Because we follow the Prince of Peace, the seemingly endless gun violence in our nation affects us in a deep place. Our hearts and spirits feel this violence as a literal assault on our humanity and our faith. So what do we do now?
I’m a pastor who refuses to offer ‘thoughts and prayers’ for these people
I’m praying that God will comfort suffering victims and afflict their political and religious victimizers. That’s not a “God bless the USA” prayer. It’s a “Thy will be done” prayer.
Jason may be an obscure biblical character, but he offers insight for today’s church
The spirit of Jason is one of adventure and a willingness to embrace the possibility of the new, a spirit that embraces the upside-down way of Jesus. Maybe the church today needs more upside-down ways of thinking.
The root of our inability to end gun violence is spiritual, but not in the way many think
Christians in America are unable to #ActTo EndGunViolence because we have intertwined the American story with the Myth of Redemptive Violence. We must be converted away from this pervasive myth by the nonviolent, suffering resistance to evil that is the Story of Jesus.
Despair is on the rise in America. Maybe we need a wailing wall
I wonder if the people who write letters to God addressed to Israel are trying to find a way to reach across the great expanse of silence and darkness for a glimpse of God, like Moses on Sinai. Maybe a letter tucked into a crack in an ancient wall is not an act of despair but an act of faith.
Theological conversations are not just for theologians, ministers and seminary students
There’s something wonderful about demystifying some of the “verities” alongside thoughtful students of the Bible who are eager learners about how what we believe shapes our lives.
Leaving a church: Sometimes it’s a matter of conscience
Leaving a church is a hard thing to do. We leave a community of relationships and end a shared history. It’s even harder when we leave over matters of conscience.
The most dangerous subject in a seminary’s curriculum
Church history challenges the arrogance of believing that our theological constructions are the product of own reading of scripture and not built upon millennia of political, social and economic history. It challenges the idea that we are self-made Christians.
Curtis Flowers was tried 6 times for the same crime. His story reveals 3 kinds of Christians
My work on the case of Curtis Flowers over more than a decade exposed me to three kinds of Christians: Kingdom Christians, Culture Christians and Conflicted Christians. I have learned that Kingdom Christians are almost always driven to the margins by the clarity of their convictions.
A queer reconciliation: my journey from outcast to ordinand
Six years after performing my same-sex wedding, my dad was defrocked by the United Methodist Church. Testifying at the ecclesiastical trial was excruciating for me. Yet that experience – and the support our family received – also reignited my call to Christian ministry.
Baptist Christians are working for peace in some of the world’s hardest places
Baptist Christians from all over the world are finding ways to bring about changes for peace and justice in their local and national contexts. Their stories are amazing – and humbling.
Clergy sex abuse: the damage done when faith is weaponized
When Bible verses, prayer, hymns, faith, God-talk and church rituals are perverted into weapons for sexual assault and then hammered into shields for church cover-ups, they become neurologically networked with trauma, and this renders them polluted and often toxic for the survivors.