Brett Younger, associate professor of preaching at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta, is one of the best writers in Baptist life today.He is at his best when writing satirical, humorous columns on the church and its various…
Portal of praise: Praise as presage to Advent’s treason
The Manger’s trailhead opens at the portal of praise and genuflecting thanks. Not because heaven arises to piety’s incense. But because Advent’s brush with mortal flesh is a perilous journey, fraught with insurrection’s threat, pregnancy’s scandal, birthed from stabled bed,…
Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to a Syrian-born imam and friend
Earlier this week I sent a text with a Thanksgiving message to my friend Samer Altaaba, Lubbock’s Syrian-born imam who immigrated to the United States a decade and a half ago. I wanted him to know I was thinking of…
Thanksgiving thoughts
Thanksgiving Thoughts In the United States this Thursday, November 26 (2015) is a holiday called “Thanksgiving Day.” I won’t bore with the history except to say it commemorates the survival of the English settlers, usually called “Pilgrims,” of Plymouth Colony,…
‘Jesus was a refugee’: An irrelevant argument
The massive right-wing opposition to the U.S. receiving Syrian refugees is deplorable, and those speaking out in favor of showing compassion for such refugees are to be commended. It is also praiseworthy that many of the latter are Christians, even…
Observing TDoR
So, are you observing TDoR today? Oh, maybe you don’t know what TDoR is. Well, neither did I until quite recently. But it seems to be something worth knowing about and thinking about. TDoR stands for Transgender Day of Remembrance….
‘Frankly, this ruling is appropriate ….’
A couple weeks ago, the Georgia Baptist Convention held “its first-ever sexual abuse summit ” at First Baptist Church in Atlanta. So far so good, right? After all, it wasn’t so long ago that Southern Baptist officials were denying there…
Is legalized polygamy next?
The Bible reading at the first church service June and I attended in Tucson last month (at Shalom Mennonite Fellowship) was Genesis 32:22-32. That passage begins, “Jacob got up during the night, took his two wives, his two women servants,…
In light of the Paris attacks, is it time to eradicate religion?
Paris is where a long trail of blood and tears, meandering through the centuries and from continent to continent, has now stopped – for a brief while. The Islamic State has taken the responsibility for the 129 dead and more…