Last weekend, I was in Washington, D.C., with a group of veterans pushing back against the occupation of the city by the National Guard and federal officials. As veterans, they believe it is their unique voice and responsibility to tell…
What to do if ICE shows up at your door
I’m self-soothing during these “unprecedented times” by learning about my Constitutional rights and teaching others. I’m not a lawyer and I can’t offer legal advice, but I can offer resources. If you, your employees or your neighbors and friends are…
The Department of War: A step backward for America
America once made a conscious choice to step away from the language of war. In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, reorganizing our armed forces after World War II. Two years later, the Department of War…
Donald Trump is neither strong nor masculine as president
Donald J. Trump may be the richest and oldest president in U.S. history, but beneath the glittering headlines lies a portrait of profound emotional and moral poverty — a leader marked not by strength, but by defensiveness, dishonesty, vanity and…
What if it’s just Jesus?
If I live another few weeks, I will soon turn 70 years old. Like anyone who has lived that long, I have seen many things come and go and change, one of the most bewildering of which is the degree…
Religion and politics
I’m all in when it comes to separation of church and state. That’s why I oppose posting the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and wherever else legislators are clamoring to do so. That is The…
Encouraging seniors to dream again
Is your church an aging congregation? If so, consider your senior adults an asset, not a liability. Seniors have been through hard times and are gifted in persevering. They are capable of dreaming again. Spend the capital to love them,…
A liberal understands conservatism better through Primal World Beliefs
One breakthrough in my understanding of people decades ago came from studying personality types. This helped me accept that people are different and being different isn’t wrong, it’s natural. I quit trying so hard to change people. The reality is…
Two new podcast episodes tell the stories of changing pastoral ministry
Fifty years ago, O.S. Hawkins and George Mason were not estranged in their affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention. Both men attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and went on to become well-known pastors in large Baptist churches. But a fork placed…
The lunatics are now in charge
Not all ideas are equally valid, and not all beliefs are equally true. There is reality and there is fantasy. A heavy dose of “both sides are valid” denial of reality has set up the United States of America for…
The Ten Commandments and the fallacy of certainty
“So, inerrancy was in essence adapted and used by enslavers?” “Yes.” I was sitting in Stephen Ray’s office working on my Ph.D. at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. I had asked if I could take a directed study on Reformed theology…
William Jennings Bryan’s ‘other’ speech
Aside from the Scopes trial, three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan is best known for delivering his “Cross of Gold” speech at the 1896 Democratic Convention. Some say it was the greatest speech in American political history. In 1896, the nation…