How would God structure an economy? This may be an odd question for a Baptist who believes in the separation of church and state, but it’s a question that I can’t help but ask. State religion does not have a…
Survival mode
Survival mode generally does not bring out the best in people. When nearly all of the luxuries of life have been stripped away and all you have left is the choice to survive, those choices are brutal. I’m not a…
Skin tax
What does it cost in America if your skin isn’t white? In 1996, I was a summer missionary in the Philippines. I had no idea how much that summer would change my life. One night my partner and I stayed…
Theology of fun
To have fun in the face of evil and turmoil and ugliness is almost revolutionary. Is your stole draped over your shoulders or tied around your neck? That’s a pseudo-serious question for all the pastor types in our Baptist world…
What does it mean to be human?
By Jason Coker This time of year in Christian circles all over the world, faithful followers of Jesus are trying to spend some time thinking about what it means for God to become human flesh in the Nativity. That is,…
My brother, where art thou?
By Jason Coker In 2008, our local Presbyterian pastor and I co-lead our clergy association to create an organization in our town that would host a refugee family. Our local synagogue, some of our Muslim citizens, and nearly all our…
The Nones, the Dones and class
By Jason Coker Are you tired of hearing about the Pew Research Center’s demographic study outlining the decline of Christianity in America? It was earth-shattering news for the few people who read it, but energized others who were tired of traditional…
Never forget
By Jason Coker Never forget. As this month comes to a close, I remember the events of 9/11 with pain and sorrow. Eight men in our little town died in that national tragedy. I worked with a young 14-year-old boy…
Political correctness, again
By Jason Coker I’ll never forget something Bob Dole said about Bill Clinton back in the ’90s when they were running against each other for the presidency. It was a classic example of political right versus political left. Bob Dole,…
Looking at the stars for the answers
By Jason Coker This past week I was one of many people at the Baptist World Alliance held in beautiful Durban, South Africa. There were many reasons the trip was meaningful, but personally, being there with other Baptists from over…
The biggest losers
By Jason Coker Several years ago when I was working at a church in Dallas, I was wondering if Texas was part of the South or not. I am from the Mississippi Delta, so it was a real question. I…
Betty’s Place
By Jason Coker Being the good little Baptist that I am, I was going to the annual meeting of the Baptist Fellowship of the Northeast a couple of weeks ago in Ballston Spa, N.Y., when I had a revelation —…