Every problem facing the Southern Baptist Convention, every new crisis and scandal and reported financial irregularity, can be reduced to a single and seemingly insoluble root cause: a bloated trustee system that is outdated, inefficient, unmanageable and hopelessly beset by…
Those who mock Gus Walz mock God
Donald Trump’s political career should have been over and done with when he mocked a disabled reporter. But it was not. So why should we be surprised that his minions are mocking Gus Walz, the 17-year-old son of Democratic vice…
So easily offended
We are so easily offended. Let’s say you are scrolling across social media and you see a post where someone shares a meme you do not agree with. What happens inside you? Is your first thought, “Well that person is…
It’s the democracy, neighbor
Last week, I was driving along a Texas highway in Paige, a rural town with a population of 278, when I saw a sign as foreign to me as UFOs and aliens. The billboard read, “Protect Women’s Rights! Vote Blue…
Letter to the Editor: Don’t forget what ‘Genocide Joe’ has done
Dear Editor: On Aug. 7, David Bumgardner penned a column for BNG under the title “Blinded by Their Hatred of Biden, Arab Voters Cut Off Their Noses to Spite Their Faces.” Bumgardner’s biased and disheartening column takes American Arabs, especially Michigan…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Colin Allred
Congressman Colin Allred is, as he notes in our interview, a fourth-generation Texan who played football at Baylor University and then in the NFL for five years before an injury ended his professional career and sent him in the direction…
The ministry of buttons
As a part of my church ministry, I often have opportunity to visit our church members in the hospital, in rehab or in their homes. Most visits are similar: “How have you been feeling?” “What are your next steps?” “Let’s…
Call her by her name
Rep. Nancy Mace, after repeatedly mispronouncing the name of Kamala Harris on a CNN panel Aug. 15, was called out for her disrespect by fellow panelist Michael Eric Dyson, a professor at Vanderbilt University. Dyson said: “This congresswoman is a…
Dispatches from a Black trauma surgeon
Within these four walls I have wrecked the lives of far too many Black mothers. The family room is a windowless, white-walled cell in the hospital, with hazy fluorescent lighting, hard-bottomed plastic chairs, and a worn end table with a…
Carting away your history
Strangers carted away my friend’s history yesterday, piece by piece. An auctioneer’s singsong cajoling held Dave’s life up for examination and bid. Chains, tractors, implements, house furniture, fuel tanks, rakes and hoes all appraised unemotionally for their “value” by area farmers hoping…
My God, not another parable!
In the powerful movie Lincoln, there is a scene in which the president and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton join other colleagues to discuss war strategies. Suddenly, Lincoln starts recalling a folksy story from his days as an Illinois lawyer,…
Authentic patriotism
Recently, my wife and I were glued to the TV, watching the return of the three U.S. citizens who had been falsely imprisoned in Russia. The hour was late, but we couldn’t pull ourselves away. It was a truly rare…