“You are so blessed.” I hear this statement sometimes, usually in places where my bandwidth for seeing the sacred is about gone. In the grocery store, when my four little goofballs are hanging off a cart or screaming, I don’t…
What do we need in this time of apostasy? Revolutionary patience
We are living in a time of apostasy. We might call it the American Captivity of the Church, or of at least of an appallingly large segment of the American church. It has abandoned the heart of Christianity and obscured…
We need a Liar, Liar Pants on Fire Index for political advertising
Wednesday, Nov. 9, has been marked on my calendar for six months. When I wake up Wednesday morning the air will be cleaner, the sun will be brighter, the streets will be free of trash and potholes, and television advertising…
The dangerous worldview of Republican election deniers
Around elections, we often hear variations of the claim that “democracy itself is on the ballot.” Because this declaration is, in some sense, a truism, it’s easy to nod and dismiss its concrete claims. But in the current context, this…
Blessed by life’s diversions
This is the sixth in a November series produced by BNG on what it means to be “blessed,” a word so flippantly used that it often loses meaning. My life has been marked by a series of diversions that, looking…
Letter to the Editor: Dear SBC leaders, lead us to unity in diverse views on women in ministry
Letter to the Editor Nov. 7, 2022 Dear Editor: Right now, an amazing opportunity lies before the Southern Baptist Convention. We all know the polarization in our country is at an all-time high, which gives us the opportunity to show…
Seeing mortality as blessing
Memories have become capricious things as I approach my seventh decade on Planet Earth. Conversations I could swear happened just a few days ago actually stretch back 20 years or more, yet there are days when I can’t remember whether…
A heavenly reunion: Imagining my two mothers meeting at a Formica dinette on a cloud
Editor’s note: Lawanna McIver Fields died at her home in Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 5. She was well known in Baptist circles for a number of reasons, among them her role as a lay leader at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas…
Christian nationalism is on the ballot this week
As a Baptist minister, I’m frightened about the midterm elections. But not for the reasons some would think. I’m frightened because, across the nation, I’m seeing an upswell of fellow believers distorting the meaning of our faith into a license…
Five suggestions on how to be a Christian citizen when voting
The election to choose who would succeed George Washington as president, held in 1796, was a bitter contest marked by meanness, vindictiveness, insults and lies. Vice President John Adams eventually would defeat Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, his opponent, but…
When being a ‘blessing’ comes with some baggage
This is the fourth in a November series produced by BNG on what it means to be “blessed,” a word so flippantly used that it often loses meaning. For those of us who grew up evangelical, the term “blessing” comes…
What I’m learning about Christian nationalism
Christian nationalism is gaining ground among Republicans, they say — and I’m not sure who “they” is, but it could be somebody who knows what they’re talking about. I am trying to learn about all this because it has to…