The first church I served was Bethel Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, N.C. “Bethel” in Hebrew means house of God. The church had many fine people in it, but even though it was in Chapel Hill it could have been…
Of Margie, mountains and ‘El Shaddai’
I learned a lot of things in seminary, like how to perform baptisms and administer Communion, why understanding cultural context is important when reading and interpreting Scripture, and the importance of sneaking Amy Grant lyrics into almost any theological conversation….
What I learned from meeting Martin Luther King in Louisville and Josie in Hopkinsville
I watched a movie one night recently called Selma. It was about the 1965 freedom march in Selma, Ala., led by Martin Luther King Jr. Given all of the turmoil now roiling our country regarding Black Lives Matter, I wanted…
On the baptism of our firstborn
“This is our boy!” I wept as he arrived, marveling at the good long-awaited gift now tucked into my arms. Josh and I had forgone the clumsy practice of the gender-reveal, opting instead for mystery and patience and curiosity that…
Has virtual worship actually harmed Christianity?
I’ve been thinking a lot about a notion that seems to be taking up a lot of space in the collective conscience lately — that the COVID-19 pandemic has harmed Christianity because of virtual worship. I will admit, that first…
‘What can we forgive?’: An interview with Matthew Ichihashi Potts on Forgiveness
I’ve been diving deep on forgiveness lately. A few weeks back, my friend Ralph Douglas West and I led a Janterm retreat for Truett Seminary students and pastors where we read works including Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies (home to the…
My father’s faith
My dad had a plan for everything and a chart for most things. He had charts for the miles he walked, his weight and the glasses of water he drank. He did not have a chart, but he did have…
The apology that never came at Bubba-Doo’s
Pastors often find themselves serving well beyond their congregations. Some are cynical about this. For this reason or that, they think serving the community at large is beneath them. But most of us find it meaningful when people who aren’t…
Trump and his allegedly disloyal white evangelical supporters
In a recent interview, David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network asked former President Donald Trump what he thought about the reticence of some white evangelical Protestant leaders, such as Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, to endorse his candidacy…