What the KBC is considering doing is forcing all these churches to choose sides once and for all. In this case, “KBC” is proxy for “SBC.” Choose you this day whom you will serve: The SBC or the CBF.
Paying for the Second Amendment
Firearm obsession exemplifies our national identity, and we should all own that reality. Indeed, firearm violence has become so routine that barring an immediate political or spiritual Great Awakening, these events demand some form of national triage responding to the consequences of weaponized carnage.
Questions the court should ask the baker’s lawyer
If people are really committed to biblical laws, then they should be committed to all of them. Instead of asking if it should be legal to run a heterosexuals-only bakery, we should ask who else a biblical legalist should turn away. Refusing to make devil’s food cakes for gay couples may not be enough.
Are seminaries still relevant?
Many seminaries are in trouble; there are few that are not fragile in some way. Issues include the challenge of recruitment, the burgeoning debt of seminarians, issues of placement for women graduates, the white privilege of which many seminaries are oblivious. It is a “troubled industry.”
What Harvey Weinstein’s fall and Donald Trump’s rise says about the state of American Christianity
American Christianity is no different than any other religion in this way: There are healthy, potentially life enriching versions of religious faith, and there are unhealthy, potentially life diminishing versions as well.
Three cheers for the power of awe
“Religion” derives from the same word as “ligament.” It is ultimately a connecting force and, with no divine object or mysterium tremendum, our experiences of awe are ultimately self-referential and delusional.
Do we worship the flag?
For many Americans, the flag stirs emotions far deeper than anything God inspires. Have we created a national religion in which the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, the sacrifice of soldiers on the field of battle, and the invincibility of American firepower are practically indistinguishable?
The death of Christianity in the U.S.
You might wonder if my condemnation is too harsh. It is not, for the Spirit of the Lord has convicted me to shout from the mountaintop how God’s precious children are being devoured by the hatred and bigotry of those who have positioned themselves as the voice of God in America.
Looking for security at church? That’s what got us into this mess.
We must find the strength to change, but the change we need is not in the level of security at houses of worship. The change we need is a change in the way we think about guns.
Christmas wars, begone!
I’m frankly too busy and too filled with the season’s joy to worry about whether a store clerk tells me “Happy holidays” or “Merry Christmas.” There are so many legitimate justice issues in our world; why fabricate a culture war where none exists?
Why isn’t the church a leader in calling out sexual harassment?
There is nothing new about Harvey Weinstein or Michael Oreskes or any number of other men publicly accused of sexually harassing women and others. But nobody is talking about the persistent, wearying presence of sexism and misogyny in our churches.
‘Out of love for the truth:’ The Reformation at 500
After addressing Reformation history in sermons, print and lectures every October of my life for the last 46 years, here are a few things I’ve learned from Luther’s 95 theses.