New Yorkers go to some attractions only once and then feel the need to make up excuses: “We went to the Empire State Building because my cousin from Iowa wanted to see it.” “I bought cupcakes at the Magnolia Bakery…
Are we still calling him the ‘Good’ Samaritan?
We have known the Parable of the Good Samaritan most of our lives. Yet that phrase is not Scripture. Editors of our Bible translations inserted it at the top of the parable as a helpful aid to our study. So,…
Skipping verses: When the Christmas Kranks read Scripture, at Advent and otherwise
John Grisham’s novel Skipping Christmas got me laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. It was the same with Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon Days, which evoked such uncontrolled laughter that many in the New Year’s Day crowd at the Nassau airport…
It is not antisemitic to oppose the nation of Israel’s atrocities
Reminiscent of the Vietnam War, we stand today on the brink of throwing out the American ideal of free speech in favor of political correctness. Yes, I know it normally is conservatives who cry foul over the dangers of political…
Looking beyond ‘fact or fable’ alternatives in the Christmas stories of Matthew and Luke
One of the learning activities I sometimes used when discussing the nature of Jesus in my New Testament undergraduate classes was a “forced choice” exercise. We moved the chairs to the sides of the room and all the students stood…
Letter to the Editor: A rebuttal on ‘useful idiots’
December 6, 2023 Dear Editor: On November 28, 2023, Erich Bridges wrote an opinion piece in Baptist News Global arguing one should not participate in any demonstration calling for a cease-fire or an end to the Hamas-Israel war because, in…
Letter to the Editor: I was there when CBF was created, and I disagree with BNG analysis
December 5, 2023 Dear Editor: I was troubled and offended by Andrew Gardner’s article “On the SBC, Alliance and CBF and Other Lost Causes.” It was clearly an opinion article and he is entitled to his opinion, but some of his opinions…
The Toxic Evangelical Variant
It’s not an exaggeration to say the evangelical church saved me in every way a person can be saved. They introduced me to Jesus. They became the family my childhood family could not be. They loved and affirmed me. They…
Thank you, Jack
It is with deep sorrow that I received news that Jack Causey had died. Jack was a friend in the deepest sense of the word. He was my mentor, my pastoral supervisor in my doctor of ministry program, and was…