Conservative evangelicals claim to be the arbiters of truth in a post-truth world. But if we take a moment to consider how the last few months have gone, we’ll notice a pattern emerge. Story after story, conservatives are the ones…
A picture is worth a thousand words, but so is a video
I was stunned while watching the news on a recent night. Network footage showed Kamala Harris and Tim Walz arriving in Savanah, Ga., to begin their two-day bus tour across South Georgia. Waiting at the bus were almost two dozen…
Love God and fart around, the gospel according to Vonnegut
Diana is a tattooed heavy metal headbanger. She and I bonded instantly over our mutual fondness for Iron Maiden. She’s somewhat of an agnostic with strong Buddhist leanings so, naturally, she is a beloved member of the Baptist church I…
Learning humility together as we read the Bible
Just as the Bible itself was a community project, so also God invites us to interpret Scripture in community. Yet anybody who has been in church for five minutes knows Christians disagree on how to apply the Bible in everyday…
Why you should be wary of preachers who are certain about everything
The minister of my Southern Baptist childhood church was a study in contradictions. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of my alma mater, Wake Forest University, he was an evangelical conservative; however, before my meeting with the ordination council of the…
The urgency of humility for the healing of land and hearts
As we enter 2022 with no little trepidation, I write of the urgency of humility for the healing of our land and hearts. Someone has quipped, “Few speak of humility humbly.” Nevertheless, I proceed. The word “humility” comes from the…
Is your kind of Christianity divine or human?
The American church today needs to distinguish between what is from God and what is human and historically conditioned. We could do this by observing how people do the will of God. Matthew 7:20-21 offers a simple biblical solution —…
‘I am third’ opens our minds toward a Christian political ethic
The great Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers died recently. I admired him for what he did with a football in his hands, but what lingers with me are two books about him I read when I was a kid….
‘What shall I give him?’ Robert Dilday gave a humble heart invested in the right things
Giving our heart to Jesus is not only a private soteriological exchange; it has to do with a reoriented life that puts the well-being of others ahead of selfish interests. It is a persistent attempt to live as Jesus did, in the power of the Spirit.