Between the Lines

The annual Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) finished up last night in Houston, TX and one of the major news stories coming out of the convention is the resolution passed regarding the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) [read full resolution and press release by Baptist Press here ]. Essentially, the resolution expresses the disappointment by the denomination in both the leadership and decision made by the national Scouting board in regards to allowing all boys to participate in the organization despite their sexual orientation. What it does not do is tell churches to dissolve their relationships with BSA troops/packs (because then they would cease to be Baptist, you know the whole local church autonomy thing is KIND of a big part of the Baptist denomination), but instead encourages them to funnel support into the Royal Ambassadors (the SBC equivalent of an organization to the BSA). For those of you who may not know, I am an Eagle Scout, and a proud one at that. My family and I were a part ...

If you know me, then you know I have a deep love and appreciation for all things theatre (yes when referring to it as an art form, it is spelled with "re"), especially Broadway. Because of that, every June I make a special effort to watch the annual Tony awards, which celebrate the best in the past season of productions on Broadway. In fact, it is the only awards show that I watch from start to finish. This year's production, which was hosted for the fourth consecutive time by Neil Patrick Harris, was the best I could think of in recent years as far as entertainment goes. All of the best of Broadway were present, and the award acceptance speeches are always the best because, well, they are all performers. This year, one acceptance speech stood out to me when the recipient spoke passionately about his mother. The actor, Billy Porter, was receiving the award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Lola in the musical Kinky Boots. The part of the speech that I app...