The Christmas season seems to bring out the worst (or most effective) in manipulative advertisements. These are seductive ways of viewing the world, of thinking of life, and of focusing on me.
From Romans to Revelation: How Christians began to stand against the Emperor
The book of Romans is often quoted by prominent preachers, even advisors to the current president, as justification for unyielding, unquestioning support of government. But context matters.
Humility, kindness and welcome: Hard but biblical callings
Consistently in this country and throughout Christian history, we remember the legacy of the stranger, the heroic actions of the unwanted, the new insights and contributions of the disregarded and even despised.
Crazy parallels: Reformations then and now
Five hundred years after the Reformation, our world again echoes with a plethora of similar tensions, prickly personalities and transformative technologies.
Kaepernick and Jefferson: Standing for the right to kneel
Jefferson said more than he meant. When he wrote those inspired words that rise boldly from our Declaration of Independence — “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” — he spoke words that have…
Confessions of a white preacher
Two stories. Two young men. One white. One black. It was a number of years ago now. I was a pastor in the suburbs of Washington, in a multi-ethnic congregation of people from the very poor to the quite wealthy….