Nero was the Roman Emperor during the time when the apostle Paul was writing his letters to the various churches in the 1st century. Nero was no saint. He had an affair with his slave girl Acte. He had his mother executed. And when Rome burned, he blamed it on the Christians to remove suspicion from himself and had many of them executed. Now Nero … [Read more...]
More Significant Than a Mexican Border Wall
“So a Roman Catholic priest, a Greek Orthodox priest and a Baptist pastor walk into a room…” It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke but this was the scene this past week as I participated in an ecumenical panel on the topic of baptism and communion. There were clearly some significant theological differences in the room in terms of how we … [Read more...]
Presidents and the Call for Peace
Donald Trump was inaugurated on January 20th as the 45th president of the United States. Of course, this has been a contentious election cycle. And the drama carried into the inauguration. A number of prominent senators and other important persons did not show up for the ceremony. Some took the opportunity to launch toxic attacks over cabinet … [Read more...]
A Christian Response to the 2016 Election
If you are overly joyful or overly disappointed following Tuesday’s election, you have probably put too much stock in a human leader. God’s purposes are not thwarted by conservatives or liberals. The church functions under the banner of the cross and the gospel has the power to do what no president or human government ever could. Don’t stoop to … [Read more...]
Trump
Presidential hopeful, Donald Trump, spoke at Liberty University on January 18. Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. has endorsed Trump as his top choice for president. Trump’s campus visit and chapel address were controversial among Liberty alumni and the evangelical community for a variety of reasons. Some were upset that there was … [Read more...]