Let’s be honest. Over the past few years there has been a lot of turbulence in the Southern Baptist Convention and a lot of that has been directed at the SBC Executive Committee, the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force (SATF) and the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF).  But let’s not overlook the opportunity to express appreciation when appreciation is due.  I believe every Southern Baptist can agree that even

Easter comes early at our neighborhood discount store. They’ve been at this Easter thing since February 15th. Since the day after Valentine’s, the Easter goods have dominated the center aisles of the store. And believe me, I know the timing. Like most guys, I’m usually there to pick out a couple of last-minute Valentine things.  As I rummage through the cards on the aisle that, by this point, looks as

I fear that many churches plan for weeks (or months) for Easter weekend, but then pray for only minutes over the weekend’s events. To counter this tendency, I encourage you to use this list to pray individually and corporately with intentionality throughout this week.

The dark and evil act which took place at Covenant School in Nashville on March 27 has weighed on many of us with especially deep and heavy incalculable grief.  Maybe it looms larger because it’s just down the road.  Maybe it’s because many of us personally know some who are  affected.  Maybe the evil of it was compounded in our minds because it involved the deaths of three children and

Customer service is a matter of perspective. What one person may deem acceptable may not be to another person.  I think it is easier for folks to agree on what is bad customer service.  I went into a popular fast food restaurant recently to buy some ice cream (for my granddaughter, not for me). I was the only person standing at the cash register. I waited and waited and waited

As a pastor, there were simply days that were more discouraging than others; days I was blinded to God’s goodness around me as I focused on the occasional wave of problems, carnal people and difficult situations.  God gave me this fix. When I was having one of those kinds of days, I took only a notebook and a pen and found a secluded room somewhere on our church campus. I