In the summer or 1968, as a high school student, I attended Debate Camp at the University of Georgia. During that time, we learned the ins and outs of debate tactics and processes, and we practiced on each other. The…
The gospel according to Cory Booker
If you’ve turned on the news in the last two days or scrolled through social media, you’ve heard the name Cory Booker. He’s the senator from New Jersey who just broke the 68-year-old record for the longest speech in U.S….
Here’s what we’ve been talking about on ‘Highest Power’
It’s been one month since the launch of my new podcast with BNG, Highest Power: Church + State, which is currently ranking within the top 20% of all podcasts nationally. “I’m thrilled with the podcast and what you’re doing here,” BNG…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Beth Allison Barr
Beth Allison Barr holds the James Vardaman Chair in History at Baylor University. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the new book Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry and…
Earthquake and airstrikes devastate the people of Burma
On March 28, in the Mandalay and Sagaing district of Burma, the people there were hit with a devastating earthquake. At magnitude 7.7, hundreds — maybe thousands — have been injured or killed. Not long after the earthquake, the Burma…
Trump seeks to gild American history at the Smithsonian
President Donald Trump’s executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” targets the Smithsonian Institution — which has, he contends, “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology.” This was the 105th of 107 executive orders Trump has signed…
Allow me to rattle you a bit
At 6:57 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, March 28, I got a message from Acharn Soonthorn Soonthorntarawong with an appeal to me saying; “Please pray for us. Today, the earthquake was quite strong (7.7) for us. Our 2 children’s buildings…
The SBC’s clergy sex abuse database is dead, so why the hotline?
After years of trailing out hollow words, impotent task forces and phony dog-and-pony shows of purported reform, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top CEO straight-up admitted that a database of clergy sex abusers is “not a focus for us.” This bit…
Waiting for Madge
He stood red-faced and fuming in the courtroom at the verdict that had just been handed down. His defense had called the trial “a witch hunt,” and he would publicly denounce his conviction as a miscarriage of justice. A jury…
A Catholic vice president shouldn’t bless war crimes
Officials in the Trump administration are facing intense scrutiny this week after it was revealed that National Security Adviser Michael Waltz accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, in a group chat on the Signal encrypted messaging app. The…
If you want to criticize Jasmine Crockett, you better criticize Trump first
President Donald Trump has unleashed a torrent of vileness against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D- Texas, for calling Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “Governor Hot Wheels.” Whether you like what Crockett said or not, Trump and his allies have ceded all…
Will they know we are Christians by our love?
In church Sunday at First Baptist Asheville, the pastoral resident, Will Arledge, quoted a hymn from my childhood, closing a prayer with, “Let them ‘know we are Christians by our love.’” I was a child in the 1970s when this…