Red Letter Christians

When I was growing up, I remember a widespread lament of restaurant waitstaff; they dreaded the Sunday “after-church” rush. The churchgoers were not only hard to please; they were notoriously bad tippers. In fact, some didn’t tip at all; instead, they left what was called a tract – a small booklet that told a person how to be “saved”, how to avoid the fires of hell, or some o...

We all know people who have lived through the worst this life has to offer, who have witnessed the shield crack in two as tragedy marched in, who pleaded all night for rescue only to have the dawn break on their nightmares come true. In our own lives and in each day’s headlines, we have to acknowledge that the knight in shining armor doesn’t always appear to slay our dragons....

On February 16, 1965, Rev. C.T. Vivian publicly confronted Sheriff Jim Clark in Selma. Countless Black Alabamians had been turned away from their constitutional right to register to vote, so Civil Rights organizations had begun a campaign to press this issue. “You can turn your back on me, but you can’t turn your back on justice,” Rev. Vivian shouted. Sheriff Clark turned and...

For years I thought I just had bad luck fishing from the surf. Must be the wrong bait, or I’m not casting far enough, so I’d wade out chest deep and heave my line as far as I could, landing almost always on the sandbar, which is the exact wrong place to fish. In order to catch a fish, particularly from the shore, you need to know how to “read the beach.” When you see most peo...

On February 16, 1965, Rev. C.T. Vivian publicly confronted Sheriff Jim Clark in Selma. Countless Black Alabamians had been turned away from their constitutional right to register to vote, so Civil Rights organizations had begun a campaign to press this issue. “You can turn your back on me, but you can’t turn your back on justice,” Rev. Vivian shouted. Sheriff Clark turned and...