The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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Scripture doesn’t give us all the details we’d like to know about church and state. For example, St. Paul said we must obey civil government since it’s ordained of God, operating as his agent of justice to punish wrong (Romans 13). This is especially problematic since we believe Nero ruled Rome at the time. Nero was a vile man, sexually deviant and a murderer. He had his own mother and a wife murdered and assaulted a second wife so violently that she miscarried his child and died herself. He als...
The Presbyterians USA will not vote this summer on a controversial proposal that sought to require ordained clergy to be monogamous, after a key committee of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ruled the measure out of order and sent it for further study. A Procedural Halt to a Heated Debate The overture-known as CON‑10 and originally submitted by the Presbytery of Sierra Blanca-asked the denomination to amend its Book of Order so that any minister "engaged in any relationship of a sexual n...
July 2, 2026 – On July 1 the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four new bishops in open defiance of Rome. An official decree from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith followed declaring the excommunication of the clergy of the SSPX. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, declared in his formal order that "Despite the warnings addressed to the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, Bishop Alfonso de Gal...
On 1 July 2026, the feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) marked one of the most consequential days in its recent history. At the Seminary of Saint Pius X in Écône, Switzerland, before a large gathering of priests, religious, seminarians, and lay faithful, the Society witnessed the episcopal consecration of four new auxiliary bishops: Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier. The ceremony was p...
The Vatican has reaffirmed that the homily at Mass is reserved exclusively for ordained ministers, rejecting a recent request that sought permission for lay Catholics to preach during the Liturgy of the Word. In a formal response issued June 23, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments stated that the restriction is not a disciplinary rule that can be waived, but a matter rooted in the very nature of Catholic liturgy and the sacrament of Holy Orders. The ruling came...
Kevin was minister of education in a church I served. He’d often joke when asked what his job was by saying pastors and musicians get accolades after worship services, such as “Thanks for the wonderful sermon,” and “Thanks for the beautiful music.” But in contrast, church members would tell Kevin which toilets needed repairing. In another mission station, I didn’t have a minister of education to call when toilets needed repairing. I thought about Kevin when a lady stopped me before a service t...
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to allow women to serve as ordained deacons during its 2026 General Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky. Meeting for its annual legislative gathering, the largest conservative evangelical Reformed denomination in the United States voted decisively to maintain its historical, complementarian stance on church office. The Decision on Overture 37 The floor debate centered on Overture 37, a proposal brought forward by the...
Pope Leo XIV has released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, a sweeping 42,000‑word document that places the Catholic Church squarely in the center of the global debate over artificial intelligence, human dignity, and the future of social life. Signed on May 15, 2026, and published May 25, the encyclical marks the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum and consciously extends the Church's social teaching into a new technological era. A Warning Against an "Anti‑Human Vision" At the heart of...
It’s a beautiful song based on a verse in the Psalms about God’s word. We sang it one Sunday in morning worship. (As the late Rush Limbaugh would say, this was “a heap many moons ago.”) However, one worshipper was distraught. She reminded me later that the hymn writer had been in the news in recent weeks. The writer left her husband and married someone who had left his wife. Their notoriety made this scandalous. I’d read about the marriage, but, honestly, didn’t connect the event with her hymn....
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation's largest Protestant denomination, has voted overwhelmingly to advance a constitutional amendment that would bar churches with women serving as pastors or preaching to the assembled congregation. The vote, taken during the SBC's annual meeting in Orlando, marks the first of two required approvals needed to enshrine the ban in the denomination's governing documents. Nearly 75% of delegates ("messengers") supported the measure, signaling strong...
June 24, 2026 - The Society of St. Pius X has issued a sweeping "Profession of Catholic Faith" to Pope Leo XIV and the College of Cardinals, intensifying an already tense standoff ahead of the traditionalist fraternity's planned consecration of new bishops. The document, framed by the Society as a peaceful but firm declaration of fidelity to Catholic doctrine, arrives as Church leaders weigh the canonical and pastoral consequences of an act that the Vatican is expected to view as a grave...
WILMORE, Ky. - Asbury Theological Seminary has been removed from the United Methodist Church's approved list of ordination schools after the institution reaffirmed its long‑held belief that marriage is between one man and one woman, a position now at odds with the UMC's newly revised stance affirming same‑sex marriage. The decision marks another significant development in the widening theological divide within Methodism, as churches, clergy, and seminaries continue to navigate the den...
ROME - Cardinal Camillo Ruini, one of the most influential voices in the Catholic Church during the late 20th and early 21st centuries and a steadfast defender of traditional marriage and Catholic doctrine, has died at the age of 95. His death marks the passing of a towering figure in Italian Catholicism whose leadership shaped the Church's engagement with politics, culture, and public life for more than three decades. Ruini, long regarded as a close confidant of Pope John Paul II and Pope...
