Like most people born and raised in Biloxi, Miss., theologian Russell Moore grew up about 10 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. It cost too much to live near the water, but that didn't really matter since the sights, smells and rhythms of the coast defined the whole community. Driving away from his hometown has always been emotional, but the last time he pulled onto U.S. Highway 90 was different. Hurricane Katrina was terrible. Now, the locals are facing what some writers have called "Katrina … [Read more...]
Memory eternal: Healer for the healers
March 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Some of the seminarians in the Bible Belt chapel were shaken when Dr. Louis McBurney described -- in gentle, but clear terms -- the hurdles and pitfalls that awaited them in their first churches. "I talked about ministers' problems and how, sometimes, professional counseling was what was needed," said the witty physician, whose counseling work was built on his evangelical faith, as well as psychiatric credentials from the Mayo Clinic. "When I was through, the seminary president strode to the … [Read more...]
Out the church door
September 24, 2008 By Leave a Comment
At the last church she attended before dropping out, Julia Duin was not impressed with the service opportunities available to her as a single woman.She could do child-care work, greet people at the door or join the women in the altar guild. However, since her journalism work required frequent travel, Duin sought more flexible commitments. Perhaps she could play harp before services? Fill an occasional teaching role, using her seminary training or material from her books? After several … [Read more...]
Sex, sin and surveys
June 25, 2008 By Leave a Comment
It's becoming more and more dangerous for preachers to use the words "sex" and "sin" in the same sentence.Consider this question: Is sex outside of marriage a sin?Say "yes" and millions of believers who are sitting in pews will say "amen." But that same affirmation of centuries of doctrine will offend just as many believers and nonbelievers, giving them an easy excuse to avoid congregations they believe are old fashioned and intolerant."We have to recognize that our historic positions on sexual … [Read more...]
Why God loves New Orleans
September 14, 2005 By Leave a Comment
Wherever they go, preachers are asked to stand up and pray.The Rev. Joe McKeever is the missions director for a Southern Baptist regional association, which is rather like being bishop of a flock that doesn't believe in bishops. This means that he gets asked to pray even more than the next guy with a Bible.McKeever says yes -- on one condition. Before the prayer, he insists on delivering a mini-sermon he calls, "What New Orleans and Heaven Have In Common." McKeever, you see, leads the Baptist … [Read more...]
Did the Disney boycott do anything?
July 6, 2005 By Leave a Comment
Once upon a time, there was a magic kingdom of family entertainment that was loved by values consumers from sea to shining sea.But an evil leader entered the castle and things went amiss. Mighty were his deeds, though he was small in stature. Then a throng of angry Southern Baptists appeared at the gates waving Bibles. Some even began to have second thoughts about paying the mini-mogul to help them raise their children.In time the evil one fell, although people inside the gates insisted that all … [Read more...]
Baylor, Bibles, boots and education
February 9, 2005 By Leave a Comment
Soon after David Solomon arrived at Baylor University in 1960, he realized that one of his new friends had a problem -- this rancher's kid had spent his life in boots."That's all he had," said Solomon, a philosopher who leads the Notre Dame Center for Ethics & Culture. "We went out and he bought his first pair of lace-up shoes. ... That's what Baylor was about, back then. Baylor was supposed to take Baptist kids from small-town Texas churches, knock the dust off them and hit them with the … [Read more...]
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