Forty years ago, Hinson’s open letter challenged Southern Baptist Convention President Bailey Smith’s pronouncement that “God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew.” Today, moderate Baptists know they don’t want to follow Smith and his tribe, but have we embraced a clear alternative?
The case of Rodney Reed: A call to abolish state-sanctioned lynching known as capital punishment
We celebrate the 11th-hour decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stay the execution of Rodney Reed. At the same time, Reed’s case highlights the need to abolish capital punishment.
Sorry, Jeremiah, but our children’s (and grandchildren’s) teeth ARE set on edge
Today, the “human error” that contributed significantly to our environmental debacle really does mean that the parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth will be set on edge for years to come, probably for generations.
Community rice mixing and God’s mixing bowl: the beauty of diversity amid rampant Xenophobia
In a sense, the whole world is God’s mixing bowl, and we are part of the ingredients to feed others.
Politics as an approximation of the Kingdom of God versus politics as Baal
When we identify the kingdom of God with one political party or ideology, Baalism is close at hand.
Can the ‘slow practice’ of writing letters by hand help save the world?
I have been increasingly alarmed by the dehumanizing tendencies of new technologies – communication at the speed of instinctive reaction. I needed a slow practice, and handwritten letters felt perfectly inefficient and appropriate.
Improving our ‘backpack’ self-awareness – for our sake and the sake of others
We all carry invisible backpacks or baggage. Just make sure the contents are appropriate and the straps are secured. And be aware of others. They’re carrying a load, too.
Believing in God as prophetic resistance: LGBTQ Christians and the salvation of everybody, anyway.
This question – whether or not anyone can believe in God without reward – drives the work and witness of so many of my LGBTQ faith heroes who practice Christianity despite being rejected by and cut off from “the true Church.”
Can Kanye help spark a radical, new Christian Reformation?
The Church needs a reformation from “empty,” mainstream expressions of Christian faith profiting from indulgences of cheap grace, miscarriages of justice and deception paraded as sound devotion remixed over gospel beats.