The “Lean on Me” Ethic, No Bootstraps Required
When Bill Withers passed away it was all over Facebook. The top hit of his illustrious career was Lean on Me. It ranked #7 when it was released in 1972, the year I was born. Withers …
Culture
“Anything can happen anywhere” Heeding Margaret Atwood’s warning as the midterm elections approach
In the introduction of her classic work, The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood writes: “having been born in 1939 and come to consciousness during World War II, I knew that established orders could vanish overnight. Change …
Video killed the radio star, don’t let it victimize your relationships
In September of 1979 the British new wave/synth-pop group The Buggles released the single Video Killed the Radio Star; nearly two years later, the song would become a self-fulfilling prophecy when the single became the …
Eastern Christianity: A Journey
The following is a talk which my departed grandmother invited me to give for her Sunday School class at First United Methodist Shreveport and which, due to some confusion, was given in its entirety to …
Polygamy and the Protestant Reformers
The Latin terms sola gratia, sola fides, sola scriptura, solus Christus, and soli Deo gloria describe concepts that stood at the center of Protestant theological and polemical writings in the early sixteenth century. Scripture alone, …
Republicans can’t be Christian
I am going to say something controversial, “Republicans can’t be Christians.” To the vast majority of Christians, I just said something unthinkable, especially if one is of the evangelical stripe of Christianity. I can feel …
Never too old to be too young
I grew up in a small country Southern Baptist Church in rural California. When my family moved there our family of six doubled the size of the church. But, the church did grow over the …
The things we do for orange Jesus
Liz Cheney, chair of the House Select Committee investigating the Attack on the Capitol recently revealed she overheard a fellow GOP Representative lament “The things we do for Orange Jesus.” Cheney shared that her colleague …
Dear Dad | A letter of concern
Dear Dad, You went to be with Jesus 10 years ago. In honor of a decade of the best 10 years of your existence, I wanted to give you an update on how things have …
The Teacher is a true master who can use even the strangest of tools
My faith is Orthodox Christianity. The life that led me to it was hardly orthodox (small o), nor was it anything special. Perhaps even less so is the world I have lived through since I …