By David P. Gushee I am grateful to the editors of Associated Baptist Press for holding a place for me while I took a break from opinion writing this summer. Perhaps I will get broken in again by simply offering…
Education ‘today’s civil-rights issue’
By Bob Allen A new kind of “school choice” agenda is gaining ground as more and more young adults — including Christians concerned about social justice — choose teaching in public schools over more lucrative and less challenging careers. U.S….
Time to ban assault weapons
By Miguel De La Torre It has been a horrific day, and as I type these words the day is not yet over. I have shed tears. I have hugged my daughter closer. I have yelled and cursed God. I…
What’s your spiritual practice?
Is our faith something we are or something we practice? Last week, one of the first questions I was asked at the Chaplaincy Institute for the Arts and Interfaith Ministries while attending a training in the art of spiritual direction was: “What…
‘Business as mission’ fulfills calling
By Jeff Brumley Some Christians live out their faith by pastoring churches, visiting prisoners or serving as missionaries. Jordan England does it by designing and selling furniture. “This is my calling,” said England, the 31-year-old owner and CEO of Industry…
Pastor grateful after Colo. fire spares home
By Jeff Brumley A Colorado Baptist pastor feels stunned and grateful in the midst of raging wildfires that have spared his home and church but killed two neighbors and destroyed hundreds of houses. “Numbness and shock – PTSD is what…
Accident reminds editor of life’s value
By Bill Webb I experienced my first ride in an ambulance on May 12 after suffering the first traumatic injury in my 60-plus years. I had been thrown from a bicycle near the end of a leisurely ride with my…
Fixing v. ‘fixing to’
My grandfather had a little phrase, a real “southernism,” that he constantly used whenever somebody asked if he intended to do something. “I’m aiming to,” he would respond. I was never quite sure if he meant by it that he…
Lost Boy’s journey leads to divinity school
By Jeff Brumley International students who have endured war and disease in their homelands are nothing new at Mercer University. But Abraham Deng can claim that and more: as a child, he survived lion, hyena and crocodile attacks along with…