“Nil ultra” is Latin for “nothing beyond” or “none higher.” It is the motto of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Wait … before you read on, let the meaning of that phrase sink in. Think about it in the context of a Constitutional Republic, where three branches of government form the checks and balances that […]
First Person: Why Has South Carolina’s Marriage License Changed?
While attending a wedding ceremony in 2016, I discovered a change of wording in the marriage license. After the ceremony, the bride shared with me that the officiating minister was having trouble filling out the marriage license and asked if I could help. As a pastor, I had filled out numerous marriage licenses and agreed […]
Editor’s Word: Why I Am Still Here
I have already experienced a very nice retirement celebration, listened to kind words from various people, and moved out of my office at The Courier (which was a good thing, considering it flooded on Christmas night!). I am still working as editor at the request of the search committee of The Courier, who have been […]
Comic Belief: From Ha, Ha to Aha!
Would you define a speaker or a preacher as someone who talks while people sleep? Do you relate to the story about a couple who went to see the doctor because the wife complained about her husband’s snoring? The doctor asked if he kept her awake at night. “Me?” she said. “He keeps the whole […]
Comic Belief: Roosters and Family Secrets
Dysfunction from generation to generation is usually fueled by family secrets. Our secrets can become our sickness. Some are trivial. I asked a friend why he was getting married. He told me that he was tired of holding in his stomach. His new wife may find that her prize package is a surprise package. I […]
The Sanctity of Human Life: An Embryo from Conception to Birth
When we first learned basic reproductive science, giggling behind our hands in school, we learned that a vast number of tadpole-like sperm swim up to a round, floating egg somewhere in the mysterious geography of the female reproductive tract. Voila! An embryo is made, which (blah, blah, blah) becomes a person in roughly 40 weeks […]
Five Myths About Adoption
After the Supreme Court handed down the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — a landmark case that reversed the harmful precedents set in Roe v. Wade — more attention is rightly focused on the welfare of children, post-birth. Lifeline Children’s Services’ mission is to equip the body of Christ to manifest the […]
Perspective: How We Answer Abortion Advocates Matters
Haunted. This is the word many women use to describe their day-to-day experience after having an abortion. Their haunting includes fear, guilt, shame, confusion — but most of all, the memory of the life that was, and could have been. Countless women bury these memories deep within. One woman, Elizabeth, recalls being young and poor, […]
Euthanasia: Premature, Intentional Murder of the Patient
The charge nurse of the medicine floor at my local hospital spoke wearily through my phone, “The older patient in bed 407, Mr. B., is not responsive, and his vital signs are stable. Can you take a look at him?” Mr. B. was 87, had Alzheimer’s dementia and several other medical conditions. When I examined […]
President’s Perspective: Engaging Lostness Overseas
Part of the turf that goes with pastoring Southern Baptist churches is the annual tipping of the hat to international missions under the banner of Lottie Moon. At least that’s how I viewed it for many years: “It’s Lottie time again, let me work up a missions sermon and slide it in somewhere between Thanksgiving […]