This past week one of our own made the headlines, but not for what you might think. The student voice of Boise State University, The Arbiter, posted an article on its website entitled "Boise State is No Place for Hate" about Shawn Holes, aka "Shawn the Baptist", and his recent evangelistic visit to the campus. Shawn and his wife Lisa are Mission Service Corps missionaries with the North American Mission Board. Shawn crisscrosses the nation visiting college campuses and other venues to share the Gospel through open-air preaching and one-on-one conversations. Using emotionally-charged … [Read more...] about NAMB Missionary Maligned at Boise State University
Social Issues
Did Homosexuality Exist in Biblical Times?
I read this article by a former SBC pastor and was greatly disturbed by his exegesis and thought process. I like his spirit of grace and humility toward the LGBT community, but this is just insulting to Scripture: [T]he concept of homosexuality was unknown for centuries after the Bible writers lived. It was not until the 19th century that the word “homosexual” was used for the first time. That being the case, the Bible writers could not have written about homosexual people or anything they did. Read his full argument here. Thoughts? … [Read more...] about Did Homosexuality Exist in Biblical Times?
This is No Place for Cowards
I carry the past that each day I chose One step to another . . . now everyone knows. It isn't the past I would have wanted to claim But it is my past . . . it is mine just the same. I wonder sometimes about all of this Can there be no exchanging what was for what is? Will there be no will be because of what's done? Will yesterday's darkness eclipse today's sun? Is forgiveness a mystery, a want too far-flung? Is healing a melody not to be sung? Is change just a hold-out, dangled just past the grasp? Is grace to be rationed . . . with some of us passed? No mystery, no silence, … [Read more...] about This is No Place for Cowards
To Me or Not to Me?
Yes . . . that's me. Front and center on the merry-go-round, a fitting metaphor for much of my life, round and round he goes; where he'll end up, nobody knows. For too long, it depended on who was pushing and how hard. Just keep smiling and whirling . . . until you fall off. In the early days, someone picks you up and stretches a band-aid across your knee and offers you a Popsicle and tells you to hang-on better and go a little slower. In later days, they point and whisper and you are but a silly fool who should have known better than to go on the ride in the first place. The pain of the fall … [Read more...] about To Me or Not to Me?
Baptist Boy Imbibes Can of Busch Water
I may have forever lost my chance to get a NAMB appointment this past week and I might have to turn in my Baptist credentials or something. I drank every drop of the contents of the can you see on the right here and I enjoyed doing it (I also took this photo in a Lutheran church so who knows what is happening to me). I am writing a little tongue-in-cheek, although some may take me too seriously to be sure. This little can of water got me thinking this past week. I would like to share some of those thoughts with you. There is often a great deal of discussion about alcohol on this blog … [Read more...] about Baptist Boy Imbibes Can of Busch Water
How Does Submission to We the People Work?
I wouldn't normally post up two posts by myself in a day, but since Dave has been out of pocket some today and this post has a "timely" basis for today, here it is. It has been a pretty slow day around anyway thanks to the holiday. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. - Romans 13:1 I daresay that most, if not all, of us are very familiar with this verse. Since our series of discussions about patriotic worship, I have been pondering the unique status that our form of … [Read more...] about How Does Submission to We the People Work?
The Bogeyman Myth of the Hateful Bigot
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Luke 23:34 I have been told the church was mostly silent on that day. Evidence of my ongoing struggle with homosexuality was presented, a vote was taken and I was declared unfit to be a member and removed for the destruction of my soul. I was not there that night, but instead was angry and alone in the darkening end of a long and frightening day, as they proclaimed me unworthy of them. Oh . . . my soul. And all that is within me. Since that fateful vote, I … [Read more...] about The Bogeyman Myth of the Hateful Bigot
Westboro’s Free Speech Win: Repugnant Yet Right
"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and—as it did here—inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a Nation we have chosen a different course—to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate. That choice requires that we shield Westboro from tort liability for its picketing in this case." (Majority Opinion of the Court, delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts, in ALBERT SNYDER, PETITIONER v. FRED W. PHELPS, SR., ET AL., March 2, … [Read more...] about Westboro’s Free Speech Win: Repugnant Yet Right
Storing Up Stones in Places of Grace
"I don't need this." "I don't want this." "I hate this." "What is this?" Where did this come from?" Why do I have this? "Whose is this?" "This hurts." "I remember this." "I didn't ask for this." "Where should I put . . . this?" One thing is for certain: there really is a lot of this. I grew up in a family that accepted transition as a stable state of being. If I begin on Texas Street -- the first house I really remember -- I can close my eyes, unfold the memory map, and wind my mind down the roads of yesterday through tiny towns and sprawling cities, spooky old houses to … [Read more...] about Storing Up Stones in Places of Grace
Someone Switched the Price Tags
(This was originally published last Friday at sbcIMPACT) My mom and I were shopping at K-Mart back in my much younger days. I was not easy to shop for - I was both very tall and unnaturally thin (trust me, it used to be true). Finding pants my size was not easy. That waist just doesn't come in that length very often. But that day we found a pair, and at a price that amazed us. We snapped them up and headed to the cashier. The younger whippersnappers who read this may not remember what price tags looked like in the 1970's. There were no computer printouts with bar codes. There was a … [Read more...] about Someone Switched the Price Tags