I go to work on Tuesday with a detailed to-do list. If everything goes perfectly, I will end the day writing a column for Baptist News Global. If I get through six of the 10 items, it will be a…
When is enough enough? Living with the myth of scarcity
It was a perfect Sunday afternoon on the Upper West Side. A 15-minute wait at the Popover Café was well worth it for the strawberry butter alone. But patience and luck afforded me the coveted corner booth with ample room…
How will you use your privilege?
There’s a lot of talk today about those of us who have “privilege.” There’s white privilege, male privilege, education privilege, urban privilege, Christian privilege, economic privilege, neighborhood privilege and on and on. I’m not denying any of these are real;…
Remembering with integrity
I had been a freshman in college for hardly a month. I first learned of the attacks when I arrived at a morning class, and spent most of the day huddled around a small dorm room television with new friends….
Questions of the faithful
Hope. What is it? How do I catch it? Will it find me or must I go looking? Love. What is it? How do I catch it? Will it find me or must I go looking? Faith. What is it?…
In a divided society, maybe we should shut up and listen
Years ago my oldest child, who was in kindergarten or first grade at the time, came home from school and told me that he heard one of his classmates use the “S” word. I was like, “Ah, ‘S’ word! Not…
God: Some assembly required?
When I was introduced to God some 20 years ago, God had it together. God was in control. God was sovereign. God had a plan. I needed only to believe. My, how times have changed. Today, I am viewed primarily…
Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony and Adam Sandler: Signs of a church that is more than a museum
Years ago when attendance was pretty low, Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., brought in a consultant who said, “You can either be a museum or a church.” The consultant had been going to the wrong museums. A good church is…
How can a person find contentment in this age of cynicism?
As a child, one of my pastor’s favorite songs was “Happiness Is.” The tune echoes the upbeat refrain, “Happiness is to know the Savior. … Happiness is the Lord.” Instead of virtue, faith and encouragement, 21st-century U.S. culture violates innocence…