Did Black Christians Compromise By Voting For President Obama?

In the aftermath of an election in which President Obama received 93 per cent of the black vote, radio show host and author Michael Brown, a self-proclaimed white evangelical, wrote an “open letter to black evangelicals” accusing them of voting to reelect the president out of “blind allegiance to the Democratic party.” He goes on… Read More »

Will The Black Church Stand Firm Against Same-Sex Marriage?

In my article on The NAACP’s Divorce from the Black Church (published in the Harrisburg, PA Patriot-News under the title “Gay marriage issue splits black church and NAACP”) I made the claim that most African American Christians will stand firm on God’s word, and against same-sex relationships. I believe that will be the case. But… Read More »

Why Christians Should Be Up In Arms About Voter ID Laws

NOTE: I’m pulling the bulk of this blog post in order to publish it elsewhere. You can see the original post at Why Christians Should Be Up In Arms About Voter ID Laws blog post. The point of the post is that although proponents say the purpose of voter ID requirements is to reduce voter… Read More »

The NAACP’s Divorce From the Black Church

This article was first published in the Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News print (7/15/12) and online (7/14/12) editions under the title “Gay marriage issue splits black church and NAACP.” As I was growing up in the segregated South of the 1950s, the NAACP was an important part of my world. I heard about it in school –… Read More »

Christians and the Supreme Court’s Health Care Decision

Where is the “Christian” plan for meeting the healthcare needs of the poor? The response of some high profile Christian leaders to the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the constitutionality of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been emphatic. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council declared, “Today’s Supreme Court decision will do serious… Read More »

Am I a Monster?

Yesterday I caught a mouse. Today, as far as I know, that mouse is still alive and suffering. And I am feeling like a heartless monster. After several hours of hearing scrapping noises in our den, my wife finally was perturbed enough to call me at church and ask me to come home and find… Read More »

The Persecution Trap

The Persecution Trap: When sincere believers who are making questionable decisions won’t listen to correction because they consider it to be persecution. The unfettered opulence that characterizes the lifestyles of some prosperity gospel teachers has caught the attention of Congress. Senator Charles Grassley (R, Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has conducted a… Read More »

Prosperity Gospel Or Gospel Prosperity?

“The prosperity gospel: the belief that God rewards faith with wealth, health, and happiness.” The “prosperity gospel” has given biblical prosperity a bad name. Take, for example, a recent New York Times article that highlights the lavish lifestyle of the founders of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). The article begins this way: The prosperity gospel… Read More »

Should Christians Continue To Fight Same-Sex Marriage?

With North Carolina’s recent approval of an amendment to its constitution forbidding same-sex marriages, there are now 31 states with some kind of ban on homosexual marriage. Yet the tide of opinion in the country actually seems to be running the other way. A recent Washington Post article cites the work of public-opinion specialist Greg… Read More »