By Bob Allen Birthplace of blues legends such as Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Howlin Wolf, the Mississippi Delta is better known for hardship and despair than a message of hope, but faith and community leaders in one small…
blessings.
Ahem, (clears throat, drinks water, begins.) Blessed are the persecuted mega-church majorities, for they own most of the world already. Blessed are those who mourn the loss of Christianity’s cultural power, for they will be trapped eternally in a group…
Jesus and brain science agree: money kills empathy
Although you would never know it from listening to American preaching, Jesus linked poverty with the kingdom of God and affluence with sin. The text of the first sermon Jesus preached was taken from Isaiah 61: The spirit of the…
The taller I become….
We’re remembering the Freedom Summer of 1964 this year, fifty years later. During those momentous times in US history, a broad group of organizations worked together to break the tyranny of the Jim Crow laws in Mississippi. Their primary goal…
I don’t think you know what that means
A popular misconception about professional Christianity is that most of us with business cards reading “pastor” love talking about church. I can’t tell you how many breathless conversations I’ve had with people about the font size of a worship guide,…
Vital Christianity: As I see it
By David Gushee Follow David: @dpgushee Here on the eve of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly meeting in Atlanta, and with other national religious conventions recently in the news (for better or for worse), I choose to articulate what…
Faith leaders say Medicaid expansion moral issue
By Bob Allen Faith leaders urged voter awareness in 24 states that are refusing to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act in a conference call with reporters May 29. “History has not been kind to governors who stand in…
Leaving Samaria for the suburbs
By Trey Lyon I recall my college New Testament professor explaining the words of John 4, “now Jesus had to go through Samaria,” as the author’s way of saying that Jesus went there on purpose, and that going through Samaria…
Keep the gov’mint in our bizness
By Joe Phelps Sunrise Children’s Services, the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s agency for at-risk children, receives $26 million of its $27 million budget — over 96 percent — from government funding, according to an Oct. 31 Courier-Journal report about its ongoing…
How can Christians really help the poor?
By Ken Camp Everyone agrees that Christians ought to help those truly in need but differ on how best to help the poor. Experts say that developing a strategy based on the needs of a particular community can help churches…
Compassion fatigue hinders aid to poor
By Ken Camp Chronic poverty, hunger and homelessness can leave even the most committed Christian feeling overwhelmed and defeated. “After you finish providing one set of meals, more hungry people are in line right behind them. And there’s more after…
Meeting with Malawi leader turns spiritual
By Jeff Brumley Colleen Burroughs went into her unlikely meeting with Joyce Banda last week with a lot of built-in admiration for the headline-generating president of Malawi. But she came away with even more respect and inspiration when the encounter…