It is hard to sleep. Tonight, I struggle to reach the land of the sandman because I kept wondering if another scenario like the one at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina was taking place elsewhere in…
A quarter-century after the SBC holy war
This past week marked the 25th anniversary of the final battle in the Southern Baptist holy war. The former combatants noted the occasion appropriately: They got on with current business. The Southern Baptist Convention conducted its annual meeting in Columbus,…
MACBF’s ‘net’ widens to include a full- time coordinator
By Starlette McNeill Members of the Mid-Atlantic Cooperative Baptist Fellowship gathered at Seven Locks Baptist Church in Potomac, Md., for a meeting with Suzii Paynter, the executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. It began like any other meeting —…
Pastor, preach on Charleston shooting
We know now that Dylann Roof acting alone in the shooting and killing that occurred at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. The outpouring of shock, anger, sadness and grief was abundant on social media and on television. As a…
‘I see ya brought a helper’
My dad drove a gas truck for the local farmers cooperative when I was a kid. He delivered bulk fuel to farms for tractors and furnace oil to village dwellers for heat. In the summer or on a school break,…
When fast makes us fat, dumb and tired
By John Chandler Matthew Sleeth is a medical doctor, later-in-life convert to Christianity, activist for creation care, and author of “24/6 — a prescription for a healthier, happier life.” His book about Sabbath is intelligent, intelligible and winsome. His practical…
Congregations on the edge of Christian faith
We need more congregations on the edge of Christianity who avoid becoming a churched culture congregation, but rather focus on the edge where the “gones”, dones, and nones dwell. In a previous post entitled Are You Really as Progressive a…
Watershed moments
By Bill Leonard On June 15, 1215, eight hundred years ago, on Runnymede field between Windsor and the River Thames, King John of England placed his seal on a parchment document soon known as Magna Carta, the Great Charter. In…
I tweet; therefore, I am
A little over 2 months ago, my son was born. And, as I’ve taken a rather mushy and decidedly projectile-heavy absence from writing things for free on the internet, I’ve encountered an altogether unexpected feeling. Mainly, that I didn’t miss…