April 25 -- We don't know one another like we think we do (Tom Ehrich): UNDATED -- Even the smartest people get surprised sometimes.

April 25 -- Moments of Grace: In one part of my home, the plumbing is in the attic. One hot summer day it was necessary for me to get into the attic and make a repair in the plumbing.

April 25 -- Of Druids, serpents and Bill Gates (Terry Mattingly): The advertisement featured a photo of Stonehenge, with dawn's rays summoning worshippers to embrace old mysteries.

April 25 -- Here's a blueprint for evangelizing your community (Clark Morphew): A person of my acquaintance asked me the other day how I would go about evangelizing a neighborhood if I were in parish ministry.

April 25 -- Israel at 50 (James Rudin): UNDATED -- By the reckoning of the Hebrew calendar, Israel celebrates its golden anniversary as an independent nation April 30, and, like any 50-year-old, it is experiencing both the problems and satisfactions that come with middle age.

April 25 -- A talent has slipped away, but I hope to use it again one day (Tom Schaefer): Someday I'm going to pick up the saxophone again.

April 25 -- Ridvan festival marks election of Baha'i assembly members: DALLAS -- It's an election where everyone is considered a candidate, and yet there are no commercials, yard signs or heated debates. The governing body is chosen by secret ballot, and campaigning is forbidden.

April 25 -- Jim Bakker preaching a new version of the gospel: LOS ANGELES -- Jim Bakker is preaching a new version of the gospel nine years after the old version landed him in jail. PTL cast: Where are they now?

April 25 -- Maverick preacher played key role in civil rights movement: It's not easy to say exactly who or what Will D. Campbell is, and he likes it that way, for he likes to confound the conventional.

April 25 -- Fixing cars, for God's sake: MINNEAPOLIS -- The worst of timing, the best of timing ...

April 25 -- Churches returning to more traditional forms of worship: Ten years ago at a meeting in Odessa, attended mainly by evangelical preachers, Lutheran minister James Hanson observed that he was "the only man in the room who owned a gown."

April 25 -- Abilene duo prepare to enter ministry as local pastors: As Janice Kahl stood at the pulpit in the chapel of McMurry University, her husband's presence was undeniable.

April 25 -- Baptist Association to put on benefit concert: Abilene Baptist Association is having a gospel concert Thursday to kick off its Lawrence L. Trott Offering for Associational Missions.

April 25 -- Hell 'a sad myth,' says Finnish minister: Sinners fretting about the fate awaiting them in the hereafter may like to consider a move to Finland, where a leading minister of the normally austere Lutheran Church has declared that hell does not exist and everyone will end up in heaven anyway.

April 25 -- Vatican's mosaic for the millennium: VATICAN CITY -- Every so often a truck shudders to a halt at the gates of the Vatican, spilling powdery dust on the unsullied black uniforms of the Swiss Guards. After a quick inspection, it trundles up the cobbled street which leads to the pope's palace.

April 25 -- Trail of blood holds the key to Shroud of Turin, physician says: NEEDHAM, Mass. -- It wasn't the news he expected.

April 25 -- Turin prepares for pilgrims and fanatics: TURIN, Italy -- The first exhibition of the Shroud of Turin in two decades is surrounded by one of the tightest security operations in Italy in a generation.

April 18 -- Holy Lands trip brings new meaning to Easter (Jennifer Beall): Easter was completely different for me this year.

April 18 -- A place where somebody knows your name (Dale Hansen Bourke): UNDATED -- "Bigger is better!" exclaimed the president of a large bank earlier this week as he announced plans to merge with a second bank to create yet another mega-institution.

April 18 -- Moments of Grace: Many dates are tucked away in my memory, but April 10, 1979, is in it to stay.

April 18 -- Carter seeks to work a miracle, bring Baptists together (Jim Jones Column): Former President Jimmy Carter often rushes in where angels fear to tread -- always with the best intentions.

April 18 -- The decline of secularism and rise of spiritualism (Terry Mattingly Column): Back in the 1980s, I began to experience deja vu while covering event after event on the religion beat in Charlotte, Denver and then at the national level.

April 18 -- Pastors should take time for themselves, faith (Clark Morphew): Pastors say they are overworked.

April 18 -- Jots and tittles from the world of religion (Tom Schaefer): The countdown is on for the final episode of "Seinfeld," one of the most popular television programs in years.

