America has a problem. That’s not news to anyone. But it bears repeating again and again until we, as a nation, awaken from our collective slumber and decide to do something to fix it. A week ago Sunday morning, Americans…
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…
Intolerable cruelty is killing us
In 2003, the Coen brothers released their romantic comedy Intolerable Cruelty. The movie wasn’t great. In fact, it’s entirely forgettable, which is why I was surprised I remembered it at all. After reading the news lately, though, I’m now convinced…
Another racist mass shooting and our failure to tend Jesus’ sheep
In worship on May 1, Village Baptist Church read together the words of Jesus when he asks his disciple, “Peter, do you love me?” When Peter responds to Jesus, “Of course, Lord, you know that I love you,” Jesus gives…
On anniversary of El Paso massacre, leaders connect the bullets to beliefs of white supremacy
Two years after the gun massacre at an El Paso Walmart, fears of “the great replacement” continue to stoke violence in America, according to participants in a livestreamed memorial for the 23 killed on Aug. 3, 2019. White supremacists emboldened…
Belmont University student dies in Waffle House shooting
Historically Baptist Belmont University devoted its Monday morning chapel service to prayers for a student whose life was cut short by a mass shooting. DeEbony Groves, 21, was one of four victims killed by a gunman in a Sunday morning…
Parkland massacre takes pastor back to father’s mass shooting death
For one Baptist minister in South Florida, the response to the most recent school gun massacre is visceral. Joe LaGuardia, pastor at First Baptist Church in Vero Beach, graduated in 1996 from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where one of his best friends was fellow student Aaron Feis — the assistant football coach and security guard who died protecting students from gunfire. What’s more, his father was killed in a mass shooting in Pennsylvania in 2013.
Service at Emanuel marks transition to normalcy, worship
In a well-attended Sunday morning worship service at Emanuel AME Church that felt like a purposeful return to normalcy, the Rev. Betty Deas Clark importuned her listeners to trust that the Lord will relieve burdens and provide comfort.
Are social media “thoughts and prayers” helpful anymore?
By Alan Rudnick In the wake of tragedy it has become an automatic response for many Christians: “Our thoughts and prayers are with…” I know, I said it on Facebook and Twitter after the shootings in San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, and…