Category: Theology

America, Calling, Christianity, Ethics, First Amendment, humanity, Interfaith Dialogue, Jesus, Love, reconciliation, spirituality, Story3 Comments

This One Thing

Gary Furr

I seek to love my neighbor as myself. That would seem obvious for a preacher of the teachings of Jesus, but maybe we need to say it again. Love one another. And I don’t remember any additions to the command. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s hard enough without trying to add a lot of fine print. Love your child, your grandchildren, your neighbor you don’t agree with. Love them, gay, straight, trans, prisoner, judge, immigrant and the DAR lady. Love them, Trumper, Liberal, and none of the above. Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Rotarians, Knights of Columbus, or atheists. … Continue reading This One Thing

America, Bill of Rights, Christian Nationalism, Christianity, Citizenship, Constitution, Culture, First Amendment, Fundamentalism, humanity, Interfaith Dialogue, Jesus, Politics, Politics, reconciliation, Story, Theology, violence, war, worldview

Our Muslim Girls

Gary Furr

My wife was the head resident of a girls dormitory when I was in Seminary at Campbell University in North Carolina. I would commute every day to Southeastern Baptist Seminary, 100 miles round trip, for the three years as I was getting my Master’s degree. It was a godsend, because we got a one bedroom apartment with a windowless storage room that we converted into a small bedroom for our daughter, and a few years later, our second daughter was born and shared it with her. I’m sorry we lived there, though. After living with a dorm full of undergraduate … Continue reading Our Muslim Girls

Family, Justice, Love, Parenting, Politics, Reinhold Niebuhr, Story

Love, Justice, and Perseverance

Gary Furr

I read an excellent post this morning from Rich Havard, who was in our congregation as a student and now works in community building and social change in his adult life. It is an excellent piece about the struggles of being a person who is intentional in his spiritual journey working in a real world where sometimes there is puzzlement or antipathy toward the notion. He asked, “What place do spirituality and love have in the quest for a just world?” He spurred me to think about it. It’s an excellent piece I commend for your thinking. In his book, … Continue reading Love, Justice, and Perseverance

America, Baptist life, Bible, Christian Nationalism, Christianity, Citizenship, Evangelicalism, fear, Immigration, Interfaith Dialogue, Jesus, Politics, Race, racism, reconciliation, Theology

Reading the Bible Amid the Culture Wars

Gary Furr

How we read it determines what we see, no? Part one of a four part series This article arose originally from a writing assignment from the Women’s Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is more than an irony for me that this assignment came even as Baptists were still reconciling their own painful history with slavery in the 19th century. As an ardent mission-sending organization, it is nonetheless a continuous wonder that the SBC was birthed out of a split in American Baptists of the Triennial Convention when a slaveholding Southerner was put forward to become a missionary … Continue reading Reading the Bible Amid the Culture Wars