April 18 -- Teleconference to explore how to cope with death: In the United States, most people live a good life, and many live a very long, good life.

April 18 -- Beech Party growing by leaps and bounds: The Beech Party is building like a wave.

April 18 -- Baha'i gaining adherents locally: Its teachings include the oneness of God, unity within the family, high moral standards, and a belief in life after death.

April 18 -- Druids set to return to Stonehenge: LONDON -- The ancient white robed order of the Druids could make a return to the ancient Stonehenge monument for this year's summer solstice ceremony.

April 18 -- Doctors, clergy agree faith and healing go hand-in-hand: FORT WORTH, Texas -- Tiny, blue-eyed Kirsten Ely cupped her hands in silent prayer as she began the ordeal of a bone marrow transplant.

April 18 -- Race-based Christian Identity groups undergoing resurgence: KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Christian Identity, a race-based religious movement that teaches that Jews are satanic and that nonwhites are inferior, is undergoing a revival in the buckle of the Bible Belt.

April 18 -- Program seeks to save troubled marriages: PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- You'd think that after all these years of working with married couples, the Rev. Angelo Enriques Camacho would get depressed seeing couples whose marriages are headed for the rocks.

April 18 -- Spreading gospel and slinging mud in fast lane excites 'Flying Preacher': WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- The Rev. Mike Rucker likes to get down and dirty when he's spreading the gospel.

April 18 -- Bureau brings Christian businesses, Christian consumers together: COLLEYVILLE, Texas -- Joe Tanner thinks he may have found a guy who can kill roaches and stamp out termites and who believes that Jesus Christ is his savior.

April 11 -- "Winter Doesn't Have the Last Word" (Dick Chaffin): When I pastored in northern New Mexico, we had some pretty severe winters. It was nothing for the snow to be piled up six to eight feet. One year, after the celebration was over, the Christmas tree was a genuine disaster, there was wax on church pews from the Candlelight Service, bulletins were lying all over the place, and snow was piled high.

April 11 -- Funeral processions get little respect (Ken Garfield): Instead of flying by funeral processions like so many do, we could be like the guy who couldn't get past the limousine carrying the family of the deceased. So he made an obscene gesture at the driver and the bereaved loved ones in back.

April 11 -- Turin's piece of cloth still shrouded in mystery (Jim Jones): The Shroud of Turin, a 14-foot-long strip of linen that many believe wrapped the body of Jesus Christ, is in the news again.

April 11 -- Moments of grace: When my sons were the age for Easter egg hunts, not too young but at the end of that stage of life, we took them to an egg hunt at a bowling alley that had advertised there would be plastic eggs that would have money in them.

April 11 -- The Clintons and Holy Communion (Terry Mattingly): As President Clinton recently discovered, there is no more complex and emotional issue in Christendom than Holy Communion.

April 11 -- Questions about Jesus come down to faith (Clark Morphew): This Easter everything about the life of Jesus is being called into question, including the resurrection, by a two-hour PBS documentary called "From Jesus to Christ."

April 11 -- God's popularity at 10-year high (Lori Borgman): What a sigh of relief God must have breathed to learn the Pew Research Center poll found 71 percent believe in Him. This was particularly welcome news, as it marked a 10-year high in God's popularity ratings.

April 11 -- Dallas suburb spent $130,000 to accommodate Taiwanese sect: GARLAND, Texas (AP) -- The Dallas suburb of Garland spent about $130,000 in taxpayer money accommodating a Taiwanese religious sect that came to town and waited for God to appear.

April 11 -- Baptist churches are finding riches in rituals that were once dismissed as too Catholic: DALLAS -- A bell sounds, 33 times, once for each year of Jesus' life. When the last chime fades, the room is black save one flickering candle. A sharp puff of breath, and that tiny point of light is gone.

April 11 -- Items in Last Supper collection run the gamut from religious artifacts to snow domes: WICHITA, Kan. -- Some of them light up. Some hold pencils or pocket change. Some can tell you the temperature, and some can even help keep you cool.

April 11 -- Mission members to attend Easter services dressed in their Sunday best: People attending church at The Mission on Sunday may not have a new Easter bonnet, but they will have possibly the best set of clothes they've ever owned.

