By Bill Leonard Fifty years ago my parents got divorced after almost 30 years of marriage. A decade or so later, my dad remarried, this time to a “widow woman,” as Southerners say, whom he’d known since childhood. They remained…
Time to prepare for “No Shave November”
Does having a beard make a person more or less effective as a minister? I feel kind of silly even posing the question, because it’s not the kind of question that typically crosses one’s mind—except that I’m in ministry, and…
Praying angry
So much death. So much hurt. We look around now, and it’s all we see. State-sponsored executions, with more to come. Mass shootings. A plane crash in Afghanistan. It’s hard to come away from this with any feelings of hope….
Who represents Jesus? It may not be who you think!
Who best represents Jesus? Those who profess Jesus as Savior, but side with the elite, the powerful, the rich, the oppressors? Or those who stand up for and stand with the little ones? Who is actually for Jesus and who…
Clergy performing same-sex marriages: A new twist on a subject that makes us squirm
Baptists of most ages will cringe at the rest of this sentence, but here goes: Sexuality is in the air. This subject makes us squirm more than a too-long sermon on a too-hard pew in a too-hot church. But as…
Is the pursuit of personal greatness an acceptable pursuit in the kingdom of God?
According to the Synoptic Gospels the disciples apparently had a preoccupation with the pursuit of greatness. Such an interest would be applauded by any business executive or sports coach in our comparative and competitive society. But not by Jesus.
Love already won
My grandmother, Eva Mae Thomas, was my first catechizer and theologian. At the age of 12, she put a pen and notepad in my hand and asked me to “write down all the Scriptures that the preacher says.” There were…
Defining evangelicals with a mirror: A response to Russell Moore
“We demand the freedom of all religious confessions in the state, insofar as they do not jeopardize the state’s existence or conflict with the manners and moral sentiments of the Germanic race. The Party as such upholds the point of…
Evangelism devoid of the Gospel
I returned home mid-afternoon to a rubber-band wrapped around my front door knob. A small booklet was attached to the rubber-band. The words – “THIS WAS YOUR LIFE!” – were printed across the black-and-white cover, all in caps, bolded, inked…