While politicians apportion blame for the thousands of unaccompanied Central American children arriving at our border, the faith community looks for ways to help. I over-simplify, of course. We confront a complex tangle of rhetoric and response, and there are…
Dallas preacher says Jesus would seal the border
The Rev. Robert Jeffress thinks Jesus would build a fence at the U.S. border so desperate children from violence-ridden countries would be discouraged from heading north. “Yes, Jesus loved children,” Jeffress admits, “but he also respected law. He said, render unto Caesar the…
Reckoning with the children on our doorstep
By Alan Bean What do we do with the unaccompanied children, some say as many as 100,000, who have surrendered to American border officials in the last few months? Barack Obama speaks of a humanitarian crisis but thinks fast-track deportation…
Reckoning with the children on our doorstep
By Alan Bean What do we do with the unaccompanied children, some say as many as 100,000, who have surrendered to American border officials in the last few months? Barack Obama speaks of a humanitarian crisis, but thinks fast-track deportation…
Why we need a ‘Third Way’
By Alan Bean Danny Cortez is the pastor of a small Southern Baptist Church in La Mirada, Calif. A few weeks ago, he created a stir in Baptistland by calling for a “Third Way” on gay marriage. In a letter…
Why we need a “third way” on gay rights
Danny Cortez is the pastor of a small Southern Baptist Church in La Mirada, Calif. A few weeks ago, he created a stir in Baptistland by calling for a “third way” on gay marriage. In a letter to his congregation,…
Why Paige Patterson broke the rules
Paige Patterson says it’s okay for a devout Muslim to study at Southwestern Theological Seminary. Why is this a big deal? I doubt the seminaries affiliated with American Baptist or Cooperative Baptist congregations would have a problem enrolling Ghassan Nagagreh,…
Al Mohler, Jesus and the death penalty debate
Would Jesus support the death penalty? Mother Theresa posed the question to the Governor of California in 1990. She was pretty sure he knew the answer. According to a recent Barna poll: Only 5 percent of Americans believe that Jesus…
Motives matter
If a random Google search is anything to go by, it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who originated this clever quip, albeit in a slightly altered form: “I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not…
Motives matter
By Alan Bean If a random Google search is anything to go by, it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who originated this clever quip, albeit in a slightly altered form: “I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the…
Our Silence is driving millennials out of the church
David Gushee, a theologian and ethicist who teaches at the McAfee School of Theology, struck a nerve when he suggested that moderate Baptists with roots in the Southern Baptist Convention could benefit from a statement of faith. Bill Leonard, my…
Our silence on faith does not serve those leaving the church
By Alan Bean David Gushee, a theologian and ethicist who teaches at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, struck a nerve when he suggested that moderate Baptists with roots in the Southern Baptist Convention could benefit from a statement of…