I had been a freshman in college for hardly a month. I first learned of the attacks when I arrived at a morning class, and spent most of the day huddled around a small dorm room television with new friends….
Good enough to be saved?
“Remember the psalms were written by the people to God. These are the thoughts of a human about God, not the word of God spoken to humanity.” My Sunday school class had gathered down the street from our church at…
Questions of the faithful
Hope. What is it? How do I catch it? Will it find me or must I go looking? Love. What is it? How do I catch it? Will it find me or must I go looking? Faith. What is it?…
Congregational postcards from the edge of Christianity
Some years ago I had the opportunity to consult with a congregation with a great history and reputation for having at least one — if not more — internationally known pastors who delivered sermons of great fame and lasting popularity….
Consciences: distressed and dissenting
In Dissent in American Religion, the great historian Edwin Scott Gaustad wrote, “Should a society actually succeed … in suffocating all contrary opinion, then its own vital juices no longer flow and the shadow of death begins to fall across…
Sin? Of course. Depravity? Not so much.
Amy and I led a retreat for a wonderful Presbyterian church this weekend. The response to our leadership and the session material was excellent — though my wife scolded me for throwing John Calvin under the bus in one of…
More than lies and immigration
La versión en español está disponible aquí. “Someone is lying,” I told my son last Wednesday night as I kept flipping channels between the U.S. news networks and the Mexican ones. The major news was Donald Trump’s day trip to…
Más que mentiras e inmigración
An English version is available here. “Alguien está mintiendo”, le dije a mi hijo la noche del miércoles pasado mientras cambiaba los canales de televisión entre las cadenas de noticias de Estados Unidos y México. Las noticias principales eran sobre…
How can a diverse community of faith collaborate with God in the world’s healing?
I doubt I’m telling you something you don’t know, but just in case you’re wondering, let me say from the start: leading a church is hard work. It’s just perpetually difficult to bring a group of people together, united or…
Are the poor really blessed?
In the Gospel of Luke Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” I don’t believe for one minute that Jesus is saying it’s a good thing to be poor. Nor do I…
Why white America silences Jesus
“So what’s your religion?” the young man wanted to know. “My ancestors were Anabaptists,” I said, “and I find myself identifying with that tradition.” “So, what’s an Anabaptist?” “Well, they are sometimes called the radical wing of the Protestant Reformation,”…
In a divided society, maybe we should shut up and listen
Years ago my oldest child, who was in kindergarten or first grade at the time, came home from school and told me that he heard one of his classmates use the “S” word. I was like, “Ah, ‘S’ word! Not…