I grew up in Atlanta, Ga. If Texas is the belt buckle of the Bible Belt, Atlanta is that belt’s designer label and matching handbag. Whereas the Church should be a socially-engaged witness in its particular context, my Atlanta church…
REVIEW: In ‘World War Z,’ humanity is on its own
Zombies are hot. They are the new “in” storytelling device. World War Z, loosely based on Max Brooks’s novel of the same name, is the latest to make use of the walking dead as a metaphor. The story focuses on…
OPINION: What now?
The news has finally broken. The most anticipated Supreme Court decisions in a long time were finally released last week. A sharply divided court has ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional as far as its implications for…
OPINION: Piggies matter: A perspective on Baptist meetings
Within the short span of eight days, I attended the General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as well as the biennial meeting of the American Baptist Churches USA. Somewhere in the midst of meetings and reunions and worship services,…
REFLECTIONS FROM NEW YORK: Prayers for all peoples
Imagine you’ve invited your Jewish neighbors over to your house for dinner. Immediately after serving your guests, you question whether or not you should offer a prayer. You think to yourself that both Christians and Jews believe in God, so…
REFLECTIONS FROM NEW YORK: Christian partnership
Understanding the nature of relationships between Christian organizations and one another as well as with non-Christian organizations can often be a difficult task. This is particularly true within the Baptist context, in which each church can function independently from the…
REVIEW: Violence undercuts messianic overtones in “Man of Steel”
One of my greatest problems with the way that films are marketed is when a movie gets the “Christian” label. When a movie gets that tag attached, it just turns me off. My reason is simple: I think movies are…
OPINION: A puzzling decision with difficult implications
It has been about three weeks now since the national leaders of the Boy Scouts made the somewhat unexpected decision to reverse a longstanding policy and allow openly-gay scouts to participate in the organization. In the wake of the Southern…
LEADERSHIP LINK: Church governing documents: Are they necessary?
Baptists have always placed a high priority on starting new churches. As the new churches come into being, one of the questions they face is what kind of governing documents they need. In Baptist circles, four kinds of governing documents…
OPINION: Embrace the sand
I’ve got this little problem that I think I hide well most of the time. I’ve crafted my Jungian mask and public persona to come across as fairly laid-back, cool and collected. At least that’s what I tell myself I’ve…
LETTER: Tea Party parallel is at best a stretch
Your attempt to draw a parallel between SBC fundamentalists and those that might be in the Republican Party is at best a stretch [“Will fundamentalism be with us forever?”]. However, your intention is clear: You are now blatantly political. You…
WINN RECOMMENDS: Books that matter
Summer, the days I believe to be perfectly fitted for fiction, are upon us. Here are a few titles you should not miss. The Dog Stars, Peter Heller (Vintage) A flu pandemic has wiped most of the world’s populate from…