By Derik Hamby This month I got to sit in the congregation with my 7-year-old daughter. My wife is in choir, so she usually sits with friends. It was nice to enjoy worship with her. I was exiled from my…
Lent for Baptists
By Jim Denison If you’re like me, you grew up in a Baptist church where Lent was a foreign word. Like all things Catholic, it was ignored if not rejected. In recent years, I have come to see the error…
Why Baptists need Martha Stearns Marshall Month
By Kate Hanch Martha Stearns Marshall Month, sponsored by Baptist Women in Ministry each February, celebrates the voices of women in the pulpit. Martha Stearns Marshall lived during the 18th century. Along with her husband, she provided leadership and preaching…
How to interpret the Scriptures
By Mike Smith A church member will sometimes ask how I go about interpreting the scriptures. I am tempted to answer, “On the run,” since I preach and teach several times each week. Thinking more about the question, here are…
White to black — or black to white
By Bob Burroughs It is rare to go from white to black or black to white without passing through some shades of gray. Experience and common sense should teach us that sudden and drastic changes in everyday living, daily schedules…
Racial reconciliation 2012
By David Gushee On Tuesday, McAfee School of Theology hosted a sizable contingent of African-American leaders on our Atlanta campus. Gerald Durley, senior pastor at Providence Missionary Baptist Church in southwest Atlanta, preached in chapel. The sermon began with his…
Are you opening — or closing — your children’s hearts?
By Rabbi Rami Shapiro There are only two ways to raise your children: you either shut them down or you open them up. If you shut them down you raise them in a zero-sum world of winners and losers. You…
Dear Social Media Consultant
By Natalie Aho I am very aware of the switch to social media and the need to use the tools available to connect with people. Yet I am old-school and don’t like computer-mediated relationships. I feel like I should know…
Contraception and the rosary
By Zachary Bailes The Obama administration recently initiated a directive requiring religious institutions to offer coverage for contraception in their health-care plans. Among those raising concerns is the Catholic Church. Contraception and Catholic theology aren’t compatible it seems, and in…