I still remember the smell, the food and the sounds of my childhood and formative years growing up at First Baptist Church in Orlando. The interactions at our Wednesday night dinners were transformative to me as a kid. Although it’s…
American idols: Andrew Whitehead on American faith and Christian nationalism
So many of us look at America’s religious, political and racial landscape and wonder what on earth has happened. How is it possible that American evangelical Christians, who once insisted moral fitness matters, could vote for a creature such as…
Creating inner peace
Last week I heard “therapy” mentioned on Zoom meetings, but not for the usual life dilemmas. The reason was generalized anxiety, a lack of inner peace. “I just need to learn new skills to live in this chaotic world now,”…
‘Nobody wants to be an addict’
During a recent Spirituality in Recovery group at Costello House, a recovery living ministry for men, I asked residents if they would be willing to answer a few questions about their experiences with addiction and recovery. September is National Recovery…
Men and congregational singing: The rest of the story
Christianity Today recently published an opinion piece titled, “All About That Tenor: Why Men Don’t Sing in Worship.” The authors and their sources, one of whom is a treasured friend and a trusted colleague of mine, center their piece on…
Things Christians need to know, for our own sake, about Yom Kippur, Judaism’s Day of Atonement
Invocation “Forgive the entire congregation / of the children of Yisrael / and the stranger amongst them / for the entire people sin unintentionally / Please pardon the sins of this nation / in accordance with the greatness / of…
The real religious crisis in America
In a recent NPR interview, Russell Moore, author of Losing Our Religion, told a story about a pastor who preached a message from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. During his message, the pastor quoted Jesus saying things like “Turn the…
Fear of dancing and the courage to be serious
On May 2, 1963, more than 1,000 students walked out of class in Birmingham, Ala. They gathered at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church to march downtown as part of the ongoing Southern Freedom Movement, of which Birmingham was the epicenter. Children,…
Ken and Angela Paxton do a little sidestep — while quoting Bible verses
The Texas Senate voted Sept. 16 to acquit Attorney General Ken Paxton of all charges in his impeachment trial. Thus, the most controversial of all Texas politicians has returned to his position in state government with barely a slap on…
This is why people are leaving the church
Recently I was surprised to see a post from one of my former seminary professors quoting leadership advice from John Ortberg. Perhaps he did not know what caused John Ortberg to resign from his church. Multiple credible media reports have noted…
Criticism of Andy Stanley is rooted in father wounds
LGBTQ kids who grow up in conservative evangelical families tend to have father wounds because evangelicals view LGBTQ people as given over by God to a reprobate mind for the degrading of their bodies and therefore eternally condemned. The challenge…
What do we mean by ‘affirming’?
I was grateful to attend the second annual lecture of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas Sept. 11. The lecturer, Susan Shaw, is professor of women, gender and sexuality studies and director of…