One of the tasks and joys of my ministry in the last year has been to build relationships with young adults in our community and respond to their needs. Recently, that work brought me out from the walls of the…
On giving to Caesar
Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s; and to God what is God’s — Jesus (Mark 12.17) What belongs to God never really has been the question. God’s Spirit is our life breath, animating our bodies with every inhale and…
When Baptists fight, they stop fishing
In his book In the Eye of the Storm, Max Lucado shares a story of a group of guys going on a long-awaited fishing trip. The problem starts when the weather turns ugly. They arrive at the lake and have…
Butker’s commencement speech echoes MacArthur and other male supremacists
With Pride Month looming over the horizon and women graduating from college, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker decided to attack “dangerous gender ideologies” when he gave the commencement address at Benedictine College. Butker, an outspoken conservative Catholic, believes the…
New data show SBC not really reckoning with sexual abuse
According to the Southern Baptist Convention’s latest statistical report, the SBC has lost more than 3.3 million members since 2006, which happens to be the year I did my first sidewalk press conference outside SBC headquarters, talking about clergy sex…
The idea of eufeminism — A reel reaction to The Idea of You
A relative texted me about a month ago curious about my reaction to the movie The Idea of You (hereafter TIOY). This request came right in the middle of moving and my youngest child graduating from college, so I never…
What grownups know
“My mom’s the greatest!” Those are fighting words to many a child: “Oh yeah, well MY MOM’S the greatest!” An adult, on the other hand, likely smiles and says, “Yep, mine too.” Adults do nuance, and this includes adults who…
We understand Mica Miller’s tragic story
If you have heard of Mica Miller or have followed the recent news concerning her death, you might be alarmed at the way domestic violence can infiltrate the church. This was not a hidden case of abuse. Her husband was…
God’s will for the nuclear family
In David Brooks’ essay “The Nuclear Family Was A Mistake,” he demonstrates that for most of human history, we have existed in intricate entangled webs of extended family. For a majority of our history, society has been built on the…