By Bill Leonard Our pastor, the Reverend Dr. Darryl Aaron, is black. He and his family live about two blocks from our family, in a neighborhood that is predominately white. When an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown was shot…
God’s gonna trouble the water
By Rob Lee At the church I serve, I had the opportunity to participate in my first baptism as a Baptist minister. I was raised Methodist, so this was a new and awe-inspiring experience for me. In true mountain fashion…
Are Millennials different than Baby Boomers 40 years ago?
Back in the 1970s a lot of congregational prognosticators warned that the Church, in general, was in the process of losing a whole demographic generation known as Baby Boomers. Existing congregations, new congregations, and denominational approaches to ministry were losing…
Missing Gwen
By Pam Durso It has now been a year since that moment on Aug. 27, 2013, when I learned that Gwen had died. She was my friend. She was my pastor. She was my Panera Bread lunch date, my fellow…
‘Jesus is my savior, but I’m a killer!’
By Alan Bean Dan Page, the St. Louis police officer who famously pushed CNN anchor Don Lemon, has been relieved of duty. Pushing Lemon in front of a national television audience had nothing to do with it. It was Page’s…
Smuggling and trafficking: what are our responsibilities?
It was a normal school day. She worked with the children who needed some help with their English. One day a child asked her if she knew what a “coyote” was. She said, “Of course…it looks sort of like a…
How traditionalists connect the biblical dots: The LGBT Issue, part 8
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee The essentials of the traditionalist reading of scripture on same-sex relationships can be rendered by this formula, though of course there are variations: Genesis 1-2 + Genesis 19 + Leviticus 18:22/20:13 + Judges 19…
Should Christians fear being ‘on the wrong side of history?’
By Roger Olson We have all heard people say that Christians should adjust their view of sexuality because otherwise they are going to turn out to be “on the wrong side of history.” That’s code for turning out to have…
“Jesus is my savior, but I’m a killer!”
Dan Page, the St. Louis police officer who famously pushed CNN anchor Don Lemon, has been relieved of duty. Pushing Lemon in front of a national television audience had nothing to do with it. It was Page’s bizarre speech, delivered…
Texting and discipleship
By John Chandler An extensive Expedia “Road Rage” survey this past spring revealed that seven of 10 American drivers rate their fellow drivers who are texting, emailing or talking while driving as among the most irritating motorists on the road….
Parenting cheat notes for a great school year
By Jinny Henson If not already, pretty soon the sun screen-shined SUV seats will be covered in permission slips, after-school snacks and random articles of clothing shucked en route to after school activities. The Road-Pro 12-Volt Slow Cooker you plug…
Friends in the Valley of Shadows
I remember it like it was yesterday. Except it was 2005, and it wasn’t a single instance. It was two years after I graduated, and I was living with two of my best friends from college. And, I wanted nothing…