O Freedom, O Freedom Freedom over me And before I’d be a slave, I’d be buried in my grave, And go home to my Lord, And be free. I first heard that poignant spiritual (author unknown) in the 1960s,…
It’s (past) time to raze hell
A few weeks ago, a friend texted me a satirical religious “advertisement.” The ad featured an image of a kind and loving Jesus with a big red heart on his chest. The title of the ad read: “TRADE OFFER.” The…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Jimi Calhoun
Jimi Calhoun is full of stories about musicians with whom he’s performed, churches he’s served, and the human possibilities for which he hopes. As a bass player, he’s played across the globe with Dr. John, Parliament Funkadelic, Buddy Miles and…
Sorry, Tim Dunn, you are a Christian nationalist
In the land of Lyndon Baines Johnson, George Herbert Bush and George W. Bush, you may not have heard of billionaire Tim Dunn. Although billionaires do seem to grow naturally in Texas. Dunn is among at least 44 known billionaires…
Is God really a white man?
White supremacy has been problematic in the United States. As we celebrate AAPI Heritage during May, I am reminded of the hatred, damage and destruction that has been committed against Asian Americans by white American society throughout American history. One…
Forty years
As the vote was announced, we wept and hugged. We wept and prayed. We wept and rejoiced. Outside in a convention center courtyard, we sang praises to God through joyful tears to the beat of Marcia McFee’s conga drum. Mittie…
He may be slick, but Ralph Reed is as wrong as ever
Ralph Reed is as slick as ever. And still as wrong as ever. The one-time wunderkind of the Christian Coalition has gone more underground of late as founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, but he’s still orchestrating and spewing…
‘Orthodox’ does not mean ‘conservative’
Once upon a time, I was a conservative. The last remnants of my conservatism died on Nov. 8, 2016, when Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States of America, forever unmasking for me that whatever “conservatives”…
I kissed John MacArthur goodbye
It is never an enjoyable experience to expose dysfunctional leadership. However, such dysfunctionality in leadership can have dire consequences in the lives of those who follow bad leaders. Derek Lusk and Theodore L. Hayes, in their important book Overcoming Bad…