The reality is that my great-grandparents didn’t just die, they were murdered. They were two of 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their willing accomplices throughout Europe. And it wasn’t just the two of them, but their children…
When my dad asked me to preach a revival in his church, I took a crew of encouragers instead
“Would you be willing to come and preach a revival for us?” my dad asked when I answered the phone that day driving down Main Street (hands-free, of course). I asked him specifically what he was looking for and he…
The congregational staffing crisis
My news feed has been filled with a variety of stories recently describing the current and coming shortage of public educators. Many school systems are reporting a dearth of teachers as they start the academic year. Citing a variety of…
50 years later, I’m still embarrassed to admit what a stranger at church taught me about being welcome
I’ve been interested in Mary Magdalene lately for some unknown reason. Hers is a fascinating story, and to be honest, everything we know about her would barely fill a small paragraph. Here it is: Mary Magdalene was a Jewish woman…
What The Bear should teach us about the church and genuine acceptance
It feels like I just left here. This is the first thought stumbling through my mind as I listen to the deadbolt release, allowing me to enter the dark room I vaguely remember departing just a few hours ago. I…
Looking for hope in a time of abandonment
Surely I am not the only person in the land of the free and the home of the classified documents who keeps wishing, even hoping, that the innumerable issues, actions and ideas that divide us as a people have finally…
My two phone calls to Frederick Buechner
In 1978, someone gave me a copy of Frederick Buechner’s Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC. I read the first entry — “Agnostic: Some people all of the time and all people some of the time,” and we were off and running. By the time…
Hymn stories: ‘The Church’s One Foundation’
I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of the saints. Hymn writers frequently relate varied inspirations for their texts. Great hymns of the church may be borne out of personal life events, societal or world events, or, as…
The fantastical world of climate change denial: Slouching toward annihilation
Climate change presents the greatest existential threat to human existence in history. The alleged worldwide flood of Noah pales in comparison. A group of politicians and preachers who should know better, and perhaps do, have responded as if they were…
Remembering a sign for the times: The serpent and the seminary
By nature, I’m something of a skeptic, perhaps by this point in my life even a cynic, and I’ve never been a person who puts much stock in seeking signs from God. My rational disposition, as well as my training…
No, Dan Patrick, God did not write the U.S. Constitution
“We were a nation founded upon, not the words of our founders, but the words of God because he wrote the Constitution.” So said Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at the second Conservative Political Action Conference held this year with the theme “Awake, Not…
Black religion and reparation questions
How many times have you heard Black religious leaders preach, teach and advocate about reparation for racial injustice? I have pondered that question a lot, especially since the murder of George Floyd. I have wondered why Black religious leaders are…