Back in the 1970s, church growth experts fell in love with the “homogenous unit principle.” “People like to become Christians,” Donald McGavran noted, “without crossing racial, linguistic or class barriers.” The pushback was immediate. If the gospel is all about…
The Four Horsemen of the New Atheist apocalypse meet world history through the lens of three new books
I was working as a part-time activity director at a nursing home when Anna approached me, her face shrouded in bewilderment. “This morning,” she said in a shaky voice, “a man on the radio said there are people who don’t…
Listening to the Spirit through the catch in the throat
This has been a hard year. Let me count the ways. In 2020, the ravages of COVID-19 forced Nancy and I to flee our home and move in with one of our children. As 2021 began, we were able to return,…
Understanding the evangelical civil war
According to Peter Wehner, “the evangelical church is breaking apart.” The primary culprit, he says, is Donald Trump. In a feature-length piece in The Atlantic, Wehner acknowledges the historic tensions within the evangelical camp but argues that the advent of…
An ode to the exile generation
A few weeks ago, I had an epiphany. It sprang from an odd source: Episode 178 of a podcast called The Bible for Normal People, “Pete Ruins Isaiah.” Pete Enns is an Old Testament scholar determined to bridge the great…
A cold and broken hallelujah: Learning from the Damaged David
In my seminary days, I was taught that a good sermon or Bible study begins with a provocative question. So, when Nancy and I became pastors 41 years ago, I introduced a Sunday school class with the story about David,…
Confessions of a good white guy
I still remember the hot, sticky spit sliding down my frozen face. School had just let out at the elementary school in Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The year was 1963, give or take. I was standing beside a big…
Is it now illegal to mention the Tulsa Race Massacre in the classrooms of Oklahoma?
On June 1, 1921, the Greenwood district of Tulsa, home to more than 10,000 Black residents, was intentionally destroyed by a white mob. An estimated 300 Black residents died; close to 1,000 were seriously injured. Every home in the 30-block…
If you’re not concerned about the Southern Baptists, you ought to be!
“I just ran into some weirdos in the airport,” Uncle Eugene reported. “You know, the kind with their heads shaved except for a little ponytail at the back.” “I think they’re Hare Krishna,” I said. “Well, whatever,” Uncle Eugene continued…