By Paul Dodd Perhaps this is a word which might describe, acutely and accurately, the present tendency of the military chaplaincy to avoid the so-called “curse of dimensionality,” whereby the multi-dimensional makeup of the chaplaincy becomes increasingly complex and challenging….
Leaving Samaria for the suburbs
By Trey Lyon I recall my college New Testament professor explaining the words of John 4, “now Jesus had to go through Samaria,” as the author’s way of saying that Jesus went there on purpose, and that going through Samaria…
Theological reflections on a bulldog
By Julie Pennington-Russell Our dear English Bulldog, Willie Boy, died last week. Hearts are still at half-mast around here. Back in December of 2005, in a moment of temporary insanity, Tim and I decided to grant our daughter Lucy’s persistent…
Don’t blame Al Mohler, it was God’s idea
By Alan Bean It is hard to believe that two full decades have passed since R. Albert Mohler ascended to the presidency of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. To celebrate this momentous occasion, the seminary has produced…
Keep the gov’mint in our bizness
By Joe Phelps Sunrise Children’s Services, the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s agency for at-risk children, receives $26 million of its $27 million budget — over 96 percent — from government funding, according to an Oct. 31 Courier-Journal report about its ongoing…
Guard your heart
By Alyssa Aldape When I was 6 years old, I was obsessed with the movie Father of the Bride. I still am. Steve Martin and Diane Keaton — what’s not to love? At 6 I was convinced I would marry…
One encounter with the (infamous) Affordable Care Act website
By Michael Poole Politics aside, the new health care bill has deeply affected our family. Seriously! At 59, my wife and I do not qualify for Medicare until 2019. Our deep concerns about “what if” significantly shifted due to the…
Does your pastor need a doctorate?
By Mark Wingfield Hearing a story about yet another medium-sized church in a small town where a personnel committee desired above all that their next pastor have the title “Dr.” in front of his name, I found myself thinking, “How…
The work of praise
By Ken Sehested The Blessed One does not stand in need of our praise; nor sits impatiently, impudently, awaiting our genuflection; nor strides restively, demandingly, threateningly, toward our cowering pose. No, none of this. There is no protection to be…
Why Paige Patterson’s anti-outsider stance is wrong
By Christa Brown Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president Paige Patterson preaches that churches should resolve their conflicts internally and should not take them to “the world of unbelief.” This means, he explains, that when a person has been “offended ……
It’s not about the nail
By Leroy Seat Recently a family member forwarded a YouTube video that is making the rounds, written and produced by Jason Headley, titled “It’s Not About the Nail.” If you haven’t seen it, the 1 minute, 42 second video is…
What Millennials don’t want from the church
By Rachel Sloan Life as a Millennial is hard. My iPhone is over a year old and does not have Siri. The Internet at my apartment is pretty slow. My Apple laptop is HUGE and does not have retina display….