I think I might have been insulted by a good friend recently, but I’m not sure. In a text message between Sharon and my friend Charlie, he described me as “the only Baptist I know.” If you knew Charlie, you…
God bless the USA but don’t mess with Texas: Reflections on America by a native Texan returning to Texas
I recently returned to Texas after living in Boston for the last several years. I grew up in Texas. I’m not unaccustomed to the culture here, but sometimes I’m a bit taken off guard by aspects of West Texas culture…
Does the church in America need a new Barmen Declaration?
It is not the first time this question has been raised, but I ponder it here: Does the church in America need a new Barmen Declaration? In late May 1934, the Pastors’ Emergency League met in Barmen, Germany. Dietrich Bonhoeffer…
Politics, partisanship and the powerless
Can you think of a word more maligned than “politics”? Some people believe it’s a dirty term affixed to a despicable craft. That’s because, for the most part, it’s practiced so poorly. People watch politicians engage in politics, and they…
On the collapse of Christianity into politics
A friend sent me this piece in Salon, posted under the provocative title, “How Evangelicals Abandoned Christianity and Became ‘Conservatives’ Instead.” I was not familiar with the author, Nathaniel Manderson, who identifies himself as an evangelical pastor trained at a…
Listening and learning from the SBC: Does the buck stop here?
Tom Buck, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, was quoted last week after the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting as stating, “We gave more than $225,000 to the SBC, and we feel like we have no voice.” Earlier…
Continuing our retreat from Jesus
This is a photo of me with my father in the upper deck of the New Orleans Superdome at the Southern Baptist Convention in June 1990. We were two of the nearly 40,000 messengers who gathered that year for a…
Kentucky scholar warns the U.S. risks ‘losing its soul’ through hatred
The United States needs a “movement of heart and spirit” to address a moral crisis that places the country in danger of “losing its soul,” warned the leader of a seminary institute dedicated to Black church studies. In an opinion…
When politics becomes religion
Politics sometimes becomes religion for people. This is a fact. It is dangerous when politics becomes religion for people. This is my conviction. This phenomenon seems most likely to happen when a culturally established religion fades to become merely politics,…