The theological assertion of God’s inclusive nature is used to justify the church’s inclusion of gay persons into the full life of the church. Could not another person, equally sincere, conclude from scripture that God is not affirming of sexual relationships between same sex persons?
When a transwoman served me communion
To be presented the Body of Christ by a transwoman created a role reversal I had not anticipated. As a pastor, I am accustomed to being the one serving the elements. Today, I was the one who received. And in that moment, I was changed yet again.
The prevailing power of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit’s socialist tendencies
We need God’s very essence and being to persuade those in power to see the work that they do through God’s eyes, to adopt and embrace God’s view of things, and then to make it happen in the legislation they produce, the policies they enact and the initiatives they advance.
Yes, my kids are ‘real’: adoption and the myth of children who are less
As we prepare for the birth of daughter, we have been struck by the differences between the response to her anticipated arrival and the response to our first two children. Kids welcomed into families through adoption are no less “real children” than biological children.
Sister leaders from Cuba and America: inhabiting the Body of Christ and the nation-state
Together we as Cuban and American Christians are part of the beloved community constructed by the Triune God who creates space for our disparate national identities. We share a commitment to live as Christians under the Lordship of Christ while navigating the demands of citizenship and religious liberty.
Core Baptist convictions: After 400 years are many of us uncomfortable in our own skin?
Some Baptists are ready to ditch “brand name” Christianity for Christian evangelical mono-culture, ready to run a congregation of called and baptized believer-priests as a corporation and ready to forget that we ever were these people called Baptists. I’m not there just yet.
Returning from sabbatical, I was reminded: I am unnecessary but not insignificant
I have a role, just as each of us who gets caught up in the in-breaking of God in the world has a role. But that role only has meaning in the context of a community that struggles together.
‘Doesn’t anyone want to be baptized anymore?’ The ‘tangibilifying’ grace of baptism
Faith and baptism are intricately related. Faith keeps baptism from becoming simply a magic ritual for fulfilling a salvific requirement; while baptism keeps faith from becoming simply an individual experience. It unites us with God’s new community, the Church.
‘The wheel’s still in spin’: Beth Moore reignites a stalled debate
Pastors like SBC President J.D. Greear, academics like Sarah Sumner and Bible teachers like Beth Moore gladly sign off on biblical inerrancy, but they are quietly transposing the scriptures into the key of Jesus. “For the times they are a-changin.’”
It’s past time for the Church to embrace the Rainbow Christ
When it comes to honoring the sacredness of our LGBTQ siblings’ sexualities, we have often been guilty of painting Christ using monochrome colors of exclusivity, narrowness and fear rather than the vibrant colors of inclusivity, expansion and love.
If we truly believed in God, how could we be sad?
Christians with a “winter spirituality” may wonder if they really do believe because the mountaintop is never a part of their faith journeys. Yet, as Martin Marty argues, their faith is just as real and valid as any other, just sung in a different key.
Kyle Lake and Rachel Held Evans: alike in many ways and testimonies to hope
A high school graduation party for the daughter of a beloved friend who died 14 years ago evoked memories, sorrow, laughter and hope. But deep in the throes of sadness for those we lose, like Kyle Lake and Rachel Held Evans, is the reality of God’s stubborn insistence that life always follows death.