Sorry for sounding so much like a preacher, but I don’t know where else to turn. I keep hearing we’ve had more mass shootings in the U.S. than days in 2023. We seem out of control, and despite their claims…
Ten years after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Americans remain worried yet divided on the issue of gun violence
It’s been 10 years since 20 first graders and six adults were killed during a tragic attack by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School. News of the shooting shocked the nation. The event was one of the deadliest school…
Salvation as deliverance and blessing: Moving from Thanksgiving through Advent to Christmas
It was the Old Testament theologian Claus Westermann who startled me years ago by talking about the two ways God saves in the Bible: salvation as deliverance and salvation as blessing. Most theologians and preachers focus on salvation as deliverance,…
Murders at Club Q open debate on American gun violence once again
Just before midnight on Saturday, Nov. 19, a gunman entered Club Q — an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo. — and opened fire on its guests. Five people were killed and 25 others were injured before a clubgoer subdued…
If you want to offer thoughts and prayers after the latest massacre at a queer club, do so with your actions
Five people were killed and at least 25 injured when a young man walked into a queer bar in Colorado Springs and started shooting. We don’t need any more “thoughts and prayers” after these acts of violence. I’m not saying don’t…
Forsaking Baal for the God who is in recovery
“As much as any other voice in Scripture, Hosea fulfills the child’s dictum, (and) when told that no one knows what God looks like, responds, ‘They will when I finish.’ When Hosea has finished his sketch, we have a full…
Weaponizing America: Every neighbor a threat
Something clicked within me recently while half-listening to a news report. The report concerned yet another police killing of a citizen and, as I recall, the reporter’s words went something like this: “Police chased the man on foot for two…
We know the truth, and it is not setting us free
At the annual gathering of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship last week, I heard at least one speaker repeat the words of John 8:32: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” In fact, as I recall,…
The oxymoron of being both anti-abortion and pro-gun
The recent mass murder events help to nudge the conscience, a conscience that has been beaten senseless by the incessant beating of the anti-abortion drum and the idolatrous-like worship of the Second Amendment. The oxymoron of being both anti-abortion and…