During Howard Stern's recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the obnoxious display by American radio's leading bad boy far surpassed his typical egocentric shtick … To support the claim that his new tome is "the fastest-selling book in the history of books," Stern held up a Bible and announced, "The Gideon Company is now putting my book in the place of Bibles in hotels." An incensed Leno responded by holding up the Bible his guest brought as a prop and saying, "Howard, something horrible is going to happen to you …. This book will strike you down as you go down the road. It will go through the windshield and pierce your heart. I am sounding like an evangelist now, but I predict that's what will happen — suddenly, all that is in this book is making perfect sense to me," Leno concluded …. Without boycotts or legislation, the incessantly bawdy Leno became an unlikely man who took an unlikely stand in the unlikely forum of a late-night talk show. What happened on The Tonight Show was more than an interview — it represented another beachhead in the ongoing cultural struggle to define our society. – A. Larry Ross, in an editorial in Christianity Today
"I'm very fundamental. I'm a Bible preacher. I believe in the inerrant, infallible, inspired word of God. And if a man in the pulpit does not believe that, I think he contributes to the weakness in the Christian faith." – William C. Singleton III, "At 85, Criswell not changing his tune," The Birmingham News, Birmingham, AL
There are two other matters reverberating from the Beijing conference that I must discuss — both of them of extreme importance to us. The first is very difficult to address because it indicts many of my friends and colleagues. Regrettably, Protestants, and especially evangelical denominational leaders, were conspicuously absent from the battlefront in China. Of the 50,000 participants, we could identify only one American woman, Mrs. Nancy Schaefer, who came to Beijing at the request of a denomination (Southern Baptist). Winnie Bartell of the National Association of Evangelicals attended as part of an eight-member ecumenical coalition. Twelve delegates from the Salvation Army also attended. No other denominational leaders were there of whom we are aware. No delegations were sent from conservative denominations. The burden of informing the people was left almost entirely to parachurch groups. Beverly LaHaye was in Beijing for Concerned Women for America; members of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum were also present, as were our staff members. The Southern Baptists were the only denomination to speak out against the conference, to our knowledge. No other denominational leaders were heard. – James C. Dobson, Focus on the Family newsletter
Most of the time, when a child of God backslides, he never drops out of the church; he never stops giving his tithe; he never really stops reading his Bible; he never falls into overt sin; he never turns his back on his call into ministry. Backsliding, in the Word of God, is nothing more than when Jesus becomes less than the first place in a believer's life, and that is really what has happened to a large segment of our church membership today. – Evangelist Junior Hill, speaking at New Orleans Seminary, Baptist Press
To Joseph Price — a religious studies professor at Whittier College — the analogies between football and worship are so striking that he's writing a book that places the Super Bowl at the center of a religious experience. "We don't think of the Super Bowl as a religious event because we don't relate a football stadium to a church or mosque or synagogue," says Price, a Southern Baptist minister like his father and grandfather before him. "But in terms of how it orients people's life patterns and demands unusual commitment from its followers, the Super Bowl operates like a religion." – Laura Accinelli, "Rejoicing in the stadium of the Lord," in the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition
Trends in Southern Baptist churches include more than pie-shaped seating, said Bill Walters, director of the church building planning department for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Multi-use structures then can be turned from worship centers to fellowship halls to recreation areas and multimedia technological facilities are in vogue. – J. Michael Parker, "Religious sanctuaries change with the times," The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal
If the House's Republican freshmen are known as crusaders bent on tearing down the status quo, Rep. Tom A. Coburn, R-OK gets some of the credit. An obstetrician and Southern Baptist deacon who's pledged to serve no more than six years in the House, Coburn set the time for the freshman class early on with his willingness to champion conservative causes and take on GOP leaders. As co-chairman of the House's Family Caucus — which, with 90 members, has quietly grown to be one of Capitol Hill's largest – the 47-year-old Coburn has emerged as a key leader among social conservatives. – The Agitator, National Journal, Washington, DC
