I find myself in awe of the clergy and laity offering frontline care of souls in response to COVID-19, lovingly creating ministry alternatives, even from a distance. While these acts of selflessness are themselves a dramatic sign of spiritual renewal, sobering trends confront America’s churches.
The U.S. Postal Service is near bankruptcy: why Christians should care
The parable of “The Friend at Midnight” offers insight into the importance of a postal service now under threat. People of faith should weigh in on this important political and moral issue.
The church that returns from lockdown will not be the church that left the building
We have learned some things about ourselves during these weeks as physically scattered churches. The poignant question may not be how will WE as the church emerge, but rather first how will I emerge? Or, what part(s) of the body am I now?
A lowdown, dirty shame: Ahmaud Arbery’s murder and the unrenounced racism of white Christians
I do not desire your tears, pity, lip service or guilt. What I, and I think many black Christians, are looking for from white Christians is renunciation. And only the genuine kind that includes a pledge to consistent advocacy and action for racial justice.
Funny when you think about it: serious reflections on faith
Writing a column for BNG forces me to pay attention. Once a month I get to ask, “What’s happening that people of faith want to read about?”
10 pandemic takeaways, personal and pastoral
I sense our country is at a rare moment, quietly listening. The gospel message is going deeper than usual. The crucified, risen Messiah is relevant.
The vital work ahead: evangelizing the evangelicals and demythologizing the empire
We are being called to die for an economy that only works for a handful of people. The racial caste system brutalizes black and other communities of color, while dangling just enough opportunity to white people to keep the system intact and to prevent most of us from revolting.
I have a few choice words for people protesting public health directives. Then I hear that still, small voice.
As disciples of Jesus, we do not have the luxury of hating people, writing people off, dehumanizing them or wishing them ill, even when they are acting in the worst ways possible.
Much has changed over the past two months. Some changes are worth holding on to.
Let’s pray that, in some ways, our world never returns to its pre-COVID-19 “normal.”
Ahmaud Arbery and a pandemic of injustice
The novel coronavirus crisis has ushered in a pandemic of injustice. A central theme in this story is that the most vulnerable among us have been the most deeply impacted by a sickness that does not discriminate.
Analysis: Will growing divisions in the SBC eventually be good news for American Christianity?
The revolt against racial reconciliation efforts in the Southern Baptist Convention is rapidly metastasizing. The SBC is at war with itself, and the best way to know who is winning is to observe recent public statements by Albert Mohler.
School voucher proponents are using the COVID-19 crisis to push for taxpayer money for religious education
Some politicians are using the pandemic-fueled economic crisis to push dangerous proposals that put our religious liberty at risk. And no, I’m not talking about applying stay-at-home orders to in-person worship services.