Opinion

An advent reflection by Blake McKinney, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Lee's Summit, Mo.

Ordinary couple. Young people. Nearly married. Expectant parents. Gentle Mary. Pregnant virgin. Pregnant virgin!? Round stomach. Faithful heart. Concerned Joseph. Compassionate eyes. Confused smile.

Paul Gibson, executive minister for the Great Rivers Region of American Baptist Churches, reflects on "What Christmas Means to Me."

An advent reflection on the viral image of Omran Daqneesh, a dazed five-year-old boy found in the rubble in Aleppo, Syria.

Light land, hope illumined enthuses the refugee soul.
Forgotten spaces at highway's end host sojourners cast out of home.

Words like privilege, entitlement and equal access have suddenly taken on enormous significance in our culture. Until recently, I viewed myself as very egalitarian. But on board a recent commercial flight, I learned something disturbing about myself: Maybe I’m not as committed to equality as I thought I was.

Thanksgiving 2016 is already shaping up as one of my most memorable — for various reasons. Our household is experiencing change and with it stress as retirement and, in our case, relocation are upon us.

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re coming down the final stretch of an election year.

Participate in the process and affirm you are exercising the right — if not the privilege — to cast a ballot that will help determine who will have the privilege to lead, from the president on down, when the ballot-box dust clears.

I don’t know what you were doing the week of Aug. 15, but I had a ringside seat, watching a bit of local history right before my eyes. The Medicaid 23 trial took place just a block from my church office, at the courthouse in downtown Jefferson City, Mo.

John was well known for all the right reasons. His sons Michael and Mark gave testimony that he did not dishonor the family name. But he handled himself in all that he did to honor his middle name, too — Christian. John developed the nature of Christ; he cared about people and it showed. Multi-talented, he was gifted at teaching and training, writing and counseling.

Reflecting on the recent annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance in Vancouver, British Columbia, I was struck by two things: The deep hunger in my own life for corporate worship and the centrality of worship in our common life.

Hospitality is often identified as a spiritual gift with the emphasis on receiving or having the gift. But as much as any other gift, the biblical reference emphasizes that a person receives it from God to winsomely bless others.