I hope reading this column is a good use of your time, and I hope writing this column was a good use of my time, because you and I waste a lot of time. We turn on the TV out…
Being there
A few years ago, I helped an Afghan refugee find a job. He spoke very little English, but he had some plumbing experience from Afghanistan. I took him to an interview at a plumbing company in my town. I worried…
When social media photos transport me
It happens a lot with me in this last month of the year. December being Christmastime and also with more than just a few weddings having been scheduled then, I often see photos on Facebook of people I know, or…
Learning to tell time as a minister
Remember the 1960s song from the group Chicago, “Does Anyone Know What Time It Is?” This is an excellent question for a new year, especially as one does ministry. I retired as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Abilene,…
A New Year’s resolution from Gandhi and a three-word movie subtitle
Gandhi helped free me from prison. Now there’s some fun with syntax and the ambiguity of a preposition. That sentence has two potential meanings: Either Gandhi helped me get out of prison, or, while he was in prison, Gandhi helped…
Maryland senate panel hears two sides of evangelical sex abuse scandal
A Washington-area evangelical church featured in recent reports in an alleged cover-up of child sexual abuse took center stage March 9 at a Maryland state senate hearing. Proposed legislation considered at the hearing would extend the statute of limitations on…
Is church a waste a time?
If I could have more money or more time, I’d take more time. No doubt. There’s so much I want to do in this world, too much to see, to experience, to know. Nothing puts me in a foul mood…