Life moved on, and somehow I missed that two weeks ago the deacons of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., finally took a vote of confidence in Pastor Steven Smith. According to published reports, 59% of those voting supported…
Would today’s Christian nationalists exile Roger Williams — again?
In October 1635, five years after arriving in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Puritan Separatist minister Roger Williams was brought before the colony’s General Court, charged with insisting that magistrates stay out of church affairs; that Native Americans were the real…
Divorce, double standards and debates on same-sex marriage
One of the most helpful books I read while wrestling with the topic of same-sex marriage was a book on divorce. As a gay Christian trying to discern whether Scripture might allow for the possibility of same-sex relationships, I wanted…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Winnie Varghese
Winnie Varghese is an essential voice in the Episcopal Church on issues of race and justice. A fellow Texan, she is the daughter of Indian immigrants. I first met Winnie during her time as priest for ministry and program coordination…
Southern Baptist theology set me up for sexual abuse
I grew up in a fundamentalist Southern Baptist church in Georgia. I was on the “cradle roll” from the time I was six weeks old, and I was at church “every time the doors were open,” as the saying goes….
Find the good and praise it
I would not have noticed them on my own. I would have scanned the skies with my binoculars for hours without success. A sighting would have remained elusive. Fortunately, I had help seeing what I otherwise would not have perceived….
Beauty from ashes: How catastrophe shaped the Bible
On May 30, 1921, the worst expression of racial hatred in American history took place in Tulsa, Okla. My son-in-law, Norman Lee, is a public artist. He recently was commissioned to create an enormous mural in a Tulsa underpass highlighting…
Let them eat ice cream
On Monday evening, Feb. 26, President Joe Biden was interviewed in an ice cream parlor. With a cone crowned with a copious three-scoop serving in his hand and a smirk on his face, he fabricated an announcement about an impending cease-fire…
Broken-hearted patriotism
I have a weekly prayer cycle I try to practice in my morning devotional time. On Mondays, I pray for myself, my discipleship, health, calling and responsibilities. On Tuesdays, I pray for each family member. On Wednesdays, I pray for…