The news of late has been enough to depress just about anyone who longs for and fights for justice, fairness, and equality. We have seen states trying to limit a woman’s access to healthcare and limit her right to make her own…
God of love?
It seems that most every time I write something about God not hating gays or about what early Christians believed about hell, I get a healthy amount of reaction from people who feel that it is their duty, their holy…
Mr. Irrelevant
Anyone who spends time with me eventually learns that I love football. I don’t like football. I love it. One of my favorite things about football is the NFL draft. For football players, the draft is the culmination of years…
How to interpret the Scriptures
A church member will sometimes ask how I go about interpreting the scriptures. I am tempted to answer, “On the run,” since I preach and teach several times each week. Thinking more about the question, here are some guidelines. First,…
Is giving an offering — as an expression of worship — dying?
With online giving through a congregation’s web site, or texting a contribution, or bank drafts, or offering boxes in a corner of the worship space or narthex, or discouraging visitors from giving an offering at seeker services, or giving through…
Reading Scripture is like rock climbing
Settling for the “clearest reading” of a Bible passage is not enough if doing so causes the Bible to contradict itself. In a recent interview with the New Voice Media Group (which includes Associated Baptist Press), I used rock climbing…
Vatican II, 50 years later: a Baptist appreciation
Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council by Pope John XXIII on October 11, 1962. My service as a member of the Baptist World Alliance delegation to a series of bilateral ecumenical conversations with…