What you are looking at above is a 1,600-year-old piece of papyrus that was written in Coptic. A New York Times’ article on it set off speculation on whether or not Jesus was married: A historian of early Christianity at…
Following Jesus in a politicized world
By Mike Smith Have you noticed some of your Facebook friends taking a sabbatical from social media during the remainder of the 2012 election cycle? The number seems to be growing. For the most part, they do so because they’re…
Jesus’ “wife”?
On September 18 I glanced quickly at the headlines from the mobile edition of the New York Times and went straight to “A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife.” As a theologian I’m always interested in how such…
A future and a hope
With the retirement of Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal, the departure of many top level staff, and the adoption of a new organizational plan, there is much discussion about the future of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. As one who has been…
Missing pieces
By Amy Butler I’ve never been especially good at doing puzzle-like activities. In fact, I don’t like them one bit. For example, I’ve never understood the attraction of those puzzle books kids take on long car rides. I don’t get…
50 years of confusion about school prayer
Fifty years after the Supreme Court case that excluded required prayers from public schools in the USA, confusion reigns around this issue. One of the easiest ways to rally some conservative Christians emotionally is to proclaim that prayer must be…
Seeking community
By Molly T. Marshall A visitor showed up at church a couple of weeks ago unannounced. She had recently begun to rear her very young grandchildren, in addition to the young girl she had adopted, and wanted them to receive…
On the edge
Not long ago I received two e-mails on the same day. One was from a colleague who copied me and other pastors in his reply to a message from Michelle Obama just before she spoke at the Democratic National Convention….
Three ways to appreciate your associate pastor
Associate pastors, youth ministers, and other staff ministers often do the unglamorous jobs of ministry without much recognition. Associates have a calling and a title, but they often do not preach, must attend church meetings, and juggle several responsibilities which…