By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee Several weeks ago I wrote a letter to my ethics survey class here at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology. One line read: “Thanks for the name-hugs.” Imagine a scholar studying the writings of…
Blowin’ in the wind
By Colleen Swingle-Titus Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. He knows us far better than we know ourselves. … We can be so sure that every detail in our…
Al Mohler decries “Gungor” controversy
By Alan Bean Al Mohler has adapted nicely to our twenty-first century media revolution. He even doespodcasts. Al isn’t hip. Not even a little bit. But he talks about hip people, albeit with disapproval. I can’t imagine the venerable Roy…
Crisis or opportunity in a world where the Mayberrys have disappeared
By Arville Earl In 1883, Emma Lazarus penned the words to the poem, The New Colossus, to be used in commemoration of and as a fundraising initiative for the pedestal on which would stand the Statue of Liberty. Some of…
Say goodbye to post-racial America, if it ever existed
By Seth Vopat The night Ferguson, Mo., erupted in protest over the shooting of Michael Brown, I was roughly 240 miles away attending the largest TEDx event in the world in downtown Kansas City. Any thought of the United States…
Shallow congregations only take off their shoes and socks
Since they only plan to wade into the shallow end of the pool, or a few feet into the river, lake or ocean, the typical congregational participant only needs to remove their shoes and socks. And we are not talking…
Life outside the womb
By Michael Ruffin I have been thinking a lot lately about the beginning of life, the end of life and the life that is lived in between the beginning and the end. Before we are born we spend several months…
We need a change of heart on the border crisis
By Russ Dean Jesus said, “Let the little children come unto me.” But Robert Pittenger, a North Carolina congressman, said if they arrive at our border without proper documentation, let the little children be deported ASAP, even though crushing poverty and…
Songs for pilgrims on the way
I’d told myself I wouldn’t do it this time. Writing a theological review of the latest U2 album has been de rigueur for me since offering my $0.02 on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. With increasingly credible rumors pointing to…
Debtors!
By Bill Leonard We recently purchased a new car, the first we’ve bought since 2005. “Sticker shock” is an understatement in 2014. That’s why St. Paul caught my attention with his advice to the Roman Christians: “Leave no debt outstanding,…
On first take, the latest U2 album still offers grace
By Steven Harmon I’d told myself I wouldn’t do it this time. Writing a theological review of the latest U2 album has been de rigueur for me since offering my two cents on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. With increasingly…
Beware of addiction — and know its signs
“To be alive is to be addicted, and to be alive and addicted is to stand in need of grace.” Gerald May For reasons that go back a few generations, I am interested in addiction. I have studied it, and…