Everything That Rises

*This is my most recent response to a question for The Anniston Star's "Religion Roundtable."* The short, simple answer to this question is “no.” Frankly, it’s hard (if not impossible) to say what ALL religions believe and practice. Given my experience with other religions, however, I would say that in some ways many religions do in fact share the same goals of worship, service, and proclamation (sharing their faith with others). Of course, the fundamental difference among religions is the divinity they worship, serve, and proclaim. As a Christian, I put my faith in the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), made manifest in the person of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, it is my goal to worship, serve, and proclaim God to other through both my words and my actions. My friends of other faiths share similar goals, though they may put their faith in a different deity or understand God differently than I do. We have similar religious goals, but our source of faith ...

So it's been a week since the horrific shooting took place in Newtown, Connecticut, and in these past seven days rhetorical shots have been fired by anyone with an opinion who cares to make it known. I've kept quiet on the issue, mostly because I've been keeping to myself during a time of transition. Now, however, I feel as if I have to put my thoughts down somewhere, and this blog is as good a place as any. First of all, let me say that I don't own a gun--well, technically I own a gun, but it's in the attic of my dad's house where it's been since I was about 18 (I fired it maybe five times). To be more precise, I don't currently keep a gun in my house, and I never plan on keeping a gun in my house. Now, before any of you who found this blog by a simple Google search for the word "gun" begin typing out your irate response about the virtues of gun ownership, let me say that I am not opposed to people owning guns and keeping them in their homes ...

(This is an actual picture from Interstate 65 in Alabama) Yesterday I came across this post by Matthew Paul Turner in my blog feed. Now, if you click on the link, you'll notice MPT didn't write anything; he just let the ridiculousness of the picture speak for itself.  This morning while reading my local newspaper online, I read this letter from a reader. Sadly, the writer of this letter is not in the minority of those in the South who still have some whitewashed image of what the South used to be.  As a Southern native, born and raised in the deepest of the deep South in "Lower Alabama," I have spent my life surrounded by the confederate flag and those who will (quite literally) fight to defend everything for which they claim it stands. There are the usual claims of defense: "It's about heritage...it's a sign of Southern pride...it's a symbol of tradition and history..." Regardless of what response you hear, it is almost always preceded...

So, earlier this week I came across this unfortunate video: To say I am disgusted by this is an understatement. However, we live in a culture of outrageously expensive weddings (weddings many of us claim are "sacred"), enormous Bar/Bat-Mitzvahs, and ridiculously lavish "sweet sixteens," so should we really be surprised that there are people who have "stylish adult baptisms"? As a Baptist, I practice believer's baptism (as opposed to infant baptism). I view baptism as an extremely important and meaningful step in following Jesus. It is not a social event. It is not simply some societal right-of-passage. Baptism is first and foremost about following Christ, so it is impossible for me to justify having such a lavish and expensive "event" for what is supposed to ignite a life of following the one who preached "blessed are the poor." While my complete disgust with this is beyond words, it has caused me to reflect on another practice ...

Recently I was asked,  “What’s the most important lesson to teach your children?” Here's my response. As one who has yet to experience the joys of parenthood, I can only tell you what I hope will be the most important lesson to teach my children. There are so many things our children need to know, so many things that they must learn in order to navigate the tumultuous waters of this life. There are also so many forces that act to shape and influence our children that are simply beyond our control. If there is one lesson I hope my children (and anyone who knows me for that matter) learn from me it is simply this: God loves you and wants you to love him and everybody else. It seems like such a simple thing to learn, but I find myself still struggling to learn such a simple, deep truth each and every day. It is the most important lesson to teach our children and ourselves. CPT

In his book Fasting , in The Ancient Practices Series , Scot McKnight defines fasting as “a person’s whole-body, natural response to life’s sacred moments.” I like that definition, yet in a religious culture of potlucks, ice cream socials, and “dinners on the grounds,” it’s sometimes difficult to explain the point of fasting. Fasting is a practice in Christianity that traces its roots through ancient Judaism. David fasted; the prophet Isaiah fasted; Jesus himself fasted. Therefore, fasting isn’t something to be overlooked or deemed obsolete by contemporary Christians. The point of fasting is not found in some notion that it makes one holier than others, nor is it correct to understand fasting as some sort of religious ritual that brings one closer to God simply through its undertaking. Perhaps it helps to think of fasting as a removal of distractions. When one fasts, it’s not simply about abstaining from food; it’s about removing those things that distracts one from listening to ...

