The first time I saw Judy Mullins, everything shifted into filtered slow motion like a scene from a teen movie. I was a high school senior attending a combined high school and college Sunday school class when she — a…
Old men dreaming dreams: Paul Simon and Bruce Cockburn reflect on life, death and God
When my two favorite singer-songwriters both released albums within a single week, I was reminded of the prophet Joel’s promise that “your old men will dream dreams.” Paul Simon will be 82 in October, and Bruce Cockburn just turned 78,…
Taking down affirmative action only gives the illusion of equality
As it relates to affirmative action, the underlying issue, which I have not heard anyone name, is the pervasive assumption that Black people are not/cannot be better or more qualified than any white person or a model minority. Black people…
Blind trust can be dangerous
Stanley Hauerwas is “considered by many to be one of the world’s most influential living theologians” and was named “America’s Best Theologian” by Time magazine in 2001. He shares a humorous memory in his autobiography, Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir: The…
My obituary for the Baptist General Convention of Texas
Losing something that once was valued and respected is painful. It doesn’t matter if it’s been circling the drain for years. When death finally comes, the grief is real. Such was the case for me recently with the Baptist General…
Christian conversion is no Jesus vaccination
In January 2015, seminarians in a 12-day January course on Appalachian religion sponsored by Wake Forest University Divinity School heard the “testimony” of a twenty-something Burnsville, N.C., resident named Adam who recounted a life of youthful “screw-ups” — cooking meth,…
Beyond birthright and body type: How to be Christian in America
Every summer, my brothers and I would attend vacation Bible school. We all marched into the sanctuary for opening assembly led by a processional of children holding the American flag, Christian flag and the Bible. In unison we recited the…
When perception overtakes reality
Marjorie Taylor Greene has photoshopped an image of herself in a military vehicle and “toting” a high-velocity rifle as she rolls into the United States Capitol. Has she any sense of the perception she has created of January 6, 2021?…
Get ready for a third Baptist alternative to emerge
A tsunami of change is coming to the Baptist family of congregations. With the hard-right pivot of the Southern Baptist Convention in June, a significant number of centrist SBC congregations are facing a difficult decision about their future. These churches…
Will Christians embrace a ‘Holy Ambition’ for the environment?
I recently attended the General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Atlanta. This came on the heels of the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in New Orleans and initiating a process to kick out Saddleback Church in California, and others…
Ways to care for God’s creation this summer
Summer made its welcome arrival, marking a pleasant shift in our everyday habits. Some of us bid adieu to early morning alarms, rigid timetables, homework assignments and daily commutes. All of us may greet the comforting winds, tart lemonade and…
A word of thanks for associate pastors
I never assume people know who I am, even though I’m more well-known than I deserve in the circles we travel in. That’s not entirely new to this role as executive director of Baptist News Global. In my previous life,…