Word&Way Voices

It’s being as kind, gentle, and loving as possible when saying this: The Southern Baptist Convention is in a mess of its/our own making, and it’s time to move in a positive direction.

Just when I thought my life was calm, predictable, and manageable, an AF-3 tornado ripped through our city with winds up to 160 mph. So much for the arrogant assumption that we are in charge of our lives.

As modern demographics/research has continued to improve, we know that some zip codes have affordable food, housing, and access to various employment options. Others nearby may not have similar options.

Although God is completely holy and set apart from all creation, in the Hebrew Bible, God used multiple means to affirm God’s presence among humankind. Wind was one such means. God also used fire. In Acts 2, God used both.

What has happened to us that conversations about our cosmic home have become so divisive? What would happen if we were all curious enough to learn from science, scripture, and one another?

God seldom gives us a roadmap for the future. Instead, God instructs us to put our hand in his hand and walk into the “newness.”

Will congregations allow their pastors to be human? And will pastors themselves be real in ways that are healthy and appropriate?

Chaos! Boxes everywhere. We wind our way through stacks of boxes to every destination in the house. We are moving. Land-wise the move is not distant, only about 100 miles. Work-wise however, the distance might as well be across the ocean.

Every day, people enter and exit my life. But do I see them? The question haunts me. How do I break the habit of rendering others invisible?

While the topic of VBS may seem like old/tired news to some, the reality is that for many churches it may the proverbial church rock star that we take for granted, right in front of us.