What if preachers quit trying to be clever or to control outcomes and instead simply led with sincere vulnerability? It would require trusting the congregation to receive you with kindness and, for your part, a self-compassion for your own tenderness.
Fighting for our lives – and saving ourselves from ‘this corrupt generation’
In confronting white nationalist terror and the Washington-based bigotry that has invited it into the mainstream, we must be both fierce in our struggle but also prayerful in our devotion. We must call this nation to repent for its sins and call it too to save itself from this “corrupt generation.”
Wisdom from Lincoln: Even with a compass, we still may have to traverse chasms and swamps
Lincoln seemed to be at peace disappointing his supporters and infuriating his enemies. He not only had a compass; he also had a plan for specific steps on the journey.
The President is right: Mental illness is killing all of us
Trump isn’t altogether wrong – gun deaths in America are driven by a mental health crisis. However, instead of that un-wellness resting upon a lone shooter or evil terrorist, it is visited upon all of us who still believe that the same circular conversation will actually result in something different.
Letters to the Editor for 08.07.19
Beyond secret prejudices and private idolatries by Daniel G. Bagby, Retired Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Care, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond
Letter to the Editor – Beyond secret prejudices and private idolatries
Beyond secret prejudices and private idolatries by Daniel G. Bagby, Retired Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Care, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond
Shaming pastors is not the way to respond to two more mass shootings
In the aftermath of mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, I read and heard exhortations along these lines: “If your pastor does not call out white supremacy and gun violence tomorrow in worship, it’s time to find another church.” Please, can we stop doing this?
Responding to gun violence in America: the Church cannot give up
Because we follow the Prince of Peace, the seemingly endless gun violence in our nation affects us in a deep place. Our hearts and spirits feel this violence as a literal assault on our humanity and our faith. So what do we do now?
I’m a pastor who refuses to offer ‘thoughts and prayers’ for these people
I’m praying that God will comfort suffering victims and afflict their political and religious victimizers. That’s not a “God bless the USA” prayer. It’s a “Thy will be done” prayer.
Jason may be an obscure biblical character, but he offers insight for today’s church
The spirit of Jason is one of adventure and a willingness to embrace the possibility of the new, a spirit that embraces the upside-down way of Jesus. Maybe the church today needs more upside-down ways of thinking.
The root of our inability to end gun violence is spiritual, but not in the way many think
Christians in America are unable to #ActTo EndGunViolence because we have intertwined the American story with the Myth of Redemptive Violence. We must be converted away from this pervasive myth by the nonviolent, suffering resistance to evil that is the Story of Jesus.
Despair is on the rise in America. Maybe we need a wailing wall
I wonder if the people who write letters to God addressed to Israel are trying to find a way to reach across the great expanse of silence and darkness for a glimpse of God, like Moses on Sinai. Maybe a letter tucked into a crack in an ancient wall is not an act of despair but an act of faith.