Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them. (Matthew 15:30) As a parent of a person with special…
‘Pro-family’ policies may worsen American women’s maternal health
Christian groups that identify as “pro-family” say America’s declining birth rates are an urgent crisis, and they support President Trump’s efforts to spawn a “baby boom.” But policies promoted by these groups may actually make becoming mothers more difficult —…
Johnson gives ‘glory to God’ for Trump’s big bill but others say God is mocked
While Speaker of the House Mike Johnson gave glory to God for final passage of the “big beautiful bill,” other religious leaders decried the legislation as un-Christian, un-American, evil and dangerous. On July 3, after the House passed the bill…
‘Big beautiful bill’ is ugly, BJC webinar shows
President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” is downright ugly when it comes to education, health care and hunger, social justice advocates said during a webinar hosted by Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. The gigantic budget measure now before the…
What Joni Ernst doesn’t understand about heaven
Growing up, my family played a game. It’s a game that today drives my wife crazy. “You all speak in movie quotes,” she says. “Who does that?” We do. I do. For as long as I can remember, we’ve performed…
You won’t believe our story of Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse
Three days before what we thought would be my wife, Ruth Ellen’s, final surgery for stage three breast cancer, my mind was racing as I was trying to finish moving out of our old house while confirming plans for where…
Renewing our baptism in a time of cruelty
This week, Common Dreams reported on the federal budget outline approved with a party-line vote in the House of Representatives, noting: Republican hardliners are also reportedly pursuing changes that could force states to end their Medicaid expansions, which would strip coverage from…
Supreme Court considers whether states may prevent people covered by Medicaid from choosing Planned Parenthood as their health care provider
Having the freedom to choose your own health care provider is something many Americans take for granted. But the Supreme Court is weighing whether people who rely on Medicaid for their health insurance have that right, and if they do – is…
What will your church do, if …
On Dec. 1, 1955, a Black woman named Rosa Parks, sitting in the “no man’s land” of a Montgomery, Ala., bus, declined to relinquish her seat to a white rider as required by law. The refusal led to her arrest…
Terrified yet courageous in the face of violence, Mountain Moms survive together
I was undoubtedly one of the only men ever to visit Mountain Moms, a group formed precisely to heal the wounds that men have inflicted on their wives, their girlfriends, their mothers, even. What reason did they have to trust me with their stories?
Living in poverty is hard work
Too often people in the United States see individuals like Glynda Jackson and Tamara Daffron and completely misjudge them. They associate low income or receiving eligible benefits with laziness as if living in poverty was a choice. “I don’t know anyone who would choose to live in poverty.”
Southeast Kentucky: Enduring images
Despite — and possibly because of — the struggle and vulnerability in Kentucky’s rural communities, the images that truly endure are those of strength, resilience and the grace to still discover both within yourself.