It may now seem surprising to many United Methodists, and even more Baptists, that for most of our histories in the United States, all Methodists and Baptists were regularly designated as evangelical denominations. The most important reason is that both...
On Sunday afternoons, after preaching, I often feel wrung out — so spent that all I can manage is to sink into the couch with a novel or binge-watch mindless television. Early in my ministry career, I wondered if other…
What happens when a culture loses the concept of anything transcendent above? Truth, goodness and beauty become ends in themselves; they don’t lead anywhere, and they never make you look up. Truth, goodness, and beauty become hevel. Sure, they might…
When an attorney who is a member of a congregation involved in a legal dispute becomes the attorney of record for those seeking to sue that church and its former pastor, does that constitute an ethical violation? This is at…
The crisis in our public discourse is hard to deny. A staggering 93% of Americans feel incivility is a problem and more than two-thirds feel it is a major problem. Moreover, incivility is not just a matter of how we…
Sept. 1 marks a historic victory for child sexual assault survivors in Texas and Missouri. “Trey’s Law” has officially gone into effect, banning the misuse of nondisclosure agreements in civil settlement agreements pertaining to sexual assault claims. In Texas, this…
For many years, my journey in the “care of souls” has led me to walk alongside those who are grieving. This path has taken me from a ministry setting to managing a mental health department in a maximum security prison,…
A nonprofit organization created to promote evangelical Christian curriculum to “opt-in” public school children now has its eyes on Kentucky, where Republican legislators earlier this year created a path for religious education during school hours. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed…
Recently, the passing of prominent evangelical pastor John MacArthur prompted me to reflect on issues concerning American evangelicalism, a movement I’ve been involved in for most of my life. Having attended many of the most prominent evangelical churches and universities…
“We weren’t refugees. We were Americans. But to the world, we were treated like we didn’t belong.” — Ricky Fountain, Katrina survivor now living in Arkansas Twenty years ago today, Hurricane Katrina did more than flood a city; it…
The Trump administration is removing immigrants from Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center after a federal judge ordered operations downsized by late October. The Department of Homeland Security announced the move after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ Aug. 21 order prohibiting…
When a federal judge provisionally rules that a state’s mandate for public schools to display the Ten Commandments is unconstitutional, does that ruling apply only to the school districts involved in the litigation or to all districts in the state?…
A centerpiece of the “big beautiful bill,” as the recently passed tax and spending act was dubbed by President Donald Trump, is a massive funding appropriation for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. The…
