Hundreds of thousands have viewed the short, hand-held video taken by a nurse on a bus carrying the surviving young girls from Camp Mystic the morning after the horrific July 4 floods in Kerr County, Texas, that left at least…
A prayer for the broken-hearted people of the world
We left on vacation July 6, just two days after our national celebration of Independence Day. Typically, I’ve loved our little neighborhood’s quirky annual July Fourth parade, which includes appearances by groups like a Vespa troup, Taiko drumming corps, attachment…
Letter to the Editor: You can’t have it both ways on women’s rights
Dear Editor, I read Jeff Brumley’s article on the Trump administration’s decision to cease consideration of gender-based violence in immigration and was struck by the administration’s blatant inconsistency. In January, President Trump signed Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring…
What the prophets knew that America has forgotten
The U.S. Supreme Court is in summer recess, offering a temporary respite to the millions of Americans whose lives have been made more complicated by the court’s recent rulings. Whether by upholding President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship,…
A national wake-up call on Black America’s relationship with water
Now more than ever, America must confront a long-standing yet under-acknowledged public health and cultural crisis: Black Americans and water. The sudden and tragic death of Malcolm-Jamal Warner — an actor beloved across generations — has cast a spotlight on…
So you say you want a biblical worldview?
Conservative evangelicals were right: Worldview matters — a lot. Only problem is, we now see their preferred worldview is rotten to the core. And there’s about as much Bible in their “biblical” worldview as there is grapes in Grape Nuts….
Queer & Christian: Reclaiming our faith for today and tomorrow
What does it mean to be a Christian in the 21st century? What do our lives of faith look like? Our evangelism? What do we, as followers of Jesus, have to offer the world around us? How do we best…
Elon, empathy and immigrants
On Feb. 28, Elon Musk took aim at “empathy” on a Joe Rogan podcast. He said empathy is “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.” Barely one month later, April 1, in a New Yorker interview, Al Mohler, president of Southern…
These teachers taught me how to do nothing
My undergraduate Baptist college adviser was looking over his glasses at me as I prattled on and on about all I was doing. In my final semester, I was taking 18 hours in an attempt to pull a final-semester 4.0…
Be like the Little Hummingbird
There is a children’s picture book called The Little Hummingbird that I absolutely love. It’s based on a fable by the Quechuan people of South America and tells the story of a forest ravaged by fire and the response of…
What Cara Meredith’s book gets right about church camp
After growing up in a Christian cult (Bill Gothard’s IBLP of Shiny Happy People), I found freedom working at a church camp one summer when I was 21. Showing up with my waist-length hair, ankle length skirts and long list…
7 organizational pitfalls that keep churches stuck
A veteran airline pilot once told me, “Even the most advanced aircraft won’t go anywhere without regular course corrections.” The same is true of churches. While rooted in timeless truth, churches must constantly assess whether they’re still aligned with their…