Lost in thought, I missed my exit. That’s not unusual for me. I once drove almost half an hour past the exit to my own house. This time it was a fortunate mistake. I was driving from Tennessee, where our…
Let’s consider Christian community, nudist colonies and ‘complete transparency’
Early years at a new job will tax the training of even the most well-prepared. A key challenge involves navigating workplace boundaries. It’s difficult to imagine being more well-prepared for my first years as a Christian college professor. And yet….
Red Dawn: Baptists’ contradictory contributions to the rise and demise of America
In the 1980s, in the throes of the Cold War, huddled in a Baptist college dorm room with friends, I watched the original version of the movie Red Dawn. The film portrays a hypothetical invasion of the United States by…
At Nashville’s Hands Off! rally, protesters explain diverse views
On Saturday April 5, at simultaneous events across the United States, tens of thousands gathered at more than 1,200 locations to oppose the policies of President Donald Trump, Project 2025 and the actions of Elon Musk and the Department of…
It’s time to consider once again when to disobey a presidential order
“Ya know, sometimes it takes a lot more courage to live than it does to die.” It’s one of those movie lines worth watching on repeat. In the 1961 Western Two Rode Together, the snobby townspeople want to know why…
23andMmmUh
When I was 5 years old, my father angrily said, “When we get home, you’re getting a spanking.” My mother intervened, saying I had likely heard “that word” on the school bus and didn’t know it was wrong. She was…
MAGA’s accidental argument against school vouchers
Unless you’ve been living under a huge cliché, you’ve heard the raging controversy over Bishop Mariann Budde’s message at the National Cathedral prayer service held in conjunction with the recent inauguration of President Donald Trump. If you missed it, here’s…
Of meth sermons and puke dust
I call it “puke dust.” Remember what happened in elementary school when a kid puked in the hall? So it could be absorbed and swept up, a custodian would come and pour that green sawdust-looking stuff upon the putrid puddle….
How a leap of faith from a bridge killed a part of me that actually needed to die
During my Ph.D. program, I found myself drowning in the deepest depression of my life — and that’s saying a lot. In college, a misunderstanding with a professor had prompted me to raise my dorm window and think very seriously…
Letter to a friend concerned about my peace
So good to hear from you, John Doe! I think about you just about every day because almost every day I see the gift you gave me. I write the following with profound appreciation for your own message. There is,…
Thanks to the college student who prescribed me an anti-pride-essant
Thoughts of suicide hounded me even though I was preaching every Sunday about abundant life. I had suffered from depression and anxiety long before the stress of Ph.D. work. Now the pain was compounded by taking a double full-time course…
Trump supporters’ silence about his threat for vengeance
In the 1990s, my friends on the far left were upset that I favored impeaching and convicting President Bill Clinton for lying under oath. When Democrats on social media were lauding Garth Brooks’ singing of “Amazing Grace” at President Joe…