“It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness. In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ they should do all in their power to put an end to war.”

—The 1963 Baptist Faith & Message of the Southern Baptist Convention

Unpopular opinion: more ministers should have a working grasp on the biblical languages.

Fun fact: Jimmy Carter left the SBC and joined the CBF! When he passed away, he was a deacon at his CBF church.

When you travel or go on vacation, do you bring a Bible with you? ⚓️

I memorized this as a child, but never underestimate the importance of reciting Psalm 23 from the KJV by memory in a hospital setting.

From our stay at the Maison D’Abraham on the Mount of Olives in Al-Quds. This is where we stayed during our delegation with Sabeel in Palestine. Behind us is the Qubbat aṣ-Ṣaḫra, the golden domed mosque commonly referred to as the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock.

“That’s why missions like Artemis II matter. In expanding our scientific understanding of the universe, they deepen our wonder, clarify our place in creation, and draw us closer to God.”

“Forced worship stinks in God's nostrils.” —Rev. Roger Williams, founder of the First Baptist Church in America and founder of the colony of Rhode Island

Iran and Palestine are two sides of the same coin.

“Christ of the Wheelchair”, written by Derek Yoder

Currently going down the rabbit hole of Charles Spurgeon’s rejection of the practice of ordination within Baptist life.

Screenshot from King of the Hill Season 5, Episode 3

Silly me, I had forgotten!

As I like to tell the folks I serve, everywhere Jesus is God, he is fully human. His divinity isn’t present anywhere his humanity isn’t present, and vice versa. This is the logical conclusion of Chalcedon.

So key to my personality that this year for my birthday I’m planning a Shaker tour vacation. If things plan out, I’ll be visiting all the Shaker communes and museums!

I fear that The Testament of Ann Lee is now a key part of my personality

A woodcut icon of Jesus, pulling prisoners out through a hole in barbed wire fence. He is standing on crossed gates of hell that read ICE detention

Happy Easter! I’m back! The most important thing I want to share today is this new @benwildflower.com icon, an abolitionist anastasis icon showing Jesus harrowing the Hell of imprisonment, which is BREATHTAKING. (I commissioned this piece.) Proclaim resurrection and liberation, friends!

Ah, see, I do. But that’s characteristically part of Baptist culture. When I say I’m hard on my Bibles, I mean that I’ve use Bibles until the actual cover splits in half. I’ve had to hot glue actual book blocks to their spines. I’ve had to replace ribbons because they’ve fallen out from use.

Ultimately, bound Bibles are tools. Important, yes. It is a translation of the Word of God, yes. We should respect that most sacred text, yes. But the Bible is a tool. It is a means to an end. Usually, higher quality tools give you more bang for your buck.

I don’t recommend post people paying that amount of money for a Bible. But if you use it—and use it hard—a high-end Bible is actually cheaper in the long run.

As someone with a high-end Bible, yes they are expensive. But they’re designed to literally last a lifetime. The $300 my husband bought me for my ordination will probably outlive me. The $15 Bible from a typical bookstore will fall apart in a year, especially with how hard I use my Bibles.

Yes, though the ESV is more nefarious in its translation choices imho. It intentionally translates the text towards a complementarian bent instead of letting the text be the text.

It depends on what you’re using it for! My default translation is the older NRSV from 1989 (not the recent Updated Edition, not for any particular reason, just not in my wheelhouse). I also *really* like the CEB. The NIV is what I balance my translations out with for an evangelical perspective.

I managed to get ahold of this copy for $15, I think, from a Half Price Books. They’re out there!

@keanuheydari.bsky.social, if you don’t have one of these, you should get one! It’s the REB Oxford Study Bible in black genuine leather. A rare find, but very worth it. My poor copy was clawed up by my cat, alas!