“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 Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee now has its third leader in 18 months. Jonathan Howe, vice president for communications, has been named interim president following the sudden resignation of Willie McLaurin last Friday. McLaurin was named interim president in…
Yemi Mobolade, a Nigerian immigrant, entrepreneur and Christian community leader, made history in May, becoming the first Black man and first non-Republican to be elected mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado’s second largest city, in more than four decades. A political…
The story of Joseph in the book of Genesis is a common one many of us learned in church or through the popular musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. While it may be an ancient story, it bears relevance…
Willie McLaurin is my friend. However, he doesn’t get a pass from me for lying on his resume. I believe he set the influence of Black Southern Baptists back by two decades or more. If you would have asked me…
“Wicked looks at what happened in the land of Oz — but from a different angle,” the most popular show on Broadway advertises. “So much happened before Dorothy dropped in.” As we shuffled out of the theater at the end of…
It’s back to school time and, in the latest effort of book banning, new state legislation will restrict literature allowed in Texas schools based on a vague rating system about sexual content. House Bill 900, which goes into effect Sept….
These days, it appears Baptist churches and individuals across the theological spectrum are, for a variety of reasons, calling the very name “Baptist” into question. Truth is, that particular Protestant movement was called into question long before the name “Baptist”…
A new anti-racism program will pair some of the nation’s leading experts and curriculum on white supremacy with white congregations seeking to uncover and confront their own histories related to discrimination and race. “In Deed and Truth: Interrogating Legacies of…
Recently, I read about a major leader in a large evangelical denomination who had paid for and plagiarized many of his sermons. I also read the tragic tale of another very respected evangelical “apologist” who claimed to have studied at…
The interim president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee — recently considered a likely candidate for the permanent post — resigned abruptly Aug. 17. A statement from the chairman of Executive Committee trustees said McLaurin had falsified information on…
Recently a pair of mourning doves chose a high shelf on the front of our home to build their nest. They flew back and forth for days, twigs in their beaks, cooing excitedly. When the delicate construction was complete, it…
He was tall, dark and handsome. As his ebony skin glistened in the sunlight, he looked like a Nigerian king. John Lawale was introduced to Jesus by the preaching of Josephine Scaggs, a Southern Baptist missionary from Sapulpa, Okla. She…
