“They stole $77,000. And that was all of my savings.” Her voice was so soft I (Doug) had to lean in to hear her. “I’ve talked with the local police, the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission. The money is...
The centennial of the Scopes trial has come and gone. For at least this calendar year, the print media gave substantial attention to what happened in and outside the Rhea County Courthouse in July 1925. Commentators focused on whatever they believed…
The president of the United States has the power to make unwise decisions but still must follow procedures to do so, a federal court ruled Aug. 14 in a rebuke to the Trump administration’s efforts to purge public schools of…
“Lock the doors, kids.” When I was a kid, I remember my parents telling us to “lock the doors” when we drove into “the city.” This applied both to my hometown of Jackson and to bigger cities like Atlanta we…
Five veterans have been executed since Ron DeSantis became governor of Florida in 2019 with a sixth scheduled to die this month. But a group of former service members wants the killing to stop and are pleading with the governor…
What might be the nation’s smallest Protestant denomination — if you can call it that — has hired its first part-time director. Open Table Network is now in its third year and has approved ordination credentials for 50 ministers in…
Something struck me as odd when I read the news that Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., has become a satellite campus of First Baptist Church of Woodstock in far north suburban Atlanta. Back in the day, Roswell Street…
Sometimes the Spirit’s timing feels downright intentional. Long before federal authorities would assume control of Washington, D.C., policing, our sermon calendar had us turning to Paul’s words about “the peace of God which is beyond all understanding.” This Sunday we’ll…
Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them. (Matthew 15:30) As a parent of a person with special…
Laura Loomer doesn’t work for the government, but the right-wing social media star has President Donald Trump’s ear, and she has used her influence to have more than a dozen top administration officials fired, possibly endangering Americans’ national security and…
Government secrecy had as much to do with the botched execution of Byron Black as the toxic chemical Tennessee used to slowly and painfully take his life, death penalty abolitionist Stacy Rector said. “The state has a law shielding the…
The Trump administration faces yet another challenge in its efforts to deport immigrants who are in the country legally. A federal lawsuit filed Aug. 11 objects to the “sudden and unlawful” cancellation of parole status of immigrants living and working…
Most Christian churches in the Southeastern United States, especially in Alabama, where I was raised, have crosses on the steeples of their churches. During my sabbatical in 2012, prompted by the Celtic crosses on the campus of First Baptist Church…
