The Trump administration is breaking its pledge to protect Iraqi Christians, sending them back to their oppressors. Will the U.S. church remain silent?
Losing Jesus: My lament and call today as a progressive pastor
At some point in progressive Baptist history we finally started fighting the right fights, but we forgot why we fought them. Claiming Jesus and the resurrection suddenly seemed too evangelical and we tried to distance ourselves as far as possible from the evangelicals.
Enough ‘Virgin in the Volcano’ theology
You can subscribe to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity or you can subscribe to the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement, but you can’t subscribe to both.
Learning to interact with the word ‘no’
While it is true that saying “no” may be risky, and may bring unexpected consequences, learning to say “no” is very important. It will help us to set healthy boundaries and to avoid draining and/or abusive personal, professional, or ministerial relationships.
Aprendiendo a interactuar con la palabra ‘no’
Si bien es cierto que el decir “no” puede ser arriesgado y traer consecuencias inesperadas, aprender a decir “no” es muy importante. Nos ayudará a establecer límites saludables y a evitar relaciones desgastantes y/o abusivas tanto a nivel personal, profesional o ministerial.
Waking up to routine and finding ourselves surprised
The alarm goes off long before you want it to. The snooze button is not worth it, but it is tempting. You have to get to work. Or you have to get to work at home. Or you have learned…
America must unite in the face of emboldened extremist groups
America faces a clear choice: affirm our commitment to religious freedom and pluralism or give into religious bigotry and hate. Some of our neighbors chose to give into religious-based discrimination by marching “against Sharia” last Saturday in Atlanta, which I…
Why we desperately need more ‘common good’ and ‘holistic pro-life’ congregations
I suspect that most all of us now are familiar with the infamous statistic that over 80 percent of evangelical Christians voted for Trump and most of them even today continue to support him. It is very difficult to understand…
Moderateness as betrayal of the gospel
In his 1963 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. criticized “white moderates,” identifying them as feeling empathy toward the civil rights movement, but not acting upon it. King’s “white moderate” compares to contemporary white Baptists who claim…
A spiritual performance review
It’s time for performance reviews in my school. The provost reviews the faculty and academic staff; I review the leadership team and my executive assistant; and other leaders review the work of their teams. We have sent out questions and…
Culture warriors make crummy Christians
Culture warriors make crummy Christians. As liberals and conservatives battle for dominance American religion has been co-opted by both sides. Conservatives want to shore up the mainstays of traditional American culture: a civil religion suitable for teaching in the public…
Is public sentiment shifting from free will to determinism?
Pick your arena — Calvinism versus Arminianism, moral liberty versus determinism, Rush’s “Freewill” versus Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” — there’s quite a bit of conversation in the scientific community these days about what philosophers have debated for centuries. That…