Whenever I’m asked to describe my job as a professional Christian, I usually stammer something along the lines of: “I talk about God for a living.” Or, if I’m feeling especially cynical: “It’s mostly marketing, some plagiarism, and a bit…
Welcoming the visitor: “what credit is that to you?”
A young woman described her experience of moving to a new community and finding a new church home. She wrote of how the church made an inspiring first impression on her: Everybody was super-accommodating, bending over backward to lend a hand….
They are your brothers
The news of late has been enough to depress just about anyone who longs for and fights for justice, fairness, and equality. We have seen states trying to limit a woman’s access to healthcare and limit her right to make her own…
Angle of repose
Death is bigger than us. All of us. And when we brush up against it, we leave wounded—especially when we lose the ones we love (i.e. friends, family, etc). We leave hurt. Over two years ago my wife’s uncle died…
A tale of two Chucks
What a couple of agnostics taught me about congregational business. I have two friends who are particularly dear to me, both named Chuck. I first met The Chucks, as I call them, a few years ago in a writers’ group…
And justice for all
It really, no kidding, could have been my son. My 17-year-old boy, broader than many and taller than most, must seem imposing, threatening even. I know this because a few weeks ago, when my son was in a place he…
God of love?
It seems that most every time I write something about God not hating gays or about what early Christians believed about hell, I get a healthy amount of reaction from people who feel that it is their duty, their holy…
Don’t Worry, Gay Scouts, Southern Baptists Still ‘Love’ You
At last week’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, messengers from SBC churches around the country voted on and approved a resolution concerning the recent change in membership policy by the Boy Scouts of America, which says that “no youth may…
On broken hearts and crazy love
There are never any words sufficient to address the senseless acts of violence that are happening too frequently in our world. Our instinct as human beings is to somehow try and make sense of it all, to find an explanation,…