When we announced to the first church we served, in South Carolina, that we were moving to Alabama, someone came up right after church and said, “Here’s the question if you’re moving to Birmingham: Are you gonna say, ‘Roll Tide’…
The cross: oppression or liberation?
La versión en español está disponible aquí. The cross is one of the most significant and powerful symbols in Christianity. Throughout history it has been perceived and used in different ways. It has been a central piece in theological reflection…
La cruz: ¿Opresión o liberación?
An English version is available here. La cruz es uno de los símbolos más significativos y poderosos en el Cristianismo. A través de la historia ha sido percibida y usada de diferentes maneras. Ha sido una pieza central en reflexiones…
Getting political in the pulpit
The responsibility of the church in this current political climate should be clear. There’s no violation of separation of church and state to say from the pulpit that hitting people who disagree with us is wrong. Or excluding people who believe different things than we do should stop. Or accumulating wealth while many struggle to make a living wage cannot continue.
Springsteen and Lent: Born in the USA
I always thought Palm Sunday was such a fun day as a child. Each year, the choir or children would enter into the sanctuary waving palm branches to a celebratory hymn of some sort. And each year, someone would awkwardly…
Survival mode
Survival mode generally does not bring out the best in people. When nearly all of the luxuries of life have been stripped away and all you have left is the choice to survive, those choices are brutal. I’m not a…
It’s ‘Bring Your Family To Work Day’
Pastors’ families are rated on appearance, behavior, personal relationship choices, report cards, salvation and sports performance. There are scorecards in every pew. So look alive, family! It’s Sunday and it’s game time.
Isn’t it a shame that Jesus never went on a marriage retreat?
Why couldn’t Jesus have said just one sentence about marriage that you could post on Facebook for Valentine’s Day?
To such as these
It was the last place I wanted to be that night. It had been a long day, and now I was crammed into a hot and crowded school auditorium for my son’s school music program. I gave him a thumbs…
Confronting the hard words — head on
Here are 10 words/phrases that I would prefer not to experience personally. Oncologist Hospice Bankruptcy Betrayal Depression Suicide Divorce Termination Conflict Jail Unfortunately, over the past 14 days, 10 different people that I care about have become personally acquainted with…
When religion turns hateful, it loses its moral voice
In this craziest of presidential primary seasons, I have not mentioned the Republican candidate with the “best plumage,” the colorful description offered by Marilynne Robinson. I have found his words so offensive, his narcissism so egregious, and his attitude toward…
10 reasons I’m not endorsing a presidential candidate and probably never will
It’s election season and many pastors seem to have no problem with political endorsements. We’ve recently witnessed many high-profile Christian leaders cozying up to their favorite candidate. Endorsement of candidates by pastors happens on the left and right, and as the…