“We’re thankful God protected us.” When I was in seminary in the early 1990s, Mount Pinatubo erupted, devastating Luzon, the largest and most populated island in the Philippines. In the 1980s, I twice had served as a summer missionary on…
When the system is based on comparison, won’t someone always be ‘more blessed’ and ‘less blessed’ than another?
Walking into the room, I saw a 3-year-old with a cast on his leg sitting in his hospital bed surrounded by plush Hulk, Captain America and Spider-Man toys. Sitting next to the bed was a weary-looking mom, who welcomed me…
God’s anointed politician: We’ve seen this act before
The word “anointed” has made a return to politics. Evangelicals, once giddy at pulling off the incredulous claim that Donald Trump was somehow God’s anointed, are not the ones currently attempting to return the “anointing” to presidential politics. Anointing now…
What the grieving wish you knew about the holidays
Holidays often are difficult for those who grieve the death of a loved one. Truth be told, most would rather avoid the season altogether and disappear until Jan. 2. We can’t take their grief from them, but we certainly can…
White evangelical values voters in one word
The November 2022 midterm elections in the United States provide the latest evidence about the priorities of white voters who call themselves evangelical Christian conservatives. In Georgia, those voters are the primary constituency supporting Herschel Walker’s candidacy to defeat Raphael…
Blessings of the pandemic
I know, what is she thinking?! In the season of giving thanks, let’s look back at the last two years and acknowledge that some of the changes, unbelievably, resulted in gratitude. The list will likely surprise us. I’ll go first…
Tim Tebow, male leadership and the ‘feminine,’ ‘weak’ church
Lately we have seen much talk about “real” biblical manhood vs. the “feminization”of the local church. The church is weak because the men are weak, the critics say. Blame the decline of church attendance and the decline of Christian values…
When you count your blessings, what do you count?
“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings,” according to philosopher Eric Hoffer. I grew up in church singing the beloved hymn by Johnson Oatman Jr., “Count Your Blessings.” What is a blessing? And…
Blessed to be a blessing, globally
“Blessed to be a blessing.” I’ve heard it a million times. You have, too, if you go to the kind of church that recycles catchy slogans (which is most churches). Sure, it’s a cliche. But I like it. Because it…
Antisemitism is rampant in America: Will churches be silent?
Antisemitism, one of the world’s earliest and most enduring conspiracy theories, is again rearing its ugly head. With origins in ancient Greece, antisemitism became a hallmark of Christian-Jewish relations across the centuries. It is with us yet. Writing in the…
On the origins of Veterans Day
Veterans Day doesn’t lend itself to commercial attention like its twin, Memorial Day, probably because it’s squeezed between two other cash-registering holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving, and it does not coincide with a car-cultural observance like the Indy 500 auto race….
The blessing of provocation
Theological education has been my life’s work, and it has been a joyful and traumatic pursuit at three schools: Southern Seminary, Central Seminary, and now United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. I would consider myself blessed to have labored…