Feb. 28 -- Former sports marketing executive now focuses on sports ministry (Ken Garfield): There wasn't a last straw that pushed John Humphrey from sports marketing to sports ministry. In a world of games awash in greed, strikes, violence and drugs, it's hard to pick out just one.

Feb. 28 -- Moments of Grace: For me, grace is truly sufficient and eases the living of daily life.

Feb. 28 -- Truck-stop chaplains are good (Jim Jones): WILLS POINT, Texas -- It was raining and cold last weekend when I took a break at the massive Rip Griffin's Truck Stop on Interstate 20 near Wills Point in East Texas.

Feb. 28 -- How to keep the promise of Promise Keepers (Terry Mattingly): During the Vietnam era, Chuck Colson and others on Richard Nixon's White House staff became experts at analyzing aerial photographs of antiwar rallies.

Feb. 28 -- Done with your manual typewriter? Give it to missions (Clark Morphew): In a recent column I referred to typewriters as "useless garbage." I was wrong, and I apologize.

Feb. 28 -- Jots and tittles from the world of religion (Tom Schafer): Promise Keepers, the all-male evangelical organization, announced last week that it can no longer pay its employees and will be laying off all 345 of them.

Feb. 28 -- Monastery provides opportunity to read, rest and listen (Lauren Stanley): WEST PARK, N.Y. -- With the smoke from the morning's incense still swirling in the sunlight, a dozen monks and visitors chanted together, "You spread a table, O Lord, before me; you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over."

Feb. 21 -- Scripture, reason, experience support women's ministry (JO GAY / Guest Columnist): I had no intention of responding to the attacks on women in ministry. I spend more time doing ministry than defending why I am here. Just as God has more to do than prove He exists.

Feb. 21 -- Moments of Grace: God establishes families

Feb. 21 -- Baptist 'cardinals' tap hard-line Texas conservative for post: When a pope is elected, white smoke rises above St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. Southern Baptists don't have that system in electing new leaders. But they come close.

Feb. 21 -- Jewish Web Net week (Terry Mattingly): There comes a time in most Jewish debates when matters hit a final snag and someone says, "We need to ask a rabbi about that."

Feb. 21 -- Black churches organize to battle AIDS (Clark Morphew): This is shocking news: The leading cause of death for African-Americans under the age of 55 is now AIDS, ranking ahead of heart disease, cancer and homicide.

Feb. 21 -- Family, clergy can help those facing death (Tom Schafer): The love of family and the support of clergy can brighten the shadows for those facing death.

Feb. 21 -- Does the year 2000 have religious significance?: A reader asks: "Is there any reference in the Bible to the year 2000 being associated with the Second Coming?"

Feb. 21 -- Church art -- it once was the only art: Even an infidel would have to agree: Art as we know it owes a huge debt to the Christian church.

Feb. 21 -- Scientists studying the effect of religious experiences on the brain: "The love of God, unutterable and perfect, flows into a pure soul the way light rushes into a transparent object." --Dante

Feb. 21 -- For a Carmelite priest, photography has been a lifelong mission: FORT WORTH, Texas -- He is a gentle priest with a sharp eye for beauty. He likes foggy and rainy days and bare trees in wintertime. He plays Bach and Brahms on his grand piano in a tiny apartment near Texas Christian University.

Feb. 21 -- Lecturers to examine Galatians: Seven lecturers will dissect the book of Galatians during the 80th Annual Lectureship at Abilene Christian University Sunday through Wednesday night. Other lectureship activities

Feb. 21 -- Pancake suppers mark Shrove Tuesday: Since 1445, with occasional lapses and revivals, women in the English community of Olney have run the streets flipping pancakes in a frying pan, trying to see who can reach the church first with an intact pancake -- all for a greeting from the vicar and a smooch from the bellringer.

Feb. 21 -- Promise Helpers to spread to regional audience: A women's organization started a little over a year ago in Clyde will spread to a regional audience Feb. 28, and possibly beyond.

Feb. 21 -- Funerals for the forgotten are among the hardest for ministers: DALLAS -- Chin Wee's funeral was a graceful metaphor for his long life. It was simple and dignified. And it offered the mourners comfort and reassurance.

Feb. 21 -- Student rabbi becomes a frequent flier to serve congregation: DALLAS -- Todd Thalblum, spiritual leader of Congregation Kol Ami in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound, spent a few minutes before services last week talking to parents interested in giving their children Hebrew names.

Feb. 21 --'Sexist' church of England condemned in own yearbook: LONDON -- An astonishing attack that condemns the running of the Church of England as secretive, sexist, unjust and hypocritical is to be published as the preface to the Church's official 1998 Yearbook.

Feb. 21 -- Women pastors struggle to break through the stained-glass ceiling: ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Rev. Barbara Williams Riddle knows all about the stained-glass ceiling -- the psychological barrier that keeps women from the pulpit of large, upscale congregations.

