James A. Smith Sr.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--As if there hasn't been enough ink spilled on the subject, forgive my humble effort at engaging the cultural phenomenon known as, "The Passion of The Christ." Mel Gibson's controversial film is now in theaters after months of media attention and Christian curiosity that have made the movie one of the most anticipated works to come to the big screen in years.

CLEARWATER, Fla. (BP)--A five-year legal battle to remove the feeding tube of Terri Schindler Schiavo seemingly ended Oct. 15 -- with the death of the 39-year-old, brain-damaged woman now imminent. The determined effort of husband Michael Schiavo acting as her legal guardian to starve his wife to death may be realized in a matter of days.

ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)--What does Sea World's Shamu, the cosmological argument for the existence of God and techniques for proper time management and goal-setting have in common? Each are featured during "SLU 101," the entry-level student leadership program developed by Orlando-based Southern Baptist evangelist Jay Strack.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--In spite of their best efforts, enemies of the Southern Baptist Convention were unable to conjure up a controversy out of this year's annual meeting in Phoenix.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--In the early weeks of America's war on Saddam Hussein's evil regime in Iraq, our citizens were urged to pray for those who bravely serve our nation through the armed forces, as well as to pray for family members left behind. This is fitting and proper; those who have volunteered to defend the freedom we enjoy indeed deserve the thanks and prayerful support of the rest of us. We should pray for those who serve -- especially those on the front lines in the heat of battle.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--After political pundits first began to emerge from their rhetorical foxholes in the early weeks and months following the Sept. 11th terrorist assaults on America, these professional talkers -- at first in tentative suggestions and questions, and later in accusatory assertions and demands -- decried the failure of our government's intelligence agencies to "connect the dots." Why, they asked repeatedly, did we not see 9/11 coming?

     JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--If you let it, the news these days can really set your nerves on edge:
     Osama bin Laden speaks again.
     America's homeland security status is raised to high alert.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--The sacredness and intrinsic value of human life demands that a moral society protect the unborn and execute its most heinous murderers. Opposition to abortion and support for the death penalty are not only ethically consistent, they are both required by a biblical worldview.

     JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--Brace yourself for the onslaught.
     Complete with a new name and national media campaign, the leading pro-abortion political lobby now called "NARAL: Pro-Choice America" will assault your senses this month with a multi-million-dollar effort that seeks to reassert the pro-abortion lobby's public policy agenda in the face of new prospects for pro-life legislation in Congress -- and to set the stage for the 2004 presidential election. (And you thought you were in for a well-deserved break from politics after the mid-term elections in November.)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (BP)--Southern Baptists are no longer required to enjoy majority status on Palm Beach Atlantic University's board of trustees and within PBA's school of ministry faculty ranks after a lopsided majority of the board approved amendments to the school's bylaws Nov. 21. Remaining in place at the school with historic Baptist ties are bylaw stipulations that require the offices of president, vice president of religious life and dean of the school of ministry be held by Southern Baptists.