By Joseph Phelps It felt as if I’d taken the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Minutes before Sunday’s service began a worshiper reported to me that the young man sitting next to him the previous Sunday became the self-confessed murderer of…
A case for hopefulness
By Joseph Phelps Today’s news, from wars to weather, make many wonder if our world is spinning toward disintegration. Will bad news win in the end? Albert Einstein theorized, “God did not create evil. Just as darkness is the absence…
I fought the law, and the law was unfair
By Joe Phelps In January I was ticketed for failing to follow directions at the scene of an accident. I was innocent, I tell you. I know. Everyone says that. But righteous indignation compelled me to have my day in…
Taking aim at the bull’s-eye of religious experience
By Joseph Phelps There is something so obviously amiss with the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s gun-giveaway evangelism that it may not require commentary. But ecclesial silence might be confused with complicity. Someone needs to state the obvious. What most offends some…
Religion and science call for dialogue, not debate
By Joseph Phelps People love a fight, especially one that includes religion. So Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum, did their best this week in their nationally-watched face-off to recreate the Scopes Monkey…
Keep the gov’mint in our bizness
By Joe Phelps Sunrise Children’s Services, the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s agency for at-risk children, receives $26 million of its $27 million budget — over 96 percent — from government funding, according to an Oct. 31 Courier-Journal report about its ongoing…
Jesus’ pacifism is not passive
By Joe Phelps I visited recently with a young man who is part of a crew remodeling our house. When I learned that he is an Army reservist who is home for a while from the Middle East and will…
‘Ex-gay’ apology long overdue
By Joe Phelps The announcement that Exodus International is ending its 37-year “ministry” focused on “curing” homosexuals is welcome news indeed. I am impressed and grateful for the apology issued by Alan Chambers, the leader of the organization. It seems…
God too big for one religion
By Joe Phelps My journey toward a more lovable God and livable faith took a significant step forward in sixth grade. Mrs. Seymour’s music class at Jefferson Elementary in Dayton, Ohio, in 1966 consisted of singing from a book of…
Sexuality conference not your parents’ Baptist church
By Joe Phelps It seems appropriate that the [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality and Covenant met in Atlanta, home of columnist Lewis Grizzard, author of Shoot Low, Boys: They’re Ridin’ Shetland Ponies. I followed Grizzard’s advice, assuming this gathering, co-sponsored by…