When we announced to the first church we served, in South Carolina, that we were moving to Alabama, someone came up right after church and said, “Here’s the question if you’re moving to Birmingham: Are you gonna say, ‘Roll Tide’…
What about Evangeliphobia?
At the Vital Conversations meeting that I mentioned in my previous blog article, one of the participants asked if anyone had read the novel Christian Nation. No one had been reading it for the last several days. It is an…
Calling out “Calling out ‘American Evangelicalism'”
Calling out “Calling out ‘American Evangelicalism’” On January 19 (2016) moderate Baptist writer and editor John Pierce published a column entitled “Calling out ‘American Evangelicalism’” at https://baptiststoday.org/calling-out-american-evangelicalism/ . Pierce is editor ofNurturing Faith Journal—“the signature publication of Baptists Today, Inc.”
A call for American evangelical leaders to confront evangelicalism’s lunatic fringe
A Call for American Evangelical Leaders to Confront Evangelicalism’s Lunatic Fringe Every religious movement that grows sufficiently large has a lunatic fringe; extremists attach themselves to religious (and other) movements to gain respectability and a “voice”-to influence the movement and…
Starbucks and Christmas
By Alan Rudnick Starbucks red cups are out to bring us holiday cheer, but the response on social media has not been very cheerful. Joshua Feuerstein, a former Arizona pastor shared a video on Facebook that went viral with over…
The 4 realities of 21st century religious life
By Alan Rudnick The Pew Research Center released its 2015 U.S. Religious Landscape Study and it can be confusing to read. According to The Atlantic, it can be challenging to interpret the massive data dump of spiritual information because of…
7 reasons not to participate in Operation Christmas Child this year
Each and every year around this time, thousands of churches around the country participate in an organization called Operation Christmas Child. If you are unfamiliar with Operation Christmas Child, the gist is this: churches distribute pre-printed shoebox-sized cardboard boxes, which…
Jesus medicine
For years I have had a small jar of Mentholatum beside my bed each night. Previously, I used Vicks VapoRub to ease nasal congestion and to help relieve more serious problems such as a sore throat or a nagging cough.
Becoming inclusive
LKS * Born in Grant City, Mo., on 8/15/1938 * Graduated from Southwest Baptist College (Bolivar, Mo.) in 1957 (A.A.) * Graduated from William Jewell College (Liberty, Mo.) in 1959 (A.B.) * Graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville,…