I’m still reeling from last week’s election. Most people I know are, too. Even though the polls told us clearly enough that President Obama was highly likely to win, many of us had persuaded ourselves in the end Mitt Romney would prevail. In the weeks leading up to the election evangelicals across the country prayed, held rallies, preached, wrote and in general did everything possible to assure the faithful that God was going to defeat Obama. But in the end, Romney didn’t even do as well as John McCain, the 2008 Republican candidate against Obama. It was as though David slung his stone at Goliath, and missed. Beyond the election […]
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The endless campaign for President finally comes to an end today—or maybe it does. With the possibilities of recounts, voter fraud and looming litigation the election may not be over for a while longer. I certainly hope that’s not the case. I’m worn out by it all. My wife and I went to the polls the first thing this morning. We’re both Christian from an evangelical perspective, which puts us in the bull’s eye of one of the key national constituencies that will probably end up deciding the election. In the sophisticated campaigning methods candidates now employ, evangelicals alongside Catholics, labor, singles, retirees, blacks, Hispanics, gays, upper income people, lower […]
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Pornography in church is a problem we in churches don’t like talking about. When I say “we” I mean rank and file church members as well as pastors. Whenever I preach about sexual issues—whether pornography, homosexuality, sex before marriage or purity in general—people get anxious. I do too! It’s not easy to talk publically about things that are inherently so private. At the same time, God’s Word isn’t silent about any of those things and I want always to speak in a way that’s faithful to Him. Like all preachers (or most preachers—some of my colleagues in ministry place more value on shock tactics than I do) I’m also deeply […]
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Saturday’s football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks was rocking along with all the energy and passion you expect from a game in Williams-Brice Stadium. In the second quarter, though, the festive atmosphere changed in the blink of an eye to something much more serious. Gamecock All-American running back Marcus Lattimore took a hand-off to the left of the line and cut up field. Two Tennessee defenders hit him at the same time, one at the shoulder and the other on his leg. Lattimore’s knee gave way as though it had been snapped in two and he collapsed onto the field like a rag doll. It […]
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The upcoming Presidential election should be as clear as a bell for evangelical Christians. The two parties and their respective candidates represent such starkly different visions of America that there should be no problem for, especially, conservative Christians to make a decision between them—right? Turns out the election isn’t quite as simple as it ought to be. In the phrase young adults use to describe problematic relationships, it’s complicated. To begin with, at least in the church bubble many evangelicals live in, President Obama must at all costs be defeated. The reasons are obvious. Obama is a Democrat (anathema to most conservative Christians, especially those in the south). He supports […]
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Pam and I have been in Japan now for almost a week, hanging out with our daughter and seeing a small sliver of life here. She and her husband are halfway through a three-year deployment, so this time is a gift and we’ve cherished every moment of it. It’s easy to love this place. Manicured trees line almost every street and you rarely even see a home patio that’s not covered with flowers. Well-dressed children walk to school in groups, happily chattering along the roads. Older adults are everywhere, walking, biking, talking, visiting. Unlike our own country, the aged here are fully a part of the larger community and there’s […]
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Pam and I arrived in Tokyo yesterday morning after a marathon series of flights from Columbia. It was quite a journey, taking us west to Houston then on to Los Angeles. After wandering through the endless hallways, elevators, moving sidewalks and shuttle routes of the LAX International Airport we miraculously found our seats on our flight for the twelve-hour final leg. Getting here wasn’t easy. But that’s not the half of it. The bigger part of traveling to the far East from South Carolina is the time differential. You go through twelve separate time zones as well as crossing over the International Date Line, where today becomes tomorrow. If traveling […]
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My son Will is a young Second Lieutenant currently sweating through a hot summer in Ft. Benning, Georgia as he goes through Infantry officer’s training. He’ll move to his permanent post at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina in a few months where he’ll serve as a platoon leader with the 82nd Airborne Division. Soon after that he’ll probably be deployed. In the meantime he’s at that awkward stage of life between student and working adult. He comes home every weekend he can so he can be fed, sleep late, have his clothes washed and receive financial assistance (I don’t quite get this). I honestly don’t mind one bit. Full adulthood will […]
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Leonard Sweet’s new book, “I’m a Follower” is just blowing me away. I don’t agree with all he says, but he says enough I do agree with that I’m having to make some serious re-adjustments in my life. Sweet essentially condemns the modern cult of the pastor that’s invading our churches today to such an extent that churches may never be the same. Many of today’s churches are known more for their pastors than for Jesus. These celebrity pastors are known across the evangelical world. Mark Driscoll in Seattle, Matt Chandler in Dallas. Birmingham’s Davie Platt. Perry Noble in South Carolina. Not all of them are the same, of course. […]
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Church leadership carries a high price but cowardice carries a higher price still. Just ask the Reverend Stan Weatherford, pastor of First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi. A pastor provides spiritual leadership to his congregation through preaching, teaching, counseling and ministering in times of crisis and even death. At the same time, he administers the church’s programs, budget and overall direction. All while staying connected with the different groups within the church, many with wildly differing expectations of what the church ought to do and what the pastor ought to do to make the church do what it ought to do. To make matters even more challenging, church leadership […]
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