I believe this is why Lent is known in the Eastern Orthodox tradition as the season of “Bright Sadness”. This is a time where many in our community are experiencing hardships and suffering: Immigrants who remain strong despite the threats and persecution, couples who have lost a child or are unable to get pregnant, or those recovering from the effects of divorce or alcoholism. The list goes on and on. Read more
This Lenten season it may be easiest to give up chocolate or soda in attempt to curb our indulgent habits and transform our bodies. Yet, Isaiah tells us “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day” (Isaiah 58:3). May this condemnation continue to haunt God’s people. It is often easier to turn inward and address our own pesky personal vices instead of acknowledging the plight of our neighbor and our complicity in injustice. Read more
Well, here we are again. The 40 days of Lent are coming quickly and the road stretches long before us and while I know that the end result is resurrection, I also know it’s going to get a lot harder before it gets better. I know that it is going to be overwhelming and exhausting and that I am already behind. I also know that while the season of Lent is only 40 days, some of us are beginning and continuing journeys that won’t end on April 16 Read more
Criticizing Christian Contemporary Music will get us nowhere. The only thing that is really going to improve worship music is for the church to make the investment in better music, and take responsibility for its proliferation. Read more
Someone might ask why a Christian would seek spiritual refreshment from “foreign” sources. The biblical passage that convicts me comes from John 4, the story of Jesus’s journey through Samaria, where he stopped to rest at the ancient well Jacob had built in Canaanite territory. It astonished his disciples that he would drink from a Samaritan well and talk with a woman, especially a non-Jew. But Jesus did not hesitate to stop beside that well, to quench his thirst from it, and to engage one who regularly drank its water. I believe this story provides a model for us as his disciples. Read more
Are you ready for a fight? Do you just want to punch something? Are you waiting to be provoked? Before you make a fist and take off looking for your first victim, allow me to offer a simple, two-step guide to waging war. Read more
Dear President Trump: I occasionally write my parishioners a word of encouragement after having prayed for them. So I’d like to do the same for you. You are my duly-elected president, and I pray for you to succeed. At the risk of seeming officious, I have experienced some of the same leadership challenges you are enduring. I pastor a church of 1,300 members, so my burdens are considerably smaller than yours, but the principles apply to both of us. Read more
In the heart of Texas cattle country, families gather from around the world. They come from various backgrounds. Some were born in camps on the border of Bhutan and Nepal. Others grew up on family compounds in Iraq or lived in countries in East and Central Africa. Despite their diverging routes, everyone comes with a dream — a good life for their families. What determines a good life? For most of these, it is freedom from fear. With the global refugee crisis reaching numbers not seen since World War II, millions of neighbors are on the move. They are settled in various border countries or resettled by governments in Australia, Canada and the United States, where California and Texas resettle the largest numbers. For Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel Karen Morrow who serves in Fort Worth, Texas, welcoming new neighbors is not just good hospitality, but a moral obligation. Although some state officials have expressed fear of new arrivals, Morrow warned against this type of thinking. Read more
Slavery exists in America. People are bought and sold, but at all costs we avoid calling them people. When slavery ends, Jim Crow laws begin. When they end, marginalization continues in the form of economic and housing discrimination, unjust school funding, and a biased criminal justice system. Read more
Last Thursday, February 2, was Groundhog’s Day! But, I’ve been seeing a different kind of shadow. And I don’t know how many more weeks of bad weather are heading our way. Division has become more than a word in our vocabulary. It’s become a way of life, and making it increasingly difficult to keep people together literally and spiritually in the local church. Read more
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In