By Darrell Gwaltney Following the last presidential debate and referring to President Obama, conservative commenter Ann Coulter tweeted: “I highly approve of Romney’s decision to be kind and gentle to the retard.” Reaction to her poor choice of words was…
Over and under
Overwhelmed and under qualified. That’s how I feel many times when I survey the things that fill my plate. Actually, I should say plates, because on any given day there are a number of plates that I juggle to keep…
Downsizing staff without destroying your congregation
Have you ever been downsized? It hurts, doesn’t it? It hurts the person who is downsized. It hurts their family. It hurts other employees. It even hurts bosses who have a deep, compassionate spirit. Just think what happens when you…
Pitfalls of worship
By Bob Burroughs There are some pitfalls in worship. Sometimes, things go wrong at the right time. We try hard to overcome these obstacles as they appear and try to patch them as best we can with temporary solutions, but…
Seven Reasons Why Christians Should Celebrate ‘Halloween’
Is celebrating a holiday that honors ghouls, demons, ghosts, and everything that goes bump in the night dangerous or even evil? Somewhere, in the halls of history, Halloween or All Hallows Eve, got hijacked. What started as a day to…
Choosing faith and freedom
By Henry Green In Mark 10, James and John ask Jesus for the positions of authority when he establishes his kingdom. The others learn of this and “became indignant” toward James and John for making such a request. In the…
Salvation by works?
Salvation by works. That’s a phrase that is anathema to baptists the world round. Instead, the rallying cry is sola fide, by faith alone. But what if that wasn’t the message of Jesus? We are, I presume, all familiar with…
Billy Graham and politics
My maternal grandmother thought Billy Graham was a saint above all others. You simply could not say anything negative about the evangelist in her presence. She held the same regard for Jimmy Carter, because she considered him a godly man…
Holding your staff accountable
By Bill Wilson At the Center for Congregational Health, we find that many times staff members operate in a congregational world devoid of healthy accountability. Without a thoughtful, rational system in place, evaluation and accountability disintegrate into personal opinion and…