It was halftime, and we were down by double digits to one of our biggest rivals. It was summer basketball, which means the game didn’t count for much other than bragging rights, but we were playing one of our biggest…
When we’re afraid of the dark, God is a Mamaw waiting at home with all the lights on
I was a teenager driving myself home late one night from what we called, “the big city,” Pikeville, Ky. Several of us “juniors going on seniors” had gone to Pikeville that night to watch what I thought was a comedy….
With gratitude for the Respect for Marriage Act, we’ve still got Advent work to do
Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Respect for Marriage Act, providing federal protection for same-sex and interracial marriages. Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi beamed on the House floor as she emphasized the importance of this legislation, the culmination…
The Delta variant is raging in Eastern Kentucky because of historic injustices
A teacher at a local high school who hadn’t turned 30. A minister who helped baptize my Pap. And just last week my Pap’s brother-in-law Bill, who had the friendliest smile you’d ever seen. Each of them, and many more…
The State of the Union felt like an old-fashioned revival to me
Long ago, my fourth grade teacher warned me: “Jordan, if you want to be a preacher some day you have to give up on politics. Religion and politics just don’t mix.” I always was a good student, but maybe not…
Matter-of-fact statements about Scripture aren’t always the gospel truth
It was a beautiful September day on the campus of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The sun was shining brightly through the Beech trees along Lexington Road as they turned from green to orange. I ran down the stairwell from my…
What I learned from RBG about the ‘dissenter’s hope’
As a funeral director, I sit across from families trying to process their grief. Just about any funeral director you’ll meet will tell you that no two families are exactly alike. Some families really open up, and their faces light…
What if we all learned to breathe in and breathe out together?
Blue faded overalls, a sharp Case knife, a gold Timex watch and a green oxygen tank. For about as far back as I can remember, those were the essentials for my Pap. Pap mined coal underground in Eastern Kentucky for…