Once upon a time, if anyone used the phrase “purple church,” they might well have been referring to the sanctuary during Advent and Lent; the church’s two annual liturgical waiting rooms, sacred seasons when altars and pastors are draped and…
Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Rosh Hashanah arrives this year at sunset on Oct. 2. Nine days later, at sunset on Oct. 11, the gathering shadows of Yom Kippur will settle over our souls. And halfway between those two sacred sunsets, the sun will rise…
Xenoamora over xenophobia
As the 2024 election season winds its painfully polarized way to another American election day, among the most volatile issues in the fractious orbit of political conversation are border security and immigration. As a public policy question, immigration is complex…
On watching Jesus
All cannot be fully well for any of us until all is finally well for all of us. That is my less artful version of Martin Luther King Jr.’s more lyrical declaration, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere….
Health care is a human right
No person’s health care outcome should ever be determined by their financial income. That is the sort of clear moral truth concerning which people who are Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians, along with people of no faith but…
Jesus and the Ten Commandments
As a person who tries, however poorly, to live as a Jesus follower, I find myself fearing people who have only a casual acquaintance with Christianity might assume all Christians are applauding the recent Louisiana legislation that mandates posting the…
When you’re so conservative you appear to be liberal
Full access to health care for all people, so that financial incomes no longer determine health care outcomes. A path to citizenship for immigrants seeking safety and welcome. Racial justice. Dignity and equality for all without regard for sexuality or…
‘Jesus gene’ guides Together for Hope’s response to America’s vulnerable, Poole tells anniversary celebrants
The “Jesus gene” compels Christians to provide practical help and divine love to vulnerable people, Chuck Poole told participants at the 20th anniversary celebration of Together for Hope June 27, during the first night of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s General…
In Jackson, Miss., the lack of water flows into conversation about God, politics and public trust
Last Sunday, Aug. 28, I was privileged to be in attendance at Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., as Pastor Chuck Poole gave his last sermon after 25 years of ministry and his final splash in the baptismal pool. The…