I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. After all, we mostly don’t keep them. Given what we’re facing in 2024, however, it might be a good idea for us to think about how we can avoid a repeat of the…
One thing that must happen in 2024
For the sake of the world, for the sake of the church, for the sake of the nation, for the sake of the truth, one thing must happen in 2024: Donald Trump must be defeated. Not just defeated in the…
Pope Francis vs. John Piper: Two views of ‘masculinizing’ the church
“One of the great sins we have had is ‘masculinizing’ the church,” Pope Francis admitted to the International Theological Commission last month in what could potentially become the most impactful theological repentance of the year. “Women have a capacity for…
The nail in the board: Careless words always leave a mark
A good friend recently shared an analogy with me that made a deep impression. When he was about 10 years of age, his Sunday school teacher told his class of boys: “You can drive a nail into a 2-by-4 and…
No room in the inn: The story revisited
In July 2021, when we adopted our daughters, I left my pastorate to focus on their transition into our family. I took a job that following August as a night auditor at the local Hilton property. This has been a…
On Al Mohler, Paige Patterson, Bill Clinton, Immanuel Baptist Church and Baptist polity and politics
“Local church autonomy” is a Baptist distinctive selectively used. As evidence, consider Al Mohler’s position on Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark., 25 years ago when then-President Bill Clinton was a member there. Mohler, relatively new as president of…
J.D. Salinger, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and why Christmas is in trouble
Christmas has been in trouble for a long time. This year, decorations were out in Home Depot just past Halloween. And have you seen some of the yards around town? The Star Wars characters in the display down the street…
My five book recommendations for 2024
No 1. Saving Us, by Katherine Hayhoe I attended an event in Charlotte in early spring hosted by numerous environmental groups motivated by faith and/or science. I asked an attendee, Karen, who writes a weekly blog titled “Unheating,” what is…
America may not be as much ‘post-Christian’ as post-white Christian
Many American societies are beginning to be understood as “post-Christian.” Churches are hemorrhaging masses of disillusioned congregants as Christian cultural norms are losing their grip on public discourse. Even so, there has been a new Christian movement unsuspectingly burgeoning on…