The Church and the New Civil Rights Movement (Ode to Dick Brogan)

Richard “Dick” Brogan was a personal friend, and he was one of my heroes. Dick was a white Mississippi Baptist minister who worked tirelessly to build relationships between whites and blacks during segregation and even up until he passed away last year. Not so long ago, Dick was followed, harassed,...

May 14th, 2012 | Blog, Columns, Democracy, Essays, Family | Read More

God on my Doorstep

And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:5 God showed up on my doorstep early Sunday night. He stood outside the door for quite awhile, unsure whether to come in, or just run away. God had stringy, sweaty blond hair that surrounded her dirty, chubby, cherubic...

May 2nd, 2012 | Family | Read More

Fostering Fantasies

Life through a four year old’s eyes is so much more. More colorful. More emotional. More fantastic. My son has an obsession of late. Not pancakes or superheroes, but George Lucas’ world in the galactic Empire. Most of you know it as Star Wars. My wife has less hair from pulling and less breath...

April 30th, 2012 | Family, Featured | Read More

Ingesting God

Growing up in the Methodist Church, it seems we were regularly celebrating communion in new and different ways. I appreciated the diversity in approach, as each new form somehow brought out a different aspect of the act of remembrance. One form, however, I remember more for the laughter it produced,...

April 25th, 2012 | Essays, Family, Food and Drink | Read More

Why I’m Taking Teenagers To See Blue Like Jazz

As the Blue Like Jazz team has screened the film for audiences across the country and across the spectrum of faith, one of the things that keeps coming up is the “appropriateness” of the film for high school age teens. The film’s PG-13 rating and depiction of collegiate parties and...

April 12th, 2012 | Family | Read More

Be A Man: Faithful Responses to Violence

I wonder, both as a parent and a follower of the way of Jesus, how to even go about defining violence, and what my call as a Christian is – or for that matter, simply as a member of the human species – to do about it. I remember when I took wrestling in grade school and I pinned Andrew,...

April 11th, 2012 | Essays, Family, Social Justice | Read More

From Burial To Banqueting Table

A while ago, a man I considered to be quite wise at the time said to me “People change, but not that much.” I didn’t know quite what to make of that, probably because the person who said it was actually our pastor. Maybe he was a bit jaded. Maybe it was time for a new job. In any case, I didn’t...

March 27th, 2012 | Family | Read More

Emerging Incisors and Other Signs of Spring

Jaden Aubrey is a stunningly beautiful five-year-old girl with bronze hair and hazel-green eyes. She is the fire and the clown in our family, always moving at full velocity and stopping only to sleep (if then). She fears nothing and examines everything; we joke that when she grows up, she will...

March 20th, 2012 | Family | Read More

There’s a Monster In Room 301: Part 2

[Author's Note: This post is the second in a two-part series called "There's a Monster in Room 301". The first post can be found by clicking here].” [Editors Note: The names of the students have been changed to protect their identities]. Before I continue, a little history about me. In the eight...

March 15th, 2012 | Blog, Essays, Family, Featured, Part of the Solution, Social Justice | Read More

How Am I Doing with My Messy New Year’s Resolution | by Linda Brendle

According to most of what I’ve heard and read, most New Year’s resolutions don’t last more than a couple of weeks. We’re a little over six weeks into the new year, so I thought I’d check and see how I was doing. In case you missed it in my post called “Wishing You a Messy New Year,” here’s...

March 11th, 2012 | Essays, Family, Featured, Meditations | Read More

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