“Give us, Thy people, so susceptible to size, so easily impressed by worldly rank and scope; give us, O God, an eye for mangers tucked away in stables.” — “Christmas Prayer,” Rev. Dr. Ernest Campbell (1923-2010) My pastor quoted Dr….
Hyperbolic campaign or Kingdom hope?
Whether you listen to Fox News or NPR, read the New York Times or Wall Street Journal, check FiveThirtyEight or Investor’s Business Daily, you’ve probably gotten the same general story. “This is the most divisive election in our history!” “Corruption…
Beyond the grammar of faith to acquisition
I’ve been known to get a little excited about grammar. Remember diagramming sentences? I loved it: the longer the sentence, the better. In high school, and then in college, I took Latin, a language known for aiding English speakers in…
Good enough to be saved?
“Remember the psalms were written by the people to God. These are the thoughts of a human about God, not the word of God spoken to humanity.” My Sunday school class had gathered down the street from our church at…
Can Baptists be both committed to the message of Christ and active in political matters?
Jeremiah tells the people of the Babylonian Exile that God is calling them to settle in the region. “Go ahead and get married. Buy a house. Join the PTA, the YMCA, a local church.” Essentially, Jeremiah says, “Be all in. Hold nothing back.”
Retweeting mercy in the midst of darkness
In her July 10 message at the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber retells the story of the Merciful Samaritan. The message is timely, coming as it does on the heels of a week —…
An anomaly in the pulpit
“What’s in a name?” the guest preacher asked as the sermon began. The message was taken from the Lukan account of the Gerasene man suffering from demon possession, the man who was called Legion. The reverend addressed the biblical significance…
Relaxing in the mystery: when answers are always necessary
In his spiritual memoir, O Me of Little Faith, Jason Boyett writes about a forbidden topic: the doubt that so often accompanies faith. He recalls his upbringing in a Southern Baptist church in Texas where he learned Romans 3:23 and…
How a résumé-driven mentality is crippling our culture
I come from a long line of folks who cannot abide The Big Head. I don’t know if this malady is well known north of the Mason-Dixon Line, but down here in the South, everybody knows about The Big Head….