I remember it almost like yesterday when the new kid walked into the large youth group I attended at First Baptist Church of Orlando. As the new kid walked in, he stood out not just to me but to others…
When a teenager gets kicked to the curb by Christian parents
Editor’s note: This launches a series of opinion pieces over the coming weeks that will address the problems created by “ex-gay” ministries and those who continue to practice or advocate for the now-discredited forms of conversion therapy. The following column…
Unzipped: How (not) to commute
There is a zipper merge lane near the interstate exit roughly a mile or so from my house. If you find yourself confused by the phrase “zipper merge lane,” don’t worry, very few licensed drivers in my ZIP Code know…
When it comes to leading corporate prayer, are we really all in this together?
Let’s talk about corporate prayer. Houston, we’ve got a problem. Yes, I know it is dangerous to hold oneself out as an expert on anything related to prayer. My true confession is that I’m a whole lot better at praying…
Is America racist at heart?
A question like this typically puts white Americans on edge or at least ill at ease. But these questions must be dealt with if we are ever to truly live up to the greatness espoused in our Constitution. As we…
Note to self: Get rid of resting jerkface
I stopped by the bank the other day to cash a few checks for pocket money. The teller already was having a bad day, I surmised, as she completed a tense conversation with a co-worker while I approached her window….
Don’t keep sweet: Why white Christians need to celebrate Juneteenth
One of the top documentaries on Netflix right now is Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. It’s about the FLDS, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who once were in Utah and then in Texas. If you were…
Letter to the Editor: The importance of establishing best practices for pastoral searches
Letter to the Editor June 17, 2022 Dear Editor: In a 2014 article in BNG, writer Marion Aldridge penned an excellent piece on pastoral search committees. According to the article, “Even a tiny, troubled Baptist church can get 100 resumes.”…
Hymn Stories: ‘Will You Come and Follow Me’
Do you remember singing the children’s Sunday school song “I will make you fishers of men”? Often it accompanied learning the biblical narrative of Jesus calling his first disciples, Simon Peter and Andrew. This stirring song so captured our imaginations…
A Bubba-Doo’s regular loses a loved one
I stopped outside the door at my favorite hangout, Bubba-Doo’s, to hold it open for an acquaintance. I knew Landrum from his occasional visits there to the country store. He showed up some afternoons and very rarely said much. In…
The oxymoron of being both anti-abortion and pro-gun
The recent mass murder events help to nudge the conscience, a conscience that has been beaten senseless by the incessant beating of the anti-abortion drum and the idolatrous-like worship of the Second Amendment. The oxymoron of being both anti-abortion and…
My trip to the seamy world of horseracing
I have been looking for an excuse to wear my fedora. When friends from church invited us to the horse races, they assumed we had been before. They do not know I am still working through the list of things…