Posts by Ken Brown
No Worries
Sports fans can be strange. Really, any kind of fan can act in very strange ways because, after all, ‘fan’ is short for ‘fanatic’ and fanatics can assign a seriousness and energy to their cause that results in all manner of unusual behavior: Grown men will paint their faces in the colors of their team…
Read MoreIn Uncertainty, Go with Who You Know
Below is a conversation that took place when our two daughters were little and there was a tornado warning that required we all go to the basement: Laynie (our oldest): “Are we going to be alright?” Me: “We’re in the basement so we can be safe.” Laynie: “Is our house going to get hit by…
Read MoreThe Misuse of Biblical Knowledge
Some years ago, I read this humorous but real account from a Presbyterian layman whose article lamented that too often the churches in his denomination preoccupied themselves with peripheral issues. What he described could be any denomination or church that takes theology and learning seriously: I remember my first visit to a Reformed church all…
Read MoreWho’s Making Your Kool-Aid?
Some of this blog’s readers have known me for many years, but I’m quite sure you didn’t know this: I was once a secret agent for the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). You see, FEMA developed a program called the ‘Clergy Response Team’ (CRT) to enlist ministers in calming the populace in the event of…
Read MoreStop Trying to Be Cool
Over three decades serving as a pastor I have had opportunity to witness many trends and fads in church life. Terms like “seeker” and “emergent” and “missional” and “relevant” and “contemporary” have all at various times found their way into the evangelical lexicon. While these cover a wide range of issues and involve many different…
Read MoreSeparation of Church and State
Many Americans are familiar with the First Amendment to our Constitution, the first portion of which guarantees religious liberty: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” What many do not know is that Baptists played an important role in ensuring the inclusion of religious freedom in…
Read MorePutting Yourself in Your Place
People sometimes wonder how we can relate to characters and stories in the Bible since we’re separated from them by time and culture. However, although the circumstances are different, the people involved are not. And although God dealt with them in situations different from ours, He is the same God now as then. So every…
Read MoreWhat’s Past Is Prologue
We have heard it said that “Experience is the best teacher” to which I add, “especially when it is someone else’s experience.” That is, we need not repeat the mistakes of others, and can benefit from their accomplishments, if we wisely learn from those who have gone before. In addition to the “experience” adage we…
Read MoreFocusing on the Heart of the Matter
The 2004 movie The Village depicts a community completely sealed off from the outside world in order to protect its inhabitants from the dangers beyond, only to discover that the evil they fear is among them, because within them. They learned what the comic strip character Pogo declared: “We have met the enemy and he…
Read MoreHow to Get the Most Out of Your Bible
Every evangelical church I’m aware of places its belief regarding the Bible first in its Statement of Faith. Article I of our church’s confession says: We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the very Word of God: the product of the breath of God and thus verbally inspired in all parts, and therefore wholly without…
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