Category: Christianity

Christianity, church, Culture, Ethics, Higher Education2 Comments

Writing Together

Gary Furr

For over thirty years, I have been part of an extraordinary community of theological friends. In our careers we were pastors, missionaries, seminary and college professors, and a university president. All of us were productive writers and thinkers and published individually a great deal over the years. We began coming together during the time that the Southern Baptist Convention was imploding over politics and theological disagreement in the 1980s. It was formed with three members and they soon began to invite the rest of us to join . This group became a wonderful place of freedom and fellowship. We found … Continue reading Writing Together

Advent, Art, Christmas, Poetry, Writing

The Ringer

Gary Furr

A gyrating Salvation Army bellringer fresh off a successful run at Little Caesar’s sidewalk guards the doorway to the Stone Mountain Walmart He deftly dances and offers his extended hand with an underhand swoop. His lithe body in perfect unison with the music in his headphones, his beautiful brown face beaming with joy, In the parking lot, sedentary men in cars watch the show Glad for something interesting while waiting to ride up and pick up their mothers as they exit the store. A few annoyed shoppers avert their gaze but he pursues them. General Booth would never have imagined … Continue reading The Ringer

Christianity, death, easter, Grief, Holy Week, Hope, spirituality, Suffering1 Comment

Prayer for a Requiem

Gary Furr

I am grateful that I have served with three wonderful worship leaders over the twenty-seven years at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church before I retired–Dr. Milburn Price, Dr. Terre Johnson, and Rev. Marty Watts. Thanks to being in a church with these outstanding musicians, we were exposed to some of the great music of the Christian church. Terre Johnson asked me to compose a closing prayer following a presentation of the Requiem by John Rutter, a beautiful and somber remembrance of human sorrow. Before we can hope again, we must grieve honestly to reckon our loss, and the Rutter Requiem is … Continue reading Prayer for a Requiem

Art, Christianity, Death, death, Family, God, Grief, Holy Week, Jesus, Mother, Race, spirituality3 Comments

Mother and Son

Gary Furr

Jaroslav Pelikan’s marvelous book Jesus Through the Centuries takes a sojourn through the vast and complex history of the interpretations of Jesus.  Among the chapters is one entitled, “Christ Crucified,” in which he notes the disproportionate focus on Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection in the gospel accounts.  By even the most “generous” reading, he notes, we have at most information about less than a hundred days of Jesus’ ministry on earth, but of the last few days we have an hour by hour account. Says Pelikan, “What was said of  the thane of Cawdor in MacBeth was true pre-eminently of Jesus: … Continue reading Mother and Son

Calling, Christianity, Disappointment, God, Jesus Movement, Ministry, spirituality, Uncategorized4 Comments

Wobbling On the High Wire

Gary Furr

Holy Week has always  been special for me as a Christian and pastor.  Frankly, in the church year it always meant more to me than Christmas, though I adore Christmas for the deep cultural sense of family, baby Jesus and joy. Holy Week is not the same tone. It is juxtaposed with an equally perilous spiritual history, Passover, when the Hebrew people were delivered by God from slavery and oppression, but not without great anxiety and fear. For Christians, it is a somber week that strips away, day after day, one human pretension of pride after another until all that … Continue reading Wobbling On the High Wire