If you could ask a fish, “How’s the water?”, the fish would probably respond by saying, “What in the world is water?” That was the observation of David Foster Wallace in a commencement speech at Kenyon College used to illustrate…
Going to bat — the only way humans thrive
I can’t think of many times in my life when I have felt as if no one would go to bat for me. In fact, whenever I tell the story of how I came to faith and later discerned a…
What’s driving religious freedom debate in the U.S.? Fear, say some.
It was just about a year ago when Baptist writer and minister Corey Fields wrote a column critiquing a spate of “religious freedom” bills pushed through statehouses around the country. Indiana’s version was one of the more high-profile measures. It…
To such as these
It was the last place I wanted to be that night. It had been a long day, and now I was crammed into a hot and crowded school auditorium for my son’s school music program. I gave him a thumbs…
It’s not about the ‘thank you’
By Corey Fields It’s a story that has stuck with me ever since I heard it. When I was in high school, I had a mentor and Bible study leader who went to Honduras every year with her undergrad students….
Christian stuff the world needs, part 3: Fear not
By Corey Fields We hear a lot about the declining influence of the church. Christians today, however, have a very urgent opportunity to provide what I believe can be the most powerful prophetic witness to some serious moral issues. This…
Christian stuff the world needs, part 2: Lose your life
By Corey Fields We hear a lot about the declining influence of the church. Christians today, however, have a very urgent opportunity to provide what I believe can be the most powerful prophetic witness to some serious moral issues. This…
Christian stuff the world needs, part 1: Welcome the stranger
By Corey Fields We hear a lot about the declining influence of the church and decreased religious participation. I can’t help but think that this has been partially self-imposed by our tendency to let issues of individual morality and other…
Home field advantage
By Corey Fields We recently visited my wife’s family. Up where they live, you watch a lot of Yankees baseball. At one point they were playing a series against the Rangers in Texas. In one of these away games, the…
When boundaries don’t behave
By Corey Fields I have a childhood memory of driving with my family across state lines and, in bewilderment, asking my mother where the line was. That may have been my first introduction to the arbitrary and human-made nature of…
Beyond belief
By Corey Fields Last month, former Seventh-day Adventist pastor Ryan Bell (not to be confused with Rob Bell) dropped the bombshell: he doesn’t believe in God anymore. His story has hit national media outlets such as NPR and the Huffington…
Communities, borders and ‘persons of peace’
Corey Fields “We pray and walk through our community, looking for persons of peace with whom we can connect.” “Persons of peace.” That’s a term I’ve heard multiple times during my summer sabbatical study of how churches are engaging in…