By Bill Leonard At a Baptist gathering several years ago I was approached by an intense, well-meaning, recent seminary graduate (aren’t they all intense and well-meaning?) who rushed up and declared: “I’ve just seen Dr. James Dunn and he looked…
A lavish welcome to the table
By Amy Butler I’ve always been a little sensitive about being left out, and I don’t even need a therapy session to tell you why. When I was a little kid we would visit my grandparents every summer, and during…
Which direction are you headed in?
By Scott Dickison My dear professor, the late Peter Gomes, used to say about preaching, If you don’t know where you are headed, any road is sure to take you there. I’ve come to believe this wisdom applies to more…
When the Klan came to our revival
By Brett Younger Melanie was — depending on who you talked to — sharing the love of Christ or trying to cause trouble. Forty-five years later I like to think it was both. Nixon was president, gas was 36 cents…
Pursuing a well-lived life
By Molly T. Marshall Recently I had the privilege of attending a presentation at the Yale Club in New York City to hear a report on the project that seeks to ascertain what it means to live a well-lived life….
I want to belong
By Nora O. Lozano I recently taught a lesson for my Sunday school class titled “Equipping the Saints for Ministry” (Eph. 4:1-16). According to this passage, the reason church leaders receive different gifts is to train believers for their particular…
A humble plea: Go easy on your pastor
By Corey Fields I recently attended a retreat for pastors. The facilitator led us through times of worship and discussion about Sabbath-keeping and self-care. The need for this is pretty well documented. The statistics tag pastors with poor physical and…
To countless Baptists, James Dunn was an instrumental influence
By Aaron Weaver “A Texas-bred, Spirit-led, Bible-teaching, revival-preaching, recovering Southern Baptist.” That’s Dr. James M. Dunn (June 17, 1932 – July 4, 2015) in his own words. He definitely was that but he was also so much more. He was…
The biggest losers
By Jason Coker Several years ago when I was working at a church in Dallas, I was wondering if Texas was part of the South or not. I am from the Mississippi Delta, so it was a real question. I…