By Andy Hale They say that you should never meet your heroes. Generally speaking, I have had a good run of meeting people I admire. But I’ll spare you the list of my childhood heroes since you’ll probably have a hearty laugh at my expense. We tend to iconize and exaggerate the character, achievements, and … Continue reading
March 18, 2021 By Paul Baxley Just over 24 hours have passed since many of us awakened to the news that a 21-year-old white man (and member of a Baptist church) had taken the lives of eight people in Atlanta, including six Asian American women. We are only now starting to learn more about each … Continue reading
By Luke Perrin A few weeks ago in my preaching class, our small group precept spent some time focusing on the story of the Golden Calf from the book of Exodus. It’s tale with vivid imagery, juxtaposing God with what the Israelites quite literally forged to be God. It’s a tale that has been used … Continue reading
By Kristan Pitts Advent is a season of paradox. It’s a season where we hold in tension the celebration of the birth of Christ and the anticipation of Christ’s second coming. 2020 has been an exercise of what it means to exist in tension. We have experienced a pandemic, increased visibility of structural injustice, polarizing political … Continue reading
By Andy Hale As if it wasn’t obvious, we are not exactly in the most unified time in America’s existence. And when you zoom out, the entire globe isn’t exactly at peace with one another. We have factioned ourselves into divisive categories over political allegiance and cultural perspectives. There are very clear and alienated worldviews … Continue reading
By Andy Hale While this has been one of the most challenging years on record, it has generated a lot of healthy conversation about overdue change in our communities. No more critical discussion has been amplified thus than systemic racism and disparity. And yet, that phrase alone draws a line in the sand as to … Continue reading
By Andy Hale “If you were recruiting for a white supremacist cause on a Sunday morning, you’d likely have more success handing out in the parking lot of an average white Christian church than approaching whites sitting out of service at the local coffee shop,” said Robert P. Jones, the CEO and Founder of the … Continue reading
By Chris Hughes Elkin, North Carolina, is a town not known for its civil rights activism. The tiny textile town tucked into the Piedmont foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains is more famous for the many vineyards that dot the gentle slopes between Winston-Salem and Boone. With a population of around 4,000 people, it is … Continue reading
By Andy Hale I’m not sure if the magnitude of this moment in America’s history has registered for many people. For many, they just don’t get it. Far too many white Americans do not believe there is a racism issue in America. The evidence of this comes in subtle ways, such as the response to … Continue reading
What is going on right now? Where do we go from here? The United States is in a moment of chaos. Communities are divided along racial lines, and there is disagreement and division everywhere. Protests against racially targeted arrests and killings, police brutality, and racist public policy are rapidly increasing across the nation. Many are … Continue reading
