Can faith change a person for the better? I’m convinced it can, and I need look only as far as my one-time husband for proof. Faith has changed the lives of countless Christians in the last 2,000 years, including a man I once knew. We met in college, and I thought he was funny, interesting and intelligent, as well as good looking. We were both products of deeply religious middle-class families and shared many of the same interests and values... Read more
They Can & Here’s How Their ashes rest in an urn in my bedroom. My sister. My nephew…. He shot himself to death on Memorial Day 2017, and she followed suit on July 27. He was 42. She was 63. I try to put thoughts about them behind me. At times, it’s quite painful, but at others, I feel nothing. However, I can’t help but think about them right now. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and this Sunday,... Read more
The college football season is underway, as is high school football, and the pro season will kick off Sept. 7. This season, as with any season, you may expect some NFL players and coaches to talk about their Christian faith, wear crosses or say quick prayers of thanks after big plays. They make Christianity an important part of their identities. On the flip side, atheists or agnostics in the NFL tend to remain quiet about their beliefs. All that said, what... Read more
A Triangle of Biblical Proportions, Murderous Intentions & A Tangled Tale of Love As a cradle Christian, I grew up hearing stories about family conflicts in the Bible. Deception and a determination to ignore God’s will often led to family conflict and even tragedy, especially in the lives of Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, and Rachel and Leah. The Bible describes a trail of sin that winds its way through Abraham’s family from one generation to the next. We... Read more
I don’t have a dog in this fight, but… There’s an old Southern saying that perfectly describes my position on this question about the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC): I don’t have a dog in this fight. I have faithfully attended the United Methodist Church since leaving the Baptist church during college and think it’s up to Baptists to answer the question for themselves. But as an outsider who doesn’t have a dog in the fight, I would like to see... Read more
What Modern Culture, History & the Bible Reveal about God’s Messengers While angels come in all shapes, sizes and temperaments in popular culture, many take the form of humans. Down through history, we have had everything from beautifully painted angels by Renaissance masters to cute cherubs on greeting cards. But what does the Bible say? Are angels real? Or are they simply literary images that biblical writers used to make a point? The Bible has quite a bit to say... Read more
How Christians Are Following God’s Call All too often, we hear stories about contemptable people behaving in contemptable ways. Many of them, unfortunately, are Christians. But I’m here to tell you that Christianity and humanitarianism can go hand in hand, and many times they do. The famous examples include athletes, actors and actresses, and singers, but my favorite story concerns twin sisters whose soup kitchen has fed thousands of hungry people in my own community since 1986. Following are my... Read more
Did you know that blacks benefited from slavery in the antebellum South? No? Neither did I. And neither did Florida faith leaders who are taking a stand against their state’s attempt to rewrite African-American history. We will look at the faith connection shortly, but first, let’s look at the uproar over how race is taught in Florida public schools and consider the question, “Did Slavery Benefit Slaves?” Teaching Slavery’s “Benefits” It seems that the Florida State Board of Education has... Read more
What happens when we die? Death and the afterlife remain two of the biggest mysteries in life because answers about them depend on the ultimate mystery – whether or not a Supreme Being exists. None of us, not even the most devout Christians, can answer even basic questions about God with total certainty. Our beliefs are based on faith. Christian beliefs about death and the afterlife are not easily explained to non-Christians because the three major branches of Christianity –... Read more
Sadly, We Do & We’re Killing Our Religion Because of It Why Are Christians So Mean?…. The headline on a post by Christian author, teacher and blogger Jeremy Myers recently caught my attention. Myers says that Christians behave badly. Are we as mean and badly behaved as he believes? We can be and often are, and therein lies the problem. “Christians are notorious for bad behavior,” according to Myers. “In some recent surveys (reported in books like Unchristian and They... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In