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…
Original blessing, the #blessed hashtag, and what it really means to be blessed
This is the third in a November series produced by BNG on what it means to be “blessed,” a word so flippantly used that it often loses meaning. One morning nine years ago while driving my children to school (and…
Dear Max Lucado, I speak in tongues too
Dear Max Lucado, I speak in tongues too. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was a college student at Liberty University. As I sat confused, not knowing what to do, I began praying that April day and…
When lying becomes a virtue
Is lying wrong? The question would have seemed impossible even 50 years ago. Now, the ninth commandment becomes expendable: “You shall not bear false witness.” If, as philosophers insist, we live in a post-truth age, we also live in the…
Should ‘real’ Christians really vote Republican today?
Numerous conservative pastors and commentators have declared to their flocks that true Christians must vote Republican if they are faithful. Chief among those is Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who told a conservative political action group this…