Baltimore is a great city. It is home to the sports teams I follow, universities, churches, an inner harbor, and more importantly where people live. My mother was born and raised in Baltimore. I was born outside Baltimore in Maryland…
More than body cameras needed to stop police violence, Baptist clergy say
By Jeff Brumley Body cameras for police, it seems, are what the nation needs to ensure justice in the wake of last Saturday’s officer-involved shooting death of Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C. Christianity Today published a story Wednesday citing numerous…
What would King say about Ferguson?
Fifty years ago today, on Dec. 10, 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr., was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was 35 years old, and at the time was the youngest person ever to be given the Peace Prize, which was…
The problem of violence
I remember when the Columbine High School shootings happened in 1999. Schools across the country went into lockdown. Most of us were left mouths open watching news reports, trying to process and understand what happened and why. Schools and other…
Church gun giveaways send wrong message
A local church in Troy, NY is promoting a gun giveaway and its not the first church to do so. Churches in Texas and Kentucky have offered gun giveaways. The practice of a church gun giveaway sends the wrong message. Is it wrong…
When violence visits your church, how ready should you be?
Wednesday morning, July 10th someone started two small fires inside Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. As of this writing fire officials are calling it arson and an investigation continues. The damage was small in economic cost; probably less than…
There is no them, only us
As a pastor, even in the free-church, priesthood of believers, Baptist tradition, I feel a need to respond and minister in a profound way when tragedy strikes. If I’m being honest, part of that tug comes from my understanding of…
Boston is about us
When I recovered from the initial shock and horror of the Boston Marathon bombing, I automatically switched into advocacy mode. “Please, God,” I thought, “don’t let the perpetrators turn out to be foreigners or immigrants.” I am not proud of…
Our culture of violence requires adaptive change
I owned one gun in my life. It was a single shot 22-gauge rifle. My father gave it to me when I was around 12 years old. I sold it to a friend for his grandson 16 years later. In…