As we kneel at the manger to worship the infant who would be Savior of the world, let’s turn our minds to the God Jesus called Abba, the One whom theologian John Cobb called “Jesus’ Abba.” Abba was the Aramaic…
Reading BNG’s news this year made me think of the Antichrist
Many of us who read the outstanding articles that are published on the BNG website are perplexed by some of the newsworthy events of the past several years. Some events serve as sources of encouragement and comfort. However, too many…
A daughter’s tribute — 50 years later
My brother was 15 and I was 18 when our father died Dec. 4, 1971 — 20 days short of his 46th birthday. Initially it was thought he died of a heart attack; he’d been sick all that previous year….
Everything that’s wrong with the world explained in one brief column
We do love simplicity. We love the idea that complex issues can be distilled into easy sound bites, that nuanced conversations can be summarized as “he said/she said” and that internet memes and bumper stickers offer plenty of space to…
Four feet, two skates
I don’t think it was Christmastime. Too many years have passed for me to be sure. But I do remember it was cold outside. I was walking from the Stephen Center, the Christian diner operated as a ministry in Tirana,…
On abortion and guns: How is that American Christians can come to such different understandings of our faith?
On Dec. 10, the United States Supreme Court upheld Senate Bill 8, the Texas ban on abortions — not officially overturning Roe v. Wade, the court case legalizing abortion, but certainty sinking its future. On Dec. 1, I traveled with…
Let’s put Herod back into Christmas
In 1936, with war clouds gathering in Europe, author E.B. White wrote the following for The New Yorker: “Shopping in Woolworth’s, in the turbulent days, we saw a little boy put his hand inquiringly on a ten-cent Christ child, part…
Worldliness and wistfulness on the way to Bethlehem 2021
This Advent season, I determined to follow the lead of the BVM, the Blessed Virgin Mary, in “pondering” the Bethlehem story in my heart. So I went back to Luke’s Gospel in the King James Version where I first heard…
The timeless power of standing in someone’s winter, helping them see spring to come
I want to tell you about someone whose life’s work made a difference. Not everyone gets to see immediate results from their hard labor. In some ways, I suppose very few do. Pastors surely don’t very often. Other than a…
Joy to the suffering world
Soon Christians worldwide will celebrate the birth of Christ. Presents will be exchanged. Special songs performed. Friends and families will gather. Lights will brighten the gloom of winter. And while Christmas is more cultural than sacred for many, these traditions quietly…
Why is there still ‘no room’ for so many homeless in America this Christmas?
More than 2,000 years ago, when Jesus was born, there was “no room” for his family in Bethlehem. Likewise, as Christmas 2021 approaches, we have no room for hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans who live in tents, cardboard…
White supremacists are hell-bent on repeating history
Mark Wingfield recently wrote an article reporting on the defeat of a Black pastor who had served for 17 years on a public school board in Houston. The defeat was orchestrated by right-wing white parents opposed to Critical Race Theory and…