Much of the buzz following the 2011 Golden Globes centered around host Ricky Gervais’ delicious skewering of faux celebrity culture. But I’d like to thank Gervais for standing up and proclaiming, “Thank You to God for Making Me an Atheist.” Someone needed to skewer those “Christians” who...

I recently started a garden. I’ve been growing tomatoes, peppers, green beans and squash. Well, I’ve been trying to grow those things. I thought I should probably have some idea how to produce my own food just in case the manure continues to hit the fan here in the good ol’ U....

I’ve been through some seasons of doubt and wondering, but at the end of the day I can’t call myself a skeptic. Personality-wise, I’m more of a Don Quixote, a true believer, evidence-be-damned. I know this isn’t fashionable in some circles.  But, if I’m honest with myself,...

“Mom, I just can’t wait any longer.  I need this gerbil!” Ella is staring me down determinedly from the kitchen table with narrowed eyes, munching on her after school snack.  As I proceed to empty the dishwasher, inaugurating my so-called second shift, I groan inwardly.  I don’t want a rodent...

Whether it’s a blogistential crisis or just writer’s block, I’ve been thinking. Teaching humanities at a local community college evokes the spirit of Jean-Paul Sartre, the great French existentialist philosopher. He explored the nature of being. I consider my being a writer. What...

In early May 2011, a majority of the 173 presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (USA) had approved a change to the ordination standards.  The amendment will remove the constitutional requirement that all ministers, elders, and deacons live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a...

“I’m not going to be your friend any more!” My daughter, four, is rolling away from me, her platinum hair a tangled veil as she kicks her legs to fend off the pants I am trying to pull up her squirming legs. “I know you’re upset that you can’t play with your Legos anymore, but it’s time...

In the mid-section of her ordinary life, my friend Denie, whom I’ve known since before we were old enough to vote, felt what she described as a call of God to minister to the homeless. She wasn’t sure what that meant for her life, but she was full of faith and unction that she had received a bonafide...

Art shapes faith in more ways than most Protestants dare confess. One of my earliest motivations to write stems from this truth. Throughout Church history there have been crucial roles for artists: to create beauty in the Church, to speak Truth, and to glorify God.  It is impossible to imagine a Gothic...

I was born in and raised just outside of New Orleans; and when my sons were little, my family and I lived in the heart of Memphis. I dearly love both of these great cities. Though I may have been born in and lived most of my life so far outside the state, the fact is that Mississippi runs all through...