Is there any part of the American experience that does not involve competitive marketing? The American consumer is daily barraged with product claims and comparisons, with advertisements extolling the superior virtues of one soap over another. We are targeted as a potential jury to judge between...
The early days of the Baptist people in England were marked by disagreements. The disagreements were not necessarily loud and angry…but they did generate some debates and pamphlets. At one point in the early 1800s a new hymnal was written that did not include some of the older Baptist...
It is hard adjusting, I’ll admit it. The situation with Covid-19 is marginalizing the church experience. We are a long way from the 3 or 4 church service routine that some of us grew up with! At this point we meet once a week for over an hour. That’s a big change! On the other hand...
"but these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah..." (John 20:30) We take for granted that things are written down. So much is written today that we have difficulty discerning texts that are of value and those that are not. The phrase "fake news"...
Juneteenth. It sounds strange because it has not benefitted by being embraced by popular culture. But if there was ever a holiday that made sense, this would be it. I mean c’mon, we “celebrate” Halloween. But this date actually has meaning. My experience has been that white...
Luke 10:29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" When I was growing up, I lived in a very segregated town in Alabama. There was a section for Blacks and another for Whites. My father delivered groceries for a store that he and my grandfather ran. I remember...
I knew I needed to write a blog about this. But…how? I mean, what has not been said already? And what is controversial here? Who defends the practice of what happened to George Floyd? I think no one. And by “no one,” I realize there is some warped person who would try to...
I mentioned Sunday while preaching that I sometimes like to watch documentaries about World War 2. That was a perfect time to mention that it was Memorial Day…but I was preoccupied with the details of a unique Sunday of re-gathering. Sunday, I watched a few more of those...
1 Corinthians 13:13 (NASB) But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. What is really significant? What will really stand the test of time? What will have meaning when other things cease to do so? In the verse above, Paul refers to three of his favorite...
It is fairly well known that the Christian concept of “hope” is profoundly different than the historic or secular version. We use the word in its secular sense every day: “I hope this coronavirus goes away soon!” We have no clue how soon it will happen, but it is our...