This week, I was moved to read two very different books. First, inspired by the MLK holiday weekend, I read a collection of Dr. King’s prayers. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I felt a personal need to…
A thing that money could buy: How corporate evangelicalism elected a president
If religion were a thing that money could buy the rich would live, and the poor would die (Bahamian folk song) Darren Grem wrote The Business of Blessing before Donald Trump’s stunning electoral triumph, but the book helps explain the…
When the Church wears the emperor’s clothes
“We must change the method but not the message.” This has been the aim of recent generations of Christian leaders. Desiring to “reach the lost for Christ,” we developed radio, television and now social media ministries. We wear skinny jeans…
Finding balanced resolve: Our common reactions to current events and why they don’t work
Bruce D. Perry is a renowned psychiatrist who published a book in 2007 called The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog. The book is horrifying yet fascinating. Perry relates stories of children he has worked with who suffered neglect,…
Creatively outrageous congregations
I recently heard an interview with George Lois, a leader in the advertising world in the 1950s who helped revolutionize the industry. His innovations transformed advertising and made several of his clients into household names. I found his comments about…
The promise of figures hidden in the dominant narrative
During the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend I went to see the fine movie Hidden Figures. Already nominated for various awards, this remarkable film recounts the story of the contribution three black women made to Project Mercury at NASA…
We need each other
I need you, you need me — we’re all a part of God’s body. Stand with me; agree with me — we’re all a part of God’s body. It is His will that every need be supplied. You are important…
The many things I do not know about racism
Two years ago, Carol and I started attending a nearby African Methodist Episcopal Church. One other white person came from time to time. I liked it more when she was not there, because I enjoyed saying, “We were the only…
Liquid modernity: Churchly challenges in 2017 and beyond
In liquid modern life there are no permanent bonds and any that we take up for a time must be tied loosely so that they can be untied again as quickly, and as effortlessly as possible, when circumstances change. Those…
Losing our souls in a post-truth world
Is it just me, or does it increasingly seem many people are living in an alternate reality? People of all political stripes seemingly ignore irrefutable facts, and make up their own truths. This new cultural habit of ignoring facts en…
Requiem for the ‘cut’: Finding connections in a gentrifying neighborhood
Tony disappears behind the abandoned house at the curve, and he doesn’t reappear for a while. Another fellow follows him a couple minutes later, and also stays gone. In fact, he never reappears. Must be trouble, one assumes, given all…
Finding the courage to live into the new year
We’re just over a week in to the new year and based on my Facebook feed all the resolutions that were made just nine days ago are facing some pretty big uphill obstacles — at least the ones that haven’t…