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast.” - Paul, Ephesians 2:8-9 Free For All is the name of a new book I wrote which was released in December 2019. The subtitle is 4 Things God’s Amazing Grace Can Do For You. It is listed as an Amazon Best Seller and has a five star rating on Amazon as well. In this book, I explore John Wesley’s understanding of grace and the four different ways we...
Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd in John 10, contrasting himself with the “hireling.” This familiar King James word is rendered “hired hands” in other translations. Jesus said the hireling is afraid when the predator appears. He runs away and abandons the sheep. Thus the hireling is only interested in a job, not a calling, and doesn’t feel personal accountability. This is the reason evangelical churches don’t talk about “hiring” pastors or staff, but about “calling” them. These ministe...
Abigail Adams famously wrote to her husband, John, at the Second Continental Congress in 1776, “Remember the ladies.” Southern Baptists currently are remembering and debating the ladies. I met a female associate pastor while visiting a Presbyterian church on recent travels. This practice is common in some American denominations. Alabama Baptists have women in ministry since we’re told about 60 percent of the music ministers in our churches are female. And there are countless female youth, childr...
I met a certain politician years ago. I observed that he studied name tags in the room and immediately called people by name. He made it to lieutenant governor in his state, so I’m sure this helped. Since then, I’ve tried to do this, too. It’s been said the sweetest words we can speak to other people are their names. But I suggest among the sweetest phrases we can speak to others is a simple question, “What do you think about this?” I was a graduate teaching assistant for several quarters...
MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE - The Catholic community and the nation of Mozambique are mourning the sudden and tragic death of Bishop Osório Citora of Quelimane. In the early hours of June 6, 2026, the 54-year-old bishop was found dead inside the episcopal residence in what local authorities are treating as a suspected act of brutal murder. According to reports from the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Osório, a member of the Consolata Missionaries, was discovered i...
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is gathering for its annual meeting in Florida to debate a constitutional amendment that would strictly ban churches with women serving in any pastoral role. This marks the fourth consecutive year that the nation's largest Protestant denomination has weighed tightening its restrictions on female leadership. The Constitutional Debate While the Baptist Faith and Message already limits the pastorate to men, this proposed amendment, backed by leadership, would...
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is locked in a sharp internal debate over a proposed rule that would explicitly require all ordained ministers to restrict their sexual relationships to monogamous ones. The measure, officially designated as Overture CON-10, has drawn intense criticism from progressive committees and activist groups within the denomination. Critics argue the rule imposes narrow cultural standards and could inadvertently harm marginalized communities. The Core of the Proposed...
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 20 percent of America is “rural.” Most rural churches have bi-vocational pastors with other full-time employment. And some pastors serve multiple churches. A friend preached at three churches, one early, one late and the third at the full moon, or something like that (I never understood his complicated schedule). Rural churches share similar congregational DNA. They love the old hymns. They have “red-backed” hymnals they pull out on Sunday nights to sing, ...
How Buddhism honors both motherhood and celibate monks and nuns Buddhist saints are often described as maternally compassionate, with the endless patience of a mother who feeds, cleans and cares for children around the clock. In fact, the Theravada branch of Buddhism holds mothers in such high esteem that two men among the Buddha’s chief disciples, Sariputta and Mogallana, are said to be “like the mother giving birth” and “the nurse raising a child.” Yet in Buddhism, as in some other religions,...
‘The Chosen’ director to Latter-day Saints: Loosen up The director of the indie streaming hit “The Chosen” recently gave Latter-day Saints a bit of tough love when it comes to their worship style and portrayals of Jesus. “I feel like it’s OK for me to say this because, as you know, I’m the honored evangelical mascot of the LDS Church,” filmmaker Dallas Jenkins said in an interview on the podcast “followHIM.” “I would say that there’s such a reverence and there’s such a genuine respect for Christ...
It’s common for congregations to administer opinion surveys occasionally. But I’ve seen mixed results. Baptist denominational officials report that congregations who take surveys when searching for a new pastor discover members want a 35-year old with a seminary degree. Thus he is educated, not too old, not too young, but just right. A retired minister told me about his displeasure with their new young pastor. “He won’t wear a suit, and he won’t use a pulpit,” he fumed, so there is that. I imagi...
My generation remembers taking trips or experiencing emergencies and looking about for a telephone. Little did we dream one day we’d all have one in our pockets. But is this a positive or a negative thing? One of my colleagues at Judson College always wore ear buds. I asked about this one day and he told me his wife was mobility impaired and he needed to be available to rush home if she needed him. We’ve found it so convenient to keep appointments on a cellphone calendar, or to check news sit...
