While “Stranger Things” is fascinating entertainment, some parts of its imaginative script reflect eerily similar conditions in our country.
When the church you lead is the Titanic
Traditional, established congregations that are more than 40 years old are in steady and persistent decline. Now is the time to speak the truth, reclaim our hope and launch a realistic and thoughtful plan for our future as God’s people.
Want to truly memorialize a 100-year-old race massacre? Let the people see the truth
We will not be afraid or lose hope or stop working for racial justice – meaning restitution and reparations – no matter how white supremacists and their quieter sympathizers sanitize bigotry, hypocrisy and addiction to greed with their hollow gestures.
Brandt Jean’s forgiveness of his brother’s killer was a Christ-like act; so is the call for justice
I acknowledge the bravery and faith that it must have required to say before the entire world, “I forgive.” But “I forgive you” is not the only cry we must hear.
Moral leadership in the face of gun violence: For the church, this IS our lane
The Church cannot afford to be silent about gun violence in America, not only because of the lives it claims, but also because it is connected to issues such as homophobia, misogyny and racism.
Love the church you have
Churches must be courageous and open to change. But sometimes, amid all the pulse-taking, evaluations, strategy planning and critiquing, we forget to love the church we have.
A case against the ‘Christian’ adjective
What does it really mean when we call something “Christian?”
Bouncing Into Graceland: Paul Simon, Frank Tupper, Southern Seminary and a ‘Scandalous Providence’
Frank Tupper’s view of providence is unflinchingly honest. We survive our personal Gethsemanes, not because we experience miraculous rescue, but because we are not alone: “Jesus has already gone through Gethsemane, a Gethsemane that we will never comprehend, and he stands with us in ours.”
‘Broken Churches, Broken Nation’: Yes, Pastor Jeffress, words do ‘mean something’
If words really do “mean something,” as Robert Jeffress asserted, correctly, then the rhetoric of “civil war,” “treason” or “coup” used by president, pastor or any of us is not only divisive but dangerous.
Andrew Yang’s case for a universal basic income echoes Baptist voices of the past
Perhaps the idea of a universal basic income is not as farfetched as it may seem. Whether from voices from the past, our congregational polity or the biblical text, the Baptist tradition offers resources for thinking deeply about such a proposal.
Carrie Newcomer, Christian kindness and making room at the table for everyone
It’s time to turn our personal kindness into political kindness, to turn love into policy, to speak truth and to be the people God calls us to be, in person and in policy.
As a progressive pastor, I take my stands. Boycotting Chick-fil-A isn’t one of them
If Chick-fil-A is going to continue to serve this liberal Baptist pastor from around the corner, I don’t see that drinking their tea and building relationships with their staff is making me unfaithful to my convictions.