This week, the fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, “Let the Church Declare and Display Christ Together,” is happening in Seoul, South Korea, where thousands of international Christians have come together from diverse backgrounds to consider “gaps and opportunities” in…
What they are not saying: JD Vance and Project 2025
A few days ago, an Ohio Sheriff, Bruce Zuchowski, called Vice President Kamala Harris “a laughing hyena.” This type of disrespect — along with lies about Haitians eating stolen pets, comments about liberals not being victims of assassination attempts and…
Africa: The gold medal avoidance
The Olympic Games, often celebrated as the epitome of global unity and athletic excellence, have a darker legacy that is rarely discussed — a legacy that traces back to the 1904 St. Louis, Mo., Olympics, marred by overt racism, exploitation…
‘Who is my neighbor?’
Over the past two weeks, the Trump/Vance campaign has spoken often about an influx of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and proffered the outrageous claim that these immigrants are stealing and eating the pets of white Springfield citizens. Despite a…
Two ideas for living with death
The sociologist Peter Berger once said the power of religion rests, ultimately, upon the credibility of the banners it puts in our hands as we walk toward death. A recent brush with death awakened me to the surprising fact that,…
Learning from the ‘Wise One’
For the past few weeks, I have been enjoying the second season of one of my favorite shows available to stream. There are some Tolkien purists who do not care for the show, but I will not quibble with some…
Letter to the Editor: A vote for Harris is a vote for hope
Dear Editor: Not since Barack Obama became our 44th president have I been filled with such unbounded hope regarding our nation’s future. Former President Donald Trump’s deadly insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and delayed attempts to hold him accountable had…
Putting Christian political participation in proper place
“Christian nationalist” (or its synonym “MAGA Christians”) has, at times, been applied to any Christian who expresses a political opinion or votes Republican. Yet not every Christian who votes or is otherwise involved in politics is a Christian nationalist. Such…
Calling Donald Trump a ‘good businessman’ illustrates the problem of bowing down to ‘business’
Driving down the road last week, I (Mark) heard a radio journalist interview Hispanic immigrant voters (legal ones, for all you who worry about this) about how they’ll vote in this fall’s presidential election. One made the case that he…
Is stigma in the church hindering the path to addiction recovery?
While many are turning to alcohol and drugs at alarming rates, it’s time for our churches to reconsider their understanding and approach to recovery Matthew T. DuVall serves as director of development for McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University…
Preaching to pain
One of the sayings attributed to Buddha and others is, “Life is suffering.” Jesus put his own spin on that universal truth when he asserted, “It rains on the just and the unjust.” No one escapes this life without having…
Dissent and resistance
In my last column, I held up as a worthy example for us all, a textile worker in a small North Carolina town — the one in the floral shirt and white scarf, who chose to follow the urging of…