The crowd, unable to back the trailer out of the alley, tried in vain to sever the tree limb so the idol could proceed. “It took them about 45 minutes to figure out what to do,” Brendan Strizek said. Finally, a child removed the top of the makeshift temple covering Ganesha, […]

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