Toward the end of the movie Conclave, members of the College of Cardinals regroup following a series of bomb explosions that have rocked the Vatican. After a seasoned cardinal demands militant action against Muslims, a younger Cardinal speaks: No, my…
Trump’s tariffs are bad medicine
President Donald Trump’s tariffs are difficult to parse as viable economic policy. While he claims they will be good for the country, the obvious conclusion is that they are bad medicine that will not cure us but make us more…
Concerning diversity, equity and inclusion
“Love casts out fear,” says 1 John 4:18, concerning which the late John Claypool once observed, “As surely as love casts out fear, fear casts out love.” Fear casting out love may help explain the current national obsession with dismantling…
How to read the Bible through the eyes of thousands of languages
If you’re anything like me, you may regularly look up Scripture in more than one English translation, perhaps to get a fresh take on an otherwise familiar text, or maybe when a word in our most trusted English Bible seems…
Are you liberal or conservative?
These two words may be the most politically charged words in the English language. One of the problems is we have let politics, instead of the dictionary, define these words. The primary way to communicate is by the use of…
Why are SBC leaders supporting a group that competes with the Cooperative Program?
In a little over a month, Southern Baptists from across the nation will converge in Dallas for the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. If you put any stock in the latest social media posts, there likely will be several…
Red Dawn: Baptists’ contradictory contributions to the rise and demise of America
In the 1980s, in the throes of the Cold War, huddled in a Baptist college dorm room with friends, I watched the original version of the movie Red Dawn. The film portrays a hypothetical invasion of the United States by…
What advice would my grandfather give a pastor today?
My grandfather Stigall was a walking quote. A man who, by intention or by divine gift, could lay down a zinger with little effort. His thoughts and expressions came out in eruptions. Held in for as long as he could,…
We are afraid but we are standing up anyway
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, seemed horrified and fragile as she spoke a few days ago about being afraid of Donald Trump and his retribution tactics. I understand the fear. I respect the fear. Sometimes, it is good to allow fear…
Numbers, numbers, numbers
According to the Cleveland Clinic website, arithmophobia is a negative response to numbers or numerical tasks that some people exhibit — a condition that evokes such reactions as chills, nausea, heart palpitations and dizziness. I hope you are not one…
America’s strange contentment with political extremes
Reason does not always lead to the best decisions, but it is our best hope for avoiding the worst. — Al Gore At the beginning of each new month, I receive an email from the manufacturer of my thermostat providing…
The seven-talk progression of church youth camps
At the many different white evangelical church camps I called home for nearly 25 years, there was one thing I could count on at the end of a long summer’s day: a progression of seven standard talks given over the…