In 1997, Mercedes Benz launched an exciting ad campaign in an effort to rebrand themselves as more relevant and fun-loving. The series of ads was set to the Gene Autry song “Don’t Fence Me In,” and those commercials live rent…
Tucker Carlson is a danger to American families
Just when you think the lies and threats from MAGA world can’t get any scarier, Tucker Carlson shows up. The fired Fox News personality spoke at a Trump rally in Georgia Oct. 23 sponsored by Turning Point Action, an evangelicals-for-Trump…
I have come to a fork in the road and I must take it
I am embarrassed. I don’t have an excuse. My friends don’t understand what’s wrong with me. I moved from Atlanta to Brooklyn eight years ago. I’m a baseball fan who, inexplicably, hasn’t chosen between the Mets and Yankees. This is…
Improvising Grace: Reformation and dissent
Author’s note: On Oct. 22, I was privileged to preach at a convocation celebrating the 25th anniversary of the School of Divinity at Wake Forest University. I pass it along in this Reformation week. …
How Christians can support religious liberty without sacrificing human dignity
With Election Day in two weeks and early voting already under way, it’s impossible to miss how religion continues to be wielded in American politics. For decades, Christianity has been co-opted to justify a specific slate of policies, narrowing what…
American dreaming
In a fraught conversation last week, a friend of mine shared with me her delusion with the election season as early voting opens in many states. “I hate all of them,” she said, referencing all the presidential and vice presidential…
Trump supporters’ silence about his threat for vengeance
In the 1990s, my friends on the far left were upset that I favored impeaching and convicting President Bill Clinton for lying under oath. When Democrats on social media were lauding Garth Brooks’ singing of “Amazing Grace” at President Joe…
Why inerrancy is a threat to democracy
If 200,000 Democrats met at the National Mall three weeks before a presidential election, erected an altar and started smashing it while yelling about the GOP candidate getting thrown from a tower, trampled by horses, eaten by dogs and turned…
Running an operation
It’s not a political campaign the Republican Party is running; it’s an operation, a plan to put their candidate into office regardless of the vote. At least that’s what it looks like to me. The clues are many. As one…
‘The Ellinwood Caper’ and the spirit of nostalgic hometown Halloweens
Not too long ago, while perusing a local bookstore, I noticed a collection of macabre literature brought out just in time for All Hallows Eve. I stumbled upon a book titled Haunted Heartland. Perhaps you can imagine my surprise when…
Dancing on my mother’s grave
Several months ago, while perusing the aisles of Home Goods, I noticed a discreet display of party items for El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, observed annually on Nov. 2. If Michael’s can haul out the…
Leading by preaching
Our role as leaders of congregations is most visible when we stand up to preach. Whenever we step into the pulpit, we are “out in front” — thus fulfilling the shorthand definition of a leader. On any given Sunday, we…