This past Jan. 15 — ironically, on the actual birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. — the 2025 Nobel laureate for peace, Maria Corina Machado, took her prize medal, encased in a gold (of course) and glass frame, to the…
American Christians morally and spiritually fractured
I rarely read an op-ed by John Pavlovitz without exclaiming, “I wish I had written that!” That was especially true when I saw his Dec. 5 piece on “America’s Divide Isn’t About Politics Anymore.” I may not be able to…
We need to listen to Fred Shuttlesworth again
Fred Shuttlesworth and I grew up just a few miles from each other. He was Black and I am white. He lived in a city nicknamed “Bombingham,” while I lived in what white people called “the City of Churches.” How’s…
Contrasting two second inaugurals
Permit me to begin with a confession. After writing several op-eds for Baptist News Global regarding the presidential contest of 2024, it became clear to me America’s collective decision was to return America’s First Felon to the White House. That…
What will people say about American Christianity in 200 years?
A few weeks ago, I attended my niece’s wedding. While my wife and I waited for the service to begin, I found myself in a conversation with the young minister who was conducting the wedding ceremony. Although he had attended…
Do any of these Bible stories remind you of Donald Trump?
The evangelical Trumpians are at it again. In 2015, Donald Trump rode down an escalator announcing his intention to become America’s political messiah. He knocked off his primary opponents and general election foes one-by-one, dismissing them as “low energy” Jeb…
Trump and the Top Ten
Almost three decades ago, a coworker of mine — now a close friend — used to amuse me when she referred to The Ten Commandments as the “Top Ten.” Even before that in college and seminary, where I was taught…
Evangelicals and a happy new year
’Twas the night before the night before Christmas and the preacher was being stirred by the memory of a childhood experience. Walking down the street, listening to his transistor radio playing the holiday classic “Snoopy’s Christmas.” This merry little Christmas…
Should ‘real’ Christians really vote Republican today?
Numerous conservative pastors and commentators have declared to their flocks that true Christians must vote Republican if they are faithful. Chief among those is Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who told a conservative political action group this…
After Uvalde, let us dream of impossible things
Tuesday night, May 24, 2022. Election night. I turn on the TV to watch the returns come in. The polls close in five minutes. Before I can even get comfortable in my easy chair, the “Breaking News” sign, the crawler…
The Civil Rights leader nobody knows on his 100th birthday
On March 18, 2022, Fred Shuttlesworth, one of the least known but most impactful figures in the Civil Rights movement, would have celebrated his 100th birthday. Unless you are a historian of that movement or one of my friends, you probably…
The long, dry line from 9-11 to Jan. 6
Every year, just before the end of the old year and the beginning of the new, my wife and I always watch CBS’s annual broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors. We love it. We weep with the honorees, the masters…