In her book Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott suggests, “A good marriage is where both people feel like they’re getting the better end of the deal.” However, I can readily identify with Winston Churchill’s assessment: “My most…
How Don Durham and I became neighbors
In the first chapter of The Glad River, author Will Campbell introduces two main characters, Claudy “Doops” Momber and Kingston Smylie. Flung into the cold military-industrial machine, the men first cross paths during basic training. Be it the impending war,…
It’s time to stop using the Bible as a sacred weapon to oppress LGBTQ people
For the last 76 years, evangelicals have been using the Bible as a sacred weapon to oppress LGBTQ people. While many people are under the impression that the word “homosexuality” has “always been in the Bible,” the reality is that…
A Gen-Xer reflects on the progressive-conservative divorce in the former Southern Baptist Convention
I grew up in a family that worshipped the trinity: God, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Dallas Cowboys. I was born in Fort Worth, Texas, while my father was a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. By the time…
Keep your Bible where it belongs
When I took my first Bible class in college, I was required to memorize the books of the Bible. A lot of people in my class found that exercise of writing out the books of the Bible from memory in…
Remembering Professor Claypool
This past weekend, Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., hosted “Glad Reunion: Celebrating the Ministry and Legacy of John R. Claypool.” Claypool had famously served the church as pastor throughout the turbulent 1960s and became a renowned pulpiteer in…
Reflections from London on the queen’s life and death
The queen is dead. Long live the king. From my earliest childhood memories during World War II, Elizabeth has been a constant in my life — a changeless symbol of stability during unstable times. By an accident of timing, I…
Who is my neighbor? Reflecting theologically on the migrant crisis
“Who is my neighbor?” The expert of the law, the one whose job it was to study Scriptures, asked Jesus this question in Luke 10. Of course, the expert probably knew the answer. He knew the original languages and pored…
I’m now banned from ministering at a place I love
In September 2007, as a freshman at Samford University, I wrote these words: “Dr. Matthew Kerlin, minister to the university, stood near the front of the chapel and invited us to take part in the Eucharist. … Over seven hundred…
Condolences and clarity concerning the death and life of Queen Elizabeth
The death of Queen Elizabeth requires deep reflection. She was matriarch to her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and other family members. She was monarch of Britain for 70 years. Most people in Britain, across the British Commonwealth and across the…
I love the recognition of a life, but the obsession with the monarchy still bothers me
Since the queen died, the coverage has been 24/7. It goes beyond a death and a funeral. We seem obsessed with the royals, but I’ll have to say I’ve had a hard time getting on board with all the royal-to-do….
Hell is other people, but heaven is, too
Jessica Williamson, a receptionist at a gym in Los Angeles, gets bored, makes a poster and ends up with her story on public radio’s This American Life. She writes “CAT FOUND!!!” above two pictures of possums that she prints off…