Joseph Andrew Haynie’s eyes were blue. Reading his Army discharge papers fifty-eight years after his death, I learned this simple fact. Joe Haynie married Katie Louise Clyde in the tumultuous year of 1941 – and left not long afterwards for…
Rights and offenses: The Confederate flag
On Friday, July 10, at the South Carolina Capitol, the Confederate flag was removed. On Sunday, July 12, at my church, the Confederate flag was prominently displayed. I saw the oversized flag attached to the back, right-side of an oversized…
Are Biblical values under attack in the U.S.?
Earlier this month a friend sent me an email that was mainly Dennis Prager’s June 30 article titled “Court Calls an End to Judeo-Christian America.” (That piece on Investor’s Business Daily’s website can be read .) Prager, a nationally syndicated…
Marriage equality — what have Christians lost?
Should Christians who are celebrating marriage equality empathize with those who are grieving over the Supreme Court ruling? A call for such empathy recently came from a colleague in ministry who wrote, Whether or not you agree with those who…
What does it mean to be a Bible believer?
Kevin DeYoung, pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan recently wrote a piece titled, “40 Questions for Christians Now Waving Rainbow Flags.” He laments that some within his evangelical ranks (friends, family members, church members) are “giving their…
What I said to my conservative church about same-sex marriage
Preacher, if you are at all like me, as you were preparing to write your sermon this past Sunday, your mind kept going back to the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage. Last Sunday it was still so fresh that…
How being a pastor changed my thinking on homosexuality
I managed to make it through college, seminary, and grad school with most of my prejudices intact. I won’t overstate my bigotry: “I had gay friends,” but I was the kind of person who would use that phrase when defending…
Riding the winds of change: How we can adjust to the same-sex marriage ruling
Goodness! There has been a virtual flood of words since the U. S. Supreme Court proclaimed that same-sex marriage could not be outlawed by the states. So much so, that I hesitate to add to the mix. But, like any…
Been there, done that: Some Baptist ministers have already officiated at same-sex marriages
By Jeff Brumley Same-sex weddings are the stuff headlines are made of these days — especially when Baptist ministers are embracing the ceremonies ruled legal in every state by the Supreme Court last Friday. The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., recently featured Jason…