Carol and I recently escaped to the Great White North, the Land of Maple Syrup and America’s Hat. After five days in Toronto, I am a bit of an expert. My sense is Canadians are friendly. People speak on the…
Families need to create their own spiritual rhythms
This is the fourth in a four-part series on making churches family friendly. Through our research and experience with churches and families, we have discovered faithful parents and caregivers want to engage children in the faith but often do…
In conversation with Reggie Williams
Reggie Williams is a writer, teacher and activist who teaches at St. Louis University. His book Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus is an exceptional examination of how Dietrich Bonhoeffer was shaped and changed by his experience in the Black church in Harlem….
Which side are you on?
I was raised at the foot of