Outside my window, green shoots peek from the ground that was frozen just a couple of weeks ago. Warm air greets me like an old friend, and tree buds are biding their time until they explode open in pops of…
What makes a genuine apology?
When my daughters were playing a ton of soccer, we noticed something interesting: They and their teammates apologized a lot. They apologized to their own teammates after making an errant pass, they apologized to the opposing player after a physical play,…
As a woman called to ministry, my heart is broken, and the wound is very old
Two days after I learned that the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee formally voted to remove St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., from denominational membership, my chest began to hurt. Right in my sternum, there was pain I can…
My phone and I need to talk
I have begun to suspect that some of what I read is not even true. I tell myself that I am checking the news, but it is not always new or important. I read news that is not quite news…
How to shrink your church
There are few things in life one can guarantee. Nevertheless, here’s one for which I’m very close to issuing written guarantees. When your aspiration is to shrink your church, there’s one strategy that stands head and shoulders above all others….
Are you sure that all lives matter?
I have struggled for the past several years with understanding how so many Christians can support politicians and preachers with glaring, public moral failings. I’ve been discipled in Christian values my entire life, and what I observe with many Christians…
Francesco will restore your faith in a broken church
Pope Francis made a historic trip to Iraq over the weekend and created waves by sitting down with Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in Najaf, Iraq. Popes in my lifetime have done some remarkable things in attempts…
Right now, we need angry Jesus
I need angry Jesus because, Jesus, I’m angry, too. I need angry Jesus turning over the tables. I need angry Jesus, whip in hand, driving out injustice. I need angry Jesus to inspire me to flip the tables of oppression…
In the spirit of Dr. Seuss …
Theodore Geisel has just made the news For words that he rhymed in inappropriate cues. The Left said “It’s cute, but too racist and rude — We can’t expose our kids to the slightly-so-crude.” Archaic his pictures, picturing gender and…
Our needs are holy to God: The Gospel of Dr. Seuss
There seems to be a furor among some today over Dr. Seuss Enterprise’s decision to withdraw six Dr. Seuss children’s books from publication and about the mortal danger of “cancel culture” to American civilization. So here is a salute to…
Why am I so afraid of my son’s tutu?
Sitting across from us was our now adult son with so much pain on his face. “How could you not have known? And if you did, why did you leave me to figure it all out on my own?” Six…
Racism is never an innocent joke
I don’t think Baptists today are particularly gifted in the spiritual discipline of confession of sin. We’re glad to echo Romans 3:23 and declare that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, but we tend to avoid candid…