By Bill Wilson Novelist Walker Percy often said that the trouble with most people is that they are not up to anything significant. In his book Halftime: Moving From Success to Significance, Bob Buford suggests that many of us come…
Learning to love a thermostat God
By Alan Bean “Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world?” This question was originally scrawled in the margin of an Alabama newspaper by an exasperated Martin Luther King Jr. The…
Jackie Robinson’s lesson for the church
By Amy Butler Last weekend I saw “42,” the new film about the life of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. This fact is notable, as I don’t often get to the movies in general and also I am not a big…
Have Christians become opportunistic omnivores?
Opportunistic omnivores. What a great phrase! No, it has nothing to do with ruthless mergers and acquisitions. It’s how our Walk in the Woods guide, Sam, described the black bears in the Smoky Mountains on our hike up Mt. LeConte…
Making room for the Spirit
By Molly T. Marshall St. Ignatius of Loyola sent people on mission with this instruction: “Go, set the whole world on fire and in flame.” Fueling destruction was not on his mind. He had already seen enough of the travesty…
The best/worst graduation speech ever
A couple of years ago, I attended a graduation ceremony at Emory University. The keynote speaker was the chief of surgery at one of the nation’s leading hospitals. I didn’t know him, but apparently he was a huge deal. As you might…
God too big for one religion
By Joe Phelps My journey toward a more lovable God and livable faith took a significant step forward in sixth grade. Mrs. Seymour’s music class at Jefferson Elementary in Dayton, Ohio, in 1966 consisted of singing from a book of…
Gene Puckett, my father, and the best member of our family!
In 1978, Gene Puckett was the major speaker at the retirement dinner for my father, G. W. Bullard, as executive director-treasurer of the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania-South Jersey. He and dad had gotten to know one another in 1966 when…
Partisan solutions no way to fix social ills
By Luke Smith In light of the traumatic crimes of the past year, it is no surprise that we want to soothe our grief by identifying some measurable response that will alleviate our pain in the face of senseless violence…
Life balance for clergy remixed
Life balance is important and necessary for sustained ministry over time, but there are some things that life balance is not.
You don’t bring me flowers anymore
When it comes to observing Mother’s Day at church, traditions vary around the country. Factors influencing a congregation’s contextual practice include geographic location, denominational heritage, liturgical preference, and congregational precedent. In my first pastorate, I inherited that southern tradition I…
Jason Collins and Mother’s Day
By Roger Lovette The recent announcement by NBA star basketball player Jason Collins that he is gay reminded me of a story a friend told about going to a championship football game. As the game progressed, a man sitting in…