April 11 -- Professor settling in to third career: Michael Monhollon is settling into his third career, savoring the fruits of his second.

April 11 -- An American way of the cross: MIDDLESBORO, Ky. -- Harrison Mayes was God's own messenger.

April 11 -- For fasters, the manna of a sacred celebration is peace: It was minutes past midnight when John Takyi went in search of God last Sunday.

April 11 -- Moses' sister plays crucial role in Passover lore: NEW YORK -- Move over Moses, someone new is grabbing the spotlight in Passover celebrations across the country.

April 11 -- Religious leaders had input into animated film about Moses: Starting Friday at sundown, Jewish families will celebrate Passover by gathering around the dinner table to tell the story of Moses, Pharaoh and the Ten Plagues during a ritual meal called the Seder.

April 11 -- Scholars say the traditional Christian view that the Jews were responsible for the crucifixion is 'the longest lie': Ruth Moos will never forget the time her children came home crying when next-door playmates called them "Jesus killers." Or the time her daughter was expelled from school for fighting a schoolmate who uttered similar ugly words.

April 11 -- Passover tributes for diverse causes: It was a major political event some 3,500 years ago: the escape of the Jews from slavery in Egypt.

April 11 -- Christian therapists blend professional training, personal faith: COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- In the beginning, there was the father - Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology.

April 4 -- Hero worship is hard work (Ken Garfield): LOS ANGELES -- Hero worship takes hard work.

April 4 -- Moments of Grace: "Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does..."(John 14:27)

April 4 -- More apocalyptic groups expected as millennium nears (Jim Jones): GARLAND, Texas -- "God's still in his heaven and all's right with the world." At least those words, paraphrased from English poet Robert Browning, were true when I wrote this.

April 4 -- Baptists seek bridge to denominational peace (Terry Mattingly): For generations, Southern Baptists used a simple strategy to control any truly dangerous outbreaks of controversy.

April 4 -- Readers have strong reactions to column on Dobson (Clark Morphew): Last week I innocently wrote about James Dobson and his arrogant demand that Republicans must complete his agenda or he will have them voted out of office.

April 4 -- Lent a season of preparation before Easter (Kelly Pigott): I remember the day well.

April 4 -- Modest church inspired an Elvis hit: FORT WORTH, Texas -- When Elvis Presley recorded "Crying in the Chapel" in the 1960s, few realized that the chapel was a small Baptist church on Fort Worth's north side.

April 4 -- Clinton partaking in a Catholic rite upsets U.S. bishops: The Catholic priest who gave Communion to President Clinton in South Africa has said he was more worried about having to preach to the scandal-ridden president about the woman caught in adultery than he was about offering Communion to a Southern Baptist.

April 4 -- Premarriage counseling grows in churches: Dan Erickson grew up in a family that let the dinner dishes languish. The mission after supper was to enjoy each other's company and not to worry if a small mountain of plates was sitting in the sink.

April 4 -- Kendrick Easter Pageant draws crowds: CISCO -- Curly the Camel drools as only camels can, responding to a kiss from his master and the promise of a bucket of snacks.

April 4 -- Downtown churches continue Holy Week tradition: A tradition in Abilene for years has been the Holy Week luncheons and services sponsored by the four downtown churches -- First Baptist, First Central Presbyterian, St. Paul United Methodist and First Christian.

April 4 -- Passover commemorates liberation of ancient Israel: "It is not enough to go out of Egypt." Those words from the Jewish Hagaddah tell the story of why the annual Passover observance is of utmost importance to Jews.

April 4 -- Christians transform meaning of cross: For many Christians, the cross remains the central symbol of their faith, a sign of spiritual rebirth and renewal.

April 4 -- Center offers lively forum for high-level Judaic debate: PHILADELPHIA -- Bernard Levinson is challenging a sacred cow of biblical scholars, and some of the biblical scholars are challenging back.

April 4 -- Remembering C.S. Lewis, defender of the faith: When Perry Bramlett picked up a tattered copy of C.S. Lewis' book "Mere Christianity" in a used bookstore 30 years ago, he had no idea it would change his life.

April 4 -- Christian music scene tests Stavesacre's mettle: Christian pop? Sure.

April 4 -- Religious leaders divided over football star's comments: A leading national expert on black churches in America says professional football star Reggie White's statements denouncing homosexuality are "very dangerous."