July 25 -- Overthrowing 'bar-code Christianity' (Dale Hanson Bourke): Having successfully packaged deodorants, cereals and shampoos, some Americans have moved on to marketing God.

July 25 -- The Romanovs and martyrdom (Terry Mattingly): Among the few belongings that survived the Romanovs' last days, anti-Bolshevik troops found a book containing a poem given to the family that Grand Duchess Olga had hand-copied and hidden in its pages.

July 25 -- Child has a prestigious name (Ken Garfield): CHARLOTTE, N.C. - When Veronica McCall wasn't sure the son she was carrying would live, she had a thought: Why do some of us hold buildings, jobs, titles and material things in such high regard? Why shouldn't we honor people instead?

July 25 -- Critic speaks earnestly about the bad he sees in the good book (Clark Morphew): There is enough nonsense in this world, and it is time we got serious about something important.How about the Bible, that complex, huge book that has directed Christians and Jews for centuries?

July 25 -- Franklin Graham is content to limit his job description to preaching (Vikas Bajaj): DALLAS - Franklin Graham doesn't want to be some old guy in a three-piece suit. The description, made in jest, is Graham's image of a "religious leader," a position from which the son of Billy Graham likes to distance himself.

July 25 -- Anglican conference in disarray after split over gays (Madeleine Bunting): CANTERBURY, England - Hopes of preventing the issue of homosexuality from splitting the Lambeth Conference of 735 Anglican bishops were in tatters Wednesday after an alliance of African and evangelical bishops forced organizers to cancel a presentation by lesbian and gay Christians.

July 25 -- Retired missionary feels special tie to Papua New Guinea (Tom Schaefer): The plains of Kansas and the island of Papua New Guinea are a world apart. But Jim Larson of Chanute, Kan., feels a special tie to the tragedy that happened last week on the island nation in the western Pacific Ocean.

July 25 -- A one-man show of biblical proportions (Jim Jones): DALLAS - Actor Max McLean staggers around the set as a drunken and naked Noah. Laughter erupts as he portrays a smiling Adam seeing Eve for the first time.

July 25 -- Local pastor took long, winding road to the ministry: Ken Deckard isn't positive when the moment came that he felt a call to the ministry. He knows it wasn't as a child growing up in Kermit where his mama tried her best to make him go to church.

July 25 -- The connection between faith and health: It is one of the most famous medical stories in the Bible: Sick with leprosy, 10 men approach Jesus on the road to Jerusalem and, begging for pity, are cleansed of their illness. Grateful, cured, praising God, one leper falls to the feet of Jesus, who replies: "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

July 25 -- Doctor sees connection between spiritual, psychological and physical health: A case of Christian-oriented Focus on the Family literature disappears from Dr. Rob Wiley's office sometimes faster than a case of measles.

July 25 -- Christians adopt symbols from Jewish religious practice: Steve Schweizer remembers the morning he picked up the ram's horn hooked around his work belt and blew it to begin his workday as a carpenter and contractor in Evansville, Ind.

July 25 -- Ministers, congregations often go their separate ways: ORLANDO, Fla. - On paper, the marriage was made in heaven: a large, upscale congregation and a pioneering pastor with a string of "firsts" to her credit.

July 25 -- Conclusions on truth, taste or opinion (Guest Columnist): In the July 11 issue, a casual parallelism is introduced in the column, "People who judge beliefs of others often are wrong" and "America searches for 'all or nothing' religion."

July 25 -- Many fundamentalists want no part of Promise Keepers movement: Promise Keepers' most familiar critics, front and center, are feminists and other progressives. They stage protests and news conferences to warn that the massive Christian renewal group wants to pull society back down the retrograde path to patriarchy and social repression.

July 25 -- As a growing number of people embrace the simplicity movement, some are seeking an uncluttered life based on their religious values: ST. PAUL, Minn. - Admit it - you've been hoarding things lately and you're not proud of it. You have hoarded so much that your house is full and you can't get the car in the garage. You have items stuffed under the beds and stacked high in the closets - and the basement is filling up.

July 25 -- Out Front: Special religious events

July 18 -- Big companies increasing their charitable giving: Bouyed by the booming economy and public expectations, the nation's richest companies say their charitable giving will grow 11 percent this year, according to a new survey by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

July 18 -- Hospital chaplains taking on greater roles: You're Jewish. You're in the hospital. You're not a regular member of any Kansas City area synagogue, but right now you're ill and scared and would like to speak to a person of God.

July 18 -- Christian booksellers convention shows range of religious products: DALLAS - What would Jesus buy? If he were wandering through the Dallas Convention Center on Monday, he could start with a "Golf Angel."

