Introductory word: Family Systems Theory calls for a focus upon one’s self, rather than upon another, when seeking to improve interpersonal dynamics. After all, one’s own part within a relationship is the only part one has the power to change….
Rights and offenses: The Confederate flag
On Friday, July 10, at the South Carolina Capitol, the Confederate flag was removed. On Sunday, July 12, at my church, the Confederate flag was prominently displayed. I saw the oversized flag attached to the back, right-side of an oversized…
Are Biblical values under attack in the U.S.?
Earlier this month a friend sent me an email that was mainly Dennis Prager’s June 30 article titled “Court Calls an End to Judeo-Christian America.” (That piece on Investor’s Business Daily’s website can be read .) Prager, a nationally syndicated…
Marriage equality — what have Christians lost?
Should Christians who are celebrating marriage equality empathize with those who are grieving over the Supreme Court ruling? A call for such empathy recently came from a colleague in ministry who wrote, Whether or not you agree with those who…
What does it mean to be a Bible believer?
Kevin DeYoung, pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan recently wrote a piece titled, “40 Questions for Christians Now Waving Rainbow Flags.” He laments that some within his evangelical ranks (friends, family members, church members) are “giving their…
What I said to my conservative church about same-sex marriage
Preacher, if you are at all like me, as you were preparing to write your sermon this past Sunday, your mind kept going back to the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage. Last Sunday it was still so fresh that…
How being a pastor changed my thinking on homosexuality
I managed to make it through college, seminary, and grad school with most of my prejudices intact. I won’t overstate my bigotry: “I had gay friends,” but I was the kind of person who would use that phrase when defending…
Riding the winds of change: How we can adjust to the same-sex marriage ruling
Goodness! There has been a virtual flood of words since the U. S. Supreme Court proclaimed that same-sex marriage could not be outlawed by the states. So much so, that I hesitate to add to the mix. But, like any…
The journey to Snake River and marriage equality
Editor’s note: Bojangles Blanchard is an ordained Baptist minister, a longtime advocate for marriage equality, and a plaintiff in one of the cases which led to last week’s Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. We asked him to share his…
I beg to differ
My colleague in the Baptist ministry, Greg Faulls, has written an article about Christian life in the aftermath of the ruling on same-sex marriage.It mirrors so many others from the evangelical camp, articulating disappointment, angst, awareness of new cultural realities,…
Why Christians can and should support the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality
The Supreme Court’s landmark decision now makes same-sex marriage the law of the land which Christians can and should support. Here’s why.
The Church and homosexuality: Finding a way forward
The months leading up to General Conference are sure to see a raft of proposals on homosexuality in the United Methodist Church. Being a centrist denomination by inclination many of these will seek to scratch out ground for compromise. This…