By Michael Ruffin When I was a child, little made sense to me. I did not understand the purpose of life. I did not understand the meaning of my life. I did not understand the power and fragility of intimacy….
Here’s to God!
By Brett Younger During the second Skype interview with the church in Chile I’m now serving as interim pastor while on sabbatical, a lovely woman from Holland said, “We don’t know many Baptists, so we need to ask three Baptist…
The Ebola crisis: watch your language
By Elizabeth Evans Hagan Early in August, I traveled with a Feed the Children delegation to Kenya to visit school feeding programs and a Nairobi orphanage, as I now do about twice a year. Part of my morning routine while there…
Shallow congregations only take off their shoes and socks
By George Bullard Since they only plan to wade into the shallow end of the pool or a few feet into the river, lake or ocean, the typical congregational participant only needs to remove shoes and socks. And we are…
Crisis or opportunity in a world where the Mayberrys have disappeared
By Arville Earl In 1883, Emma Lazarus penned the words to the poem, The New Colossus, to be used in commemoration of and as a fundraising initiative for the pedestal on which would stand the Statue of Liberty. Some of…
Debtors!
By Bill Leonard We recently purchased a new car, the first we’ve bought since 2005. “Sticker shock” is an understatement in 2014. That’s why St. Paul caught my attention with his advice to the Roman Christians: “Leave no debt outstanding,…
The end of church membership?
By John Chandler While visiting friends last spring, Mary and I were invited to worship at a Presbyterian church. Our friends were active and enthusiastic members, and their invitation reminded me of an old truth — that far and away…
I can do more: A lament
By Barrett Owen It’s been a bad month. People are angry. Humans are dying. Cultures are dividing. These are the talking points we have to discuss: Depression is a disease. Ukraine is in turmoil. ISIS just beheaded two American journalists….
Welcoming the stranger
By Amy Butler It’s a pretty commonly accepted biblical mandate that we welcome the stranger. As we’ve witnessed in the news of late, in our better moments we people of faith can manage to cross wide valleys of opinion to…