I had the difficult task of trying to teach the story in 1 Kings 18:20-38 to some elementary school age children. I wasn’t sure how to explain it both in a way that they would get it and in a…
In defense of the profane
A few years ago, I was down in Atlanta to preach. I flew in on a Friday afternoon and later that night I met up with my sister and cousin to celebrate another cousin’s birthday at a local bar. We…
And the women were there
In her memoir Mighty Be Our Powers, the Liberian grassroots activist and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee said: Modern war stories often resemble each other, male commanders are quoted offering predictions of swift victory, male diplomats make serious…
Winter’s here, but Christ is near!
By Elijah Zehyoue My friends, I hate to be a downer, but someone must say it: It’s December, and for where I live that means winter is here. Prepare yourself for winter. Prepare yourself for the snow, the cold weather,…
#SayHerName: A shoutout to my sisters in the wilderness
By Elijah Zehyoue #Sayhername! Tell her story! Her name is Hagar. And her story is this: As soon as the Bible begins, we learn of Hagar. As Sarah’s slave we can presume she has been with Sarah and Abraham for…
The power of a pamphlet
By Elijah Zehyoue Recently, I was in Colonial Williamsburg with the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty Inaugural Fellows Program. As a BJC Fellow, we got to spend the week learning about early America, religious liberty and, of course, Baptist…
Study: church diversity does not guarantee diverse thinking, beliefs
By Jeff Brumley Many think of multiracial congregations as places where understanding grows between blacks, Hispanics and whites on social and justice issues. But a newly published study suggests that the opposite is true in many such congregations. Instead, it…
Jesus and our restrictive pools
It’s happened again. Fortunately, this time no one was shot or killed, so we can breathe a collective sigh of relief. That is, relief in the sense that innocent black children were “only” traumatized, their lives were “only” threatened and…