As I write these words, President Trump is politicizing the fall reopening of schools for our children. I cannot imagine a more difficult set of decisions our public officials are having to make than when and how to reopen our…
Amid a pandemic and a fractured nation, how do we live ‘in the meantime’?
What’s going on with your feelings these days? In an old comic strip, Shoe, the curmudgeonly newspaper editor, is sitting at his desk. He declares, “There are mood swings and there are mood bungee jumps!” Some days are like that…
Rebuilding the foundations of ‘The City on the Hill’: the shadow side of American exceptionalism
If we are to rebuild the foundations of this “City on a Hill,” we must work with all people of good will, those of all religions, races and economic classes, to follow the counsel of Micah to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.
The ‘Common Weeping’: Instead of airing our grievances, let’s uncover our griefs | #intimeslikethese
If we truly enter into the “Common Weeping” during this time of tragic suffering, we can be saved from our cruder emotions. Instead of airing our grievances, let’s uncover our griefs. The first destroys community; the second builds it.
Politics as an approximation of the Kingdom of God versus politics as Baal
When we identify the kingdom of God with one political party or ideology, Baalism is close at hand.
The king’s priests vs. the prophet of God
It was a showdown of biblical dimension: The king’s priests versus the prophet of God. The photo showed the evangelical leaders laying hands on President Trump in the White House. Then here comes the Rev. William Barber challenging their actions…
Prophetic preaching: some reflections
As I left the recent Alliance of Baptists annual meeting and its excellent workshop on “Prophetic Preaching,” some reflections on the topic of prophetic preaching came rushing to the surface. William Barber‘s prophetic teaching and preaching had set the tone…