See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8, NRSV) For the time is coming when…
If you’re not outraged …
Several years ago, a bumper sticker popped up here and there that said, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” We need to print up some more of those for times like these. Love him or hate him, you’ve…
Jesus’ family’s values
This past Thanksgiving, my wife and I had both of our families gather together as we celebrated our first holiday as a married couple. It was a really special time where we had amazing food, fun, and fellowship. As we…
A Christmas wish list to enact social justice
’Tis the season for giving, or, at least, that is what we say. The conclusion of the year 2016 comes as a relief of many of us. Not only was this year riddled with the deaths of Alan Rickman, David…
Joining the resistance: A 100-day counter-agenda for the Church
The Christian movement has never been in a cozy relationship with empire and remained a healthy and vital movement. Rightly spoken, “Jesus is Lord” is always a statement of subversion to the empire’s rule. And there are no easy or…
Am I not radical enough to be on the Professor Watchlist?
An open letter to the folks at Professor Watchlist: I am deeply angry, upset, frustrated and irritated with the aggregated list you all compiled of “dangerous professors” with “radical agendas.” Specifically, what deeply disturbs me about your list is that…
The ‘Water of Life’ in an age of water scarcity
It’s only a matter of time when two nations go to war not over access to oil, but to water. Bypass the debate about whether climate change is causing this — the reality, according to the United Nations, is that…
I’ll be somewhere else for Christmas
In December of 1998 my father made an unusual holiday journey. Less than a year earlier he’d been diagnosed with melanoma which eventually laid siege to his brain. After fruitless rounds of chemotherapy and gamma knife treatments, Dad had a…
Less fake, more real
In 1787, so the story goes, a Russian named Grigory Potemkin erected a portable, fake village in order to impress the visiting Empress Catherine II. Thus the phrase “Potemkin village” has come into our lexicon to describe anything literal or…
Justice and joy combined in the words of Mary
Justice and joy are intertwined, not unlike the link between joy and pain. To love is to suffer, as the mystics remind us. Deeply acquainted with the recesses of the human heart, C. S. Lewis wrote: “Joy is distinct not…
With fear, everything becomes a potential weapon, even church bells
Under a covered patch of brick in our church parking lot there hangs an enormous bronze bell. It dates back to 1887 and hung in our spire until a structural engineer submitted a report back in the 1960s telling us…
Nurturing an eye for hidden mangers
“Give us, Thy people, so susceptible to size, so easily impressed by worldly rank and scope; give us, O God, an eye for mangers tucked away in stables.” — “Christmas Prayer,” Rev. Dr. Ernest Campbell (1923-2010) My pastor quoted Dr….