By Daniel Wallace While Baltimore and San Francisco fought it out on the gridiron Sunday in New Orleans, law enforcement and ministries across the city were waging a battle against the modern version of the slave trade: human trafficking. Authorities…
Exploring ‘God Behaving Badly’
By Jeff Brumley Kevin Glenn is already hearing the grumbling about his nine-week sermon series on “God Behaving Badly,” and it hasn’t even begun yet. “I have people complaining about the title,” said Glenn, pastor of Memorial Baptist Church in…
Sowing virtue
By Molly T. Marshall I am spending a week with our seminary students at a Benedictine monastery in northwest Missouri. Not only do we participate in prayer with the monks five times a day, we also study the ancient Rule…
Baptists open eyes to Epiphany
By Jeff Brumley For Christians who observed Epiphany on Sunday, Jan. 6, the holiday signified a formal end to the Christmas season and the world’s recognition of Jesus’ divinity. While it meant all of that to Baptist minister Don Flowers, for…
Three ways to spend Christmas book money
In 1500 Dutch humanist and theologian Desiderius Erasmus wrote to a friend, “When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.” Thanks to gift cards from Amazon or Barnes and…
Casting visions from the pulpit
By Jeff Brumley Some pastors may look forward to — and even need — a post-holiday lull. But not Doug Dortch, the senior minister at Mountain Brook Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. Instead, he’ll be busy those first few days…
Lessons From Stone Mountain
It all started with my teeth. A couple of years ago I was reclining in the chair of my dentist, Dr. Uetsuki, waiting for the nitrous oxide to kick in. “Are you doing anything special for New Year’s?” he asked…
Making spiritual resolutions
By Jeff Brumley New Year’s resolutions usually involve vows of eating better, exercising more and maybe delving into the self-help section at the book store. But for others it also means renewing or reinventing efforts to get right with, or…
Blue Christmas
Last year about this time I was preaching for the Blue Christmas service held at a church in a another city. It’s one of those services where the church gives a nod to the fact that not all people are…