How are we to live as part of the church in America in these terrible times for the church and society? The perils of Christian nationalism were on full display on Jan. 6 as insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol in…
What if we cared about Black History Month as much as Lent?
Growing up in the ’80s and ’90s as an independent Baptist in an all-white church, the first 20 Februarys of my life came and went without any awareness of either Lent or Black History Month. Liturgy was considered something the…
Prophecy is obedient imagination
Prophecy is a big deal within the world of American nondenominational Christianity. I’m not talking about the kind of application of apocalyptic biblical texts to current events that Hal Lindsay and Tim LaHaye made popular back in the day. No,…
How much wealth does America need before we’ll address homelessness?
In college I read a story by Leo Tolstoy called “How Much Land Does A Man Need?” Tolstoy’s story is about a peasant named Pahom, whose desire is to own enough land to make him wealthy. It did not start…
Why we need to talk about abortion
We need to talk about abortion. The first time I remember knowing anything about the subject, I was probably in late elementary school and overheard my older cousins and sibling snickering about my grandmother’s concern about “all those aborkins” and…
How travel and food break through barriers that divide us
One hot topic — for the church and Americans — is that we as a nation continue to struggle with diversity. Increasingly, folks of all races are moving next door, entering families through marriage or adoption, and sitting next to…
Is the church only for ‘good Christians’?
I recently read an article about an organization that provides background checks for churches. If a church wants to feel safe about those who volunteer to work with children or serve in a leadership position, it might be a good…
Raging at God after my 67-year-old father died of COVID
My dad was a vibrant and healthy 67-year-old when he caught COVID-19 and died a few weeks before Christmas. It was an abrupt and jarring experience for my family. I was left heartbroken and enraged. I was angry at this…
Why I wrote about hope in disarray
Three years ago, when I first started to write Hope in Disarray, the world was a very different place. It seems that the world back then was churning through time at rapid speed, unaware and untroubled by the destined forces…
‘For fear of the Jews’: Confronting Christian anti-Semitism
As we enter into the season of Lent and draw near to Holy Week, we dig deep into narratives of the coming suffering and death of Jesus, and into what has been — across the centuries — a time when…
What do we do now? The blessing and curse of COVID to the church
It’s a shame when an opportunity is lost. Don’t lose the opportunity that COVID presents. That probably sounds counterintuitive. What opportunities have presented themselves through this pandemic? Frustration. Yes, frustration is an opportunity. Don’t miss this opportunity because frustration has…
Loving my neighbor by being an ‘active bystander’
I grew up as a missionary kid in a country where political and racial differences led to bloodshed and genocide. This was not actively directed toward American missionaries. They were bystanders. Often they had no opportunity to intervene because the…