When Baptist News Global Executive Director Mark Wingfield asked me five years ago if he could publish my piece comparing King George in Hamilton to Calvinism’s God, I had no idea the opportunities his invitation would bring me. One of my favorite…
The inhumanity of SBC leaders’ indifference
“Where are the SBC leaders who will call Allen Jordan to account?” This was the question Mark Wingfield posed in a June 24 column, and I’ve been pondering it ever since. In part, I ponder this because it’s personal —…
Michael Jackson’s legacy still shapes music, culture and careers
Sixteen years ago today, on June 25, 2009, the world stood still. Michael Joseph Jackson — The King of Pop — died suddenly at age 50. His voice, vision and unmatched creativity remain unmatched, and although he left the earthly…
When lies pass for truth, the light dims for all of us
When lies pass for the truth, something in democracy disappears. Since conservatives insist liberals are lying and liberals insist conservatives are lying, somebody in the house of democracy is not telling the truth. The standard theme of anti-Trumpers long has…
We need to listen to Fred Shuttlesworth again
Fred Shuttlesworth and I grew up just a few miles from each other. He was Black and I am white. He lived in a city nicknamed “Bombingham,” while I lived in what white people called “the City of Churches.” How’s…
Why Trump’s vulgar diplomacy is dangerous
In one week, President Donald Trump did something no U.S. president has done so brazenly in the history of the Republic: He praised God for bombs being dropped on Iran, then pivoted to call for a cease-fire, only to later…
Where are the SBC leaders who will call Allen Jordan to account?
For a decade now, the Southern Baptist Convention has abided a voracious liar in its midst and done nothing publicly to silence him. That liar is Allen Jordan, who lives in Houston and is the most persistent denier of a…
Jesus, the Moral Stranger
Theologian Miroslav Volf writes, “I’ve come to believe … that the Christ of the Gospels has become a moral stranger to us.” He adds, “If you read the Gospels, the things that profoundly mattered to Christ, they marginally matter to…
‘Somebody get me my walking shoes’
“Speak up for the voiceless. …. Defend the rights of the poor.” Those words from Proverbs 31:8-9 are among the many in Scripture that call the people of God to a life of empathy and advocacy— a wide stream of…
‘Here we are’
Twenty-one years ago this month, I attended my first ever Pride Festival. I was living in Chicago at the time, and many of my new friends in our master of music program at Northwestern were going and invited me along….
In conversation with Katie Gaitan
This spring, graduating Baylor University English/political science major Katie Gaitan sat with me in back-to-back classes. She was smart and compassionate, always prepared and an incredible resource for me as a professor. As the semester moved toward a close, she…
We need a new (and better) Stuttgart Declaration
I was a new staff member when I heard some helpful advice through the church grapevine: My job security depended on the orientation of the blinds in my office windows. Church members wanted all the blinds in the building to…