July 18 -- Some Catholics fear future crackdown on dissent in the church: Some U.S. Catholics wonder whether an announcement last week by Pope John Paul II sets up a future crackdown against dissent in the church.

July 18 -- A cancer survivor puts her life in God's hands: KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Mary Wadick has a saying these days: "My organs are in God's hands."

July 18 -- Missouri woman finds blessings amid a blessed event: Diane Venton of Raytown, Mo., won't say she wasn't scared. Or that there weren't times she didn't question God's intentions. Because she did question. And she was scared - very, very scared.

July 18 -- Are Southern Baptists right or self righteous? (Tom Kisen): Every team needs a leader. It's the coach for a baseball squad, a CEO for a corporation, a principal for a school.

July 11 -- Backyard Bible Club a convenient alternative to Vacation Bible School: Mark Cornelison said he wants the Vacation Bible School being held in his backyard to be more "down to earth" than the traditional ones held in churches.

July 11 -- Chaplain of Bourbon Street visiting Aspermont Sunday: The Chaplain of Bourbon Street is coming to Main Street.The Rev. Bob Harrington, anointed Chaplain of Bourbon Street by the mayor of New Orleans in 1962, is taking his Fresh AIR Tour off the city streets and into the small towns of America in a road show that began in January in East Texas.

July 11 -- Mission trip allows man to find some long-buried roots: Imagine Don Knecht's surprise when he arrived at a school in Haldensleben, Germany, and saw it was named for communist leader Karl Liebknecht.

July 11 -- Cisco High grad to represent churches at Synod: When the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod meets in St. Louis today through Friday, one of its wisest delegates may be its youngest.

July 11 -- Moment of Grace: From time to time my husband and I fill in at two nursing homes on Sunday mornings. We had completed one service and were preparing for the second one.

July 11 -- Outfront: Special local, area events

July 11 -- A search for 'all or nothing' religion (Terry Mattingly): Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas returned home to Roman Catholicism two years ago and, more recently, a few high-profile conservatives have converted - ranging from Norma "Jane Roe" McCorvey to Florida Wasp Jeb Bush.

July 11 -- Our favorite vice (David Yount): Which of the 10 Commandments do you think we honor least? Don't flatter yourself: it's not the sexy ones, nor the violent ones like murder and theft. It's the one that forbids us to lie.

July 11 -- Walking the dog, relating to God (Tom Ehrich): UNDATED - "Want to go for a walk?" I ask Penny. She leaps up, bows her head to the leash, and strains toward the door. Outside, she walks busily from side to side, happy within the 48-inch radius of her tether. The free spirit in Penny tugs at the leash. Do I really mean my command to stay near? In time, she relaxes and submits. Could she know that we gave away her predecessor because he never would stop tugging?

July 4 -- Americans are on 'a mission from God,' says professor: Students in Dr. Donald Frazier's history class are always baffled when he asks them why the United States has troops stationed in Bosnia when other countries don't.

July 4 -- Tarleton expert in demand on C.S. Lewis' anniversary: Dr. Joe R. Christopher is finding himself somewhat in demand this year, the centennial anniversary of the birth of one of the modern era's best known Christian apologists, C.S. Lewis.

July 4 -- Suicide seminar to be presented at Pastoral Care and Counseling Center: A teen-age couple went to a drive-in movie, seemingly having the time of their lives. The boy went to the concession stand and later was found hanged in the bathroom. His girlfriend was so distraught that a week later she, too, hanged herself.

July 4 -- Birthday highlights reunion at Locust Street church: Jackie Harber is so optimistic and positive about the future that she just got her drivers license renewed for another six years. She also just turned 96.

July 4 -- Out Front: Special religious events in Abilene, area

July 4 -- Mapping the millennial fervor: BROOKLINE, Mass. - If Richard Landes believed the world will end in the year 2000, he would be doing a lot of work for nothing.

July 4 -- Catholic bishops speak out against porn, violence (Terry Mattingly): The pastors who wear Roman collars believe they can see the wreckage caused by pornography and other media addictions whenever they stand at their altars and scan the faces before them.

July 4 -- If churches change ways, worshippers will come (Clark Morphew): I received an e-mail message last week in response to a recent column on Generation X, and it was fairly hot. The writer said the church was arrogant and out of touch with the majority of Generation X people and that nothing the church said could connect with her.

July 4 -- U.S. faces divisions over role of religion (Tom Schaefer): When President Clinton visited a government-approved, Protestant church in Beijing last Sunday, he spoke warmly of the growth of Christianity in China.

July 4 -- The din of freedom (Tom Ehrich): UNDATED - The measure of America is freedom. Not economic prosperity. Not a capitalist economy. Not military might. Not natural resources. The measure of America, 222 years ago and today, is freedom.