Feb. 14 -- A Baptist take on the White House maelstrom (Terry Mattingly): It was the right sermon to the right flock at the right time.

Feb. 14 -- Lessons from the death of Rock and Roll Daniel (Tom Ehrich): UNDATED -- The house seems quiet when I return from an evening of teaching. My 6-year-old son sits glumly in a corner of a sofa. I wonder if he has misbehaved.

Feb. 14 -- Woman's role is clearly delineated in Scripture (Janice Asbury Guest Column): In response to Dr. Carl Trusler's guest column regarding the election of women as deacons in Abilene's First Baptist Church, I feel compelled to submit the long-accepted, traditional view on this subject which the Bible reflects.

Feb. 14 -- Moments of Grace: She was the way my mind pictured what a Christian lady is like. I was struck by her humbleness and how much inner beauty, as well as outward beauty, she had. The way she spoke, she was like a dear friend I had known all my life.

Feb. 14 -- Conspiracy or not, Clinton's detractors keeping busy (Clark Morphew): Hillary Clinton believes there is a "vast conspiracy" to damage her husband's reputation and ultimately make it impossible for him to continue as president.

Feb. 14 -- Regional Baptist leaders from two denominations meet: Regional leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Churches USA recently met together for what is believed to be the first time to discuss their similarities and differences.

Feb. 14 -- Survey finds donations to churches in Abilene up: People are more likely today to question how their church donations will be spent than in the past, but still they are giving in increased amounts, church leaders say.

Feb. 14 -- On Valentine's Day, soul friends share a passion for the spirit: Shimmering with the seductive gossamer of romance, Valentine's Day celebrates sweethearts everywhere.

Feb. 14 -- Herald of Truth produces Spanish-language series: Videotapes being produced by Abilene-based Herald of Truth will have an international flair with shooting in Spain and narration by the president of that country's religious freedom commission.

Feb. 7 -- We don't live by polls alone: (Dale Hansen Bourke) UNDATED -- First, let me say I have nothing against pollsters. They are, for the most part, mild-mannered statisticians who love to count anything coming across their path.

Feb. 7 -- Father's love sometimes leads us through pain (Melody Dawes): One of my girls called needing clarification on some details of an incident that happened several years ago to use in a teaching situation.

Feb. 7 -- A time when truth is on strange display (Tom Ehrich): UNDATED -- From the corridors of Washington, D.C., to the courtrooms of St. Paul, Minn., truth is on strange display.

Feb. 7 -- Sick child an inspiration (Ken Garfield): CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The first things you notice about 7-year-old Michael McDaris are his chubby cheeks and faint mustache, both the result of medicine meant to save his life.

Feb. 7 -- Making churches 'user friendly' (Terry Mattingly): Since "worship service" sounded stuffy, ads for the new Saturday night gathering called it a "celebration."

Feb. 7 -- Religions evolve with technology, community (Clark Morphew): For the moment, there are three things religious people need to know about the world:

Feb. 7 -- For churches to thrive, they must adjust to change (Tom Schaefer): People are searching for direction in a world that has too many confusing intersections and off-ramps to nowhere.

Feb. 7 -- Religion in the media: A look at recent books and magazines

Feb. 7 -- Family struggles with father's religious conversion: The moment I step into his humble apartment, Mariano Otero hands me a yarmulke. The rest of the evening, the black-and-gold skullcap worn by Jewish men as a symbol of their faith keeps falling off my agnostic, block-shaped head.

Feb. 7 -- Students find chapel meaningful, even if they do have to go: At ACU, they've gone so high tech it's practically impossible to skip out on chapel anymore -- not that anyone would want to, of course.

Feb. 7 -- Family Pathinders solicits help from local churches: Churches are in the business of service and compassion, so it's no surprise that most of the names on Mercy Torres' mailing list were local congregations.

Feb. 7 --Preacher proclaims importance of seizing opportunities: Boanerge Perez believes he is in a unique position to teach his people about opportunity and the importance of seizing it.

Feb. 7 --Etiquette books offer information on dealing with other faiths: America's spiritual complexion is changing so quickly -- the combined result of immigration, intermarriage, transience and "seekers" choosing new faiths -- that one often needs a religious scorecard to tell the players at home or at work.

Feb. 7 -- Employees seek to bring faith values to workplace: CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Members of First Union's bond team sit elbow to elbow, staring at computer screens, barking numbers into phone headsets, hurling questions, grimacing, grinning, entreating customers to buy, to sell.

Feb. 7 -- Ambassador of Music Ron Kenoly is finding worldwise success in 'praise and worship': SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Years ago, Ron Kenoly wanted to be the next Al Green. He craved the success of his friend Barry White. Instead, he got saved. "I got God's endorsement," he says. "That's the best one."

Feb. 7 -- Paige Patterson is nominee for Southern Baptist presidency: Paige Patterson, a seminary president who is known as an architect of the conservative takeover in the Southern Baptist Convention, will be nominated for the presidency of the denomination -- the nation's largest Protestant body.