My mother-in-law loves me. I know I’m in her good graces, and she considers me part of her family. I can testify to such assurance because she lavishes me with her chosen form of affection. Her delivery method? Arguing. She’ll…
What should we make of the curious case of Wendell Berry and a University of Kentucky painting?
Judge Thomas Wingate, circuit judge for the 48th judicial district in Franklin County, Ky., has dismissed a lawsuit filed by writer and Kentucky farmer Wendell Berry and his wife, Tanya. Their suit sought to stop the University of Kentucky from removing a…
Bless your heart for producing professionals and satisfied saints when radical prophets are needed
A recent webinar with my alma mater made me realize theological schools and the church face the same challenge today: How to be risk-takers in a world that only values stability. Let me say upfront, I’m not someone you’re likely…
Where is hope to be found in the first week of Advent?
These next four weeks of Advent build a sense of anticipation for the birth of our Lord. We prepare every week with grand themes: Hope, Peace, Love, Joy. We light candles to symbolize these themes of anticipation and preparation. It…
The church in America needs to recover its balance
Have you ever been walking along and lost your balance, one part of the body out of sync with the other parts, and you weren’t sure where you might land? The church in America is there. The lack of balance…
The recovery of empathy
The lowest form of knowledge is opinion. It requires no accountability and understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our ego and live in another’s world. — Plato Recently I was reading the…
I have a few choice words for people protesting public health directives. Then I hear that still, small voice.
As disciples of Jesus, we do not have the luxury of hating people, writing people off, dehumanizing them or wishing them ill, even when they are acting in the worst ways possible.
BNG’s Top 25 of the decade
Presented here are BNG’s top 25 news and opinion articles during the past decade.
Returning from sabbatical, I was reminded: I am unnecessary but not insignificant
I have a role, just as each of us who gets caught up in the in-breaking of God in the world has a role. But that role only has meaning in the context of a community that struggles together.