In 1963, after delivering a speech to the student body at Western Michigan University, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sat with WMU president, Dr. James W. Miller, for a question-and-answer session. It was in response to one of the questions from Dr. Miller that Dr. King said these words: "At eleven o'clock on Sunday morning when we stand and sing and Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation. This is tragic. Nobody of honesty can overlook this." Just two years later, Dr. Clarence Jordan and an interracial group from Koinonia Farms were thrown out of a meeting in a "white" Southern Baptist church in Americus, Georgia. As they were leaving the church, Jordan was heard to say, "Well, everything in Americus is integrated now except the churches and the jails...And I have hope for the jails." Things seem to have come a long way in almost fifty years. This summer at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in New Orleans th...

It's a question I've been asking myself a lot lately. I've been teaching our folks on Wednesday nights what it means to be a Baptist, and it's not that I disagree with what it is to be a Baptist--far from it. I suppose what I'm struggling with is what being a Baptist actually looks like. Perhaps it would help to explain how I came to be a Baptist before I dive into my own conflict with the branding placed on my faith in Christ. --- I wasn't raised Baptist; to be fair, I wasn't raised anything. Sure, I grew up in the Bible Belt, and in the earliest years (ages 0-3, 1984-1987) of my life my dad's family all went to church together at a rural, Southern Baptist Church, but there isn't a single, full memory I have of ever going to church with my family. In fact, I didn't really begin regularly attending church until the summer after I graduated high school, a time when I was in desperate need of direction and community. I attended a Baptist church ...

Here's a link to my recent contribution to the "Religion Roundtable" for the Anniston Star : click here . I'm asked to contribute (along with the local Imam) about once every 4-5 weeks.

Doors. Have you ever given any thought to how many doors you walk through in a given day? It’s likely you walked through several doors inside your home this morning, only to walk out the door to get into your car or on the bus (through a door). I counted the other day, and, not including cabinets, we have thirteen doors in our home (and our house isn’t very big): thirteen doors, three of which are exterior doors.             Have you ever given any thought to what a door actually does? I suppose we’re so used to them being there, so used to them opening at the turn of a key and the twist of a knob, but doors are actually quite vital to our current, comfortable way of life. You see, doors keep things out, things we don’t want inside with us. Imagine if your home didn’t have a door—just an opening; you’d likely wake up in the morning with squirrels in the pantry, mosquitoes swarming the bathroom, and neighborhood dogs digging thro...

Recently, I was asked to contribute to a weekly feature in a local newspaper. Below is my response to the question: "What religious figure most inspires you?" Aside from the obvious influence of Jesus Christ and all the well-known heroes and heroines of Christian history, I would say that the religious figure who most inspires me is Clarence Jordan. Jordan held a Ph.D. in biblical languages (which he used in translating The Cotton Patch Version of the New Testament ), yet he spent most of his life on a farm in Americus, Georgia, a community he and his wife started with another couple in 1942. The name of their new community was Koinonia , a Greek word meaning “fellowship” used in the New Testament to describe the gathering of believers. Koinonia was (and still is) a place where people of all races were welcome to live in a community grounded in the love of Christ. It began during a time when racism was considered a virtue by many in the South. Jordan understood the g...

From www.reverendfun.com 

Today I went to a certain Christian bookstore to pick up some communion wafers (yes, wafers. NOT those little chick-let-Jesus-crackers), and they were giving away free samples of "The Celebration Cup." I've heard rumors that these sort of things existed, so I thought I'd take one and check it out. I have to say, it makes me hate those little plastic cups we Baptists use even more! So here's the thing itself, unopened. Note the card listing the ingredients. The body of Christ broken for you...? The bubbles are real--as is the gross, brownish color. And here's the whole thing disassembled (?). Am I wrong for being somewhat grossed out? I realize that I may be a wee bit more sacramentally inclined than many Baptists, but I think this is taking things too far. Should communion be "made easy"? After all, aren't we remembering/reflecting/celebrating/experiencing the crucifixion and death of the Son of God when we gathe...

Why the Church needs Women…especially in leadership. (This is in response to Rachel Held Evans’ call to respond to John Piper’s words.) So it’s been popular lately for certain evangelical “celebrities” to go on the offensive with their so-called “masculine” approach to Christianity. They claim that God intended the Church to have a “masculine feel.” They claim that Scripture clearly teaches that men—and only men—should hold positions of leadership within the Church, that wives should submit to their husbands, and those men should submit to the men who lead their congregations (often without question), and then those men are ultimately submissive to God (who is of course the biggest man, who can bench press two city buses while chewing tobacco and kicking someone’s @$$ with his tatted leg). While there are an overwhelming number of people who support this point of view, I have to be honest, I can’t stand it! While those who tout this point of view and spout a handful o...