A few days after the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of five Memphis police officers, Chief C.J. Davis stood in front of cameras lamenting the inhumanity of the officers. She sounded like the “good one” in this drama….
When we’re afraid of the dark, God is a Mamaw waiting at home with all the lights on
I was a teenager driving myself home late one night from what we called, “the big city,” Pikeville, Ky. Several of us “juniors going on seniors” had gone to Pikeville that night to watch what I thought was a comedy….
We’re asking the wrong questions about the Asbury revival
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail,” said American psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1966. Many of us have probably tried — and failed — to tackle…
Woke, awake or unfaithful? Racism in the white church
Feb. 16-18 at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary, we convened our second national conversation about racism in the white church, “Time to Wake Up.” Although those attending were passionate about the program and online and social media comments before, during and…
Why churches should care about Black History Month
“Why should we talk about Black History Month at our church?” This was a question posed to me by someone at a church I am working with. I had asked for approval to make weekly posts honoring and celebrating Black…
Think you’ve ‘decided’ about women in ministry? Here’s why there’s more to do
In my work advocating for women in ministry for more than a decade, there have been many instances in which a conversation with a male pastor or religious leader has included some form of the following: “Our church/organization decided about…
Can pastors please stop salivating over women’s bodies in sermons? A response to Jonathan Pokluda’s objectification of the ‘perfect’ woman
Megachurch Pastor Jonathan Pokluda made a splash on Twitter when a three-minute clip of his Jan. 22 sermon went viral. He narrated how, early in his marriage, he ventured to a restaurant with a friend for chips and queso when…
Joshua Bassett’s baptism illustrates LGBTQ+ Christians’ bait-and-switch experiences
Video of openly gay actor Joshua Bassett’s recent baptism at Bethel Church, a prominent conservative evangelical megachurch in Redding, Calif., set off competing responses — including Basset’s. Conservative Christians — who hailed Bassett’s public statement of faith as an example…
Why do politicians lie? Because it works — and shame on us
Sen. Mitt Romney recently called serial liar Rep. George Santos a “sick puppy” and said the Long Island Republican didn’t “belong” in the House chamber in a heated exchange before President Biden’s State of the Union address. The veteran Republican senator scolded…
Maybe Marie Kondo finally has come around to missionary Martha Myers’ mantra
Stop the presses: Marie Kondo, the “queen of clean,” confesses she can’t keep her own house perfectly pristine every single day. The 38-year-old mogul of a global “tidying up” empire is now the mother of three — her third child…
Want to understand why the SBC expelled its largest church? Listen to W.A. Criswell
W.A. Criswell would be so proud of the Southern Baptist Convention this week. The man who once was the spokesman for why women should not — cannot — be pastors has reached peak influence 114 years after his birth. About…
An invisible wall: How to support your pastor through mental health challenges
I’ll never forget walking into my annual staff evaluation meeting and encountering a roomful of awkward looks. The head of our church’s personnel committee started the meeting off with, “So, do you feel that your … um … anxiety issues…