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What’s your spiritual practice?

Is our faith something we are or something we practice? Last week, one of the first questions I was asked at the Chaplaincy Institute for the Arts and Interfaith Ministries while attending a training...

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Meeting God in Jerusalem

I write this from Jerusalem where I have had the privilege for some 10 days to participate in the first stage of the Christian Leadership Initiative, an intensive 13-month educational program on...

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On the edge

Not long ago I received two e-mails on the same day. One was from a colleague who copied me and other pastors in his reply to a message from Michelle Obama just before she spoke at the Democratic...

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Questions about Christian beliefs

Not too long ago some friends at my church, Baptist Church of the Covenant in Birmingham, asked me if I would talk to them about five questions. I’ll respond to the first two questions in today’s post...

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Religious litmus tests

American Christianity deeply troubles me. It’s not because some sociologists are saying that the influence and prominence of religion in American public life is declining. It’s not because more and...

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On a peace mission to Israel

In just a few days, I’ll embark on a peace mission on behalf of American Baptists to travel to Israel. This trip will serve as a good-will delegation to Israelis and Palestinians. In light of the...

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By way of ashes

I was 24 and living in Mill Valley, Calif., when I first encountered Ash Wednesday. The Christian liturgical calendar had figured not much at all in my Southern Baptist experience to that point. But...

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Why the Pope’s resignation matters to Protestants

Surprise and shock are an understatement when it comes to Pope Benedict XVI‘s resignation. Only a handful of Popes have called it quits. The Pope’s decision continues to spark speculation about who...

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Prayers for the pope are prayers for unity

The Pope has prayed for me, and following the announcement of his retirement at the end of the month I’m returning the favor by praying for him and the future of his office. Don’t get the wrong idea:...

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Reflections on the pope’s resignation

Today was a good day, the kind of day that someone like me, an academician, would consider an ideal day.  After completing my morning chores, I headed to the library of one of the local Catholic...

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Pope Francis and the Baptists

I don’t think a day has passed since March 13 without a student, colleague, fellow church member, family member, or friend asking what my perspective is on the election of Pope Francis, especially...

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Why Pope Francis is good for Christianity

As Pope Francis starts his papacy, it is very clear that his leadership will set a very different tone for the Catholic Church. Upon leaving Rome, Pope Francis paid for his own room, rejected lavish...

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Thais of the heart

A Catholic nun and a Baptist minister walked into a Thai restaurant.  They sat down and ordered Pad Thai.  Over noodles and conversation they discovered that, long ago and some 500 miles away, they...

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Ten reasons why I pray during Ramadan

My initial experiences with Ramadan years ago in West Africa were at times confusing to say the least. I will never forget getting caught in an awful traffic jam in the main thoroughfare of one of the...

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Megachurch trends we small churches must face

The appeal of the megachurch is undeniable: big building, large worship setting, youth and children’s programs, and a semi-celebrity pastor. Yet many smaller churches have not learned from their large...

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A call for Christian collaboration

As of Friday, November 8, 2013 various Christian disaster response organizations were rushing to prepare their response to the Typhoon Haiyan hitting the Philippines. In some cases they were moving...

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What the pope could teach even Baptists

Pope Francis is quickly becoming my favorite Pope. I did not grow up Catholic but did grow up seeing Pope John Paul II in the news. I always liked John Paul. But when Pope Benedict came into the...

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For Pete’s sake

My last sermon of 2013 was named after a Pete Seeger song – “Turn! Turn! Turn!” Based on a Ecclesiastes 3, it is a text that I’ve mostly used for funerals. I wanted an opportunity to use the song in a...

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#popecrush

© Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk No one has risen to fame and garnered more respect, attention, hatred, followership and love than Pope Francis (with the possible exception of Lady Gaga).  He’s been on the...

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Great Commission and Great Commandment without synergy?

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001? I do too. That is a morning very difficult to forget. I was sitting in the lobby restaurant of a hotel in a...

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