Now and then a gracEmail reader asks, "Who are you anyway?" The truth is that I am a broken conduit of God's mercy with a life full of divine surprises. * * * I was born prematurely in July 1944 in a country clinic 20 miles from a small North Alabama town and was not expected to survive the first week. I am a grandson of Alabama sharecroppers on one side of the family and of African missionaries on the other -- a kid who picked cotton to help buy winter clothes and grew up to practice law in Houston, Texas. I was raised in a conservative segment of a religious group that often thought it … [Read more...]
Archives for 2012
A WORD OF INTRODUCTION
From time to time, gracEmail readers ask who I am, where I came from, and where I am situated on the Christian spectrum. For the sake of the curious, please forgive these personal remarks today. * * * For several generations my ancestors on both sides of the family served God in Churches of Christ and I came to know and trust in Jesus Christ within the nurture of that same heritage. Having discovered my movement's pioneer fathers Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone in junior high school, I have attempted since then to live out their ideals of following Scripture wherever it … [Read more...]
NOT YOUR ORDINARY GRACEMAIL
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "The note at the end of your column encourages readers to help spread this message 'by every means possible.' Does that mean you want me to nail it to doors, put it under automobile windshield wipers and throw copies into the air when the wind is blowing?' * * * Although your question is neither biblical nor spiritual, the philanthropic purpose driving this column compels me to make every effort to ensure a proper answer. To that end, I have carefully considered your marital status, the legal character of your residential property, the quality and habits of … [Read more...]
READER SAYS ‘CANCEL ME’
A Christian Church preacher writes, "You do not believe that baptism is part of the introduction to the Way of life. I'm saying that you're not a Christian until you have been buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk in new life. If I'm understanding you correctly, please quit sending me your excellent daily devotionals." * * * No matter how many times and ways I insist that baptism is part of the New Testament way of conversion, the initial declaration of trust in Jesus' atonement, the expression of repentance, and the manifestation of one's intent to follow Jesus in discipleship, … [Read more...]
AN ‘AGENDA’ ISSUE (2)
I recently referred in passing to "the gay agenda" without defining what I meant, possibly suggesting (incorrectly) that people of same-sex orientation all are participants in some secret and sinister conspiracy. I have apologized for my carelessness and will now define the expression as I meant it. * * * One cannot read the morning paper or watch the evening news for many days without realizing that a number of influential homosexual men and women, joined by a sizeable group of sympathetic heterosexuals, are vigorously pursuing what they consider to be important political and social goals. … [Read more...]
AN ‘AGENDA’ ISSUE (1)
Following the inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, I wrote a gracEmail urging Americans of all parties to unite behind him so far as their convictions allow, but especially to pray for him and all others in positions of power. Nearly 60 of you responded, most affirming the basic message. I also mentioned in passing that I did not support "the gay agenda." (I have since deleted that phrase.) Five readers questioned the use of that phrase. One person denounced my "hate message" and "poison-pen gay-bashing notes," called me an "idiot" and warned of "a special place in hell … [Read more...]
WARM AND FUZZY
A reader says he has "serious doubts" about the gracEmail which counseled a couple in search of a church home. "Finding a place you feel comfortable will not be the answer," he wrote. "Above all you will have to follow God's will and his word. Sitting in a chicken house will not make you a chicken and sitting in some church that makes you feel warm and fuzzy will not make you a Christian. Where do you preach and worship? I hope you remember that your answers to people will be held to your account." * * * Good brother, I did not say one should look for a place that makes you feel warm and … [Read more...]
STRAIGHTENING ME OUT
A gracEmail subscriber tells me it is his God-given duty to straighten me out, saying: "You are good at answering questions that have no biblical language such as 'is baptism necessary.' How about this one: 'Is baptism for the forgiveness of sins?' Why don't use use the words of the apostles to answer the questions about baptism instead of your own words? You never have answered my questions about whether Naaman was required to dip seven times before being clean. Are you going to dismiss his command because Abraham or Moses was never told to do it?" * * * I answered the question "Is baptism … [Read more...]
LITTLE GRAY SQUIRRELS
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "You get a question, then answer it like this: In the first paragraph you say, lawyer-like, 'It might be this way.' In the second paragraph you say, 'It might be that way.' In the third paragraph you say, 'Love, joy, grace, Jesus and little gray squirrels.' Why can't you just say 'Yes' or 'No?'" * * * On some subjects, as least, I plead guilty as charged. For the record, I began preaching and teaching Scripture in 1961 and was not licensed as an attorney until 1988. However, for 27 years I was often accused of talking like a lawyer, even when I had no thought … [Read more...]
YOU KNOW BETTER
A church acquaintance with whom I grew up in North Alabama nearly a half century ago wrote recently to tell me that I am preaching "another gospel" which is no gospel at all, for which I will be eternally lost, and that he knows that I "know better" than my expressed convictions on a variety of religious issues. * * * This unhappy gentleman is representative of a category of people who place their hope in a particular religious organization or in a system of man-made doctrine and whose allegiance naturally follows their hope. Missing is an understanding that Jesus really is our Savior, that … [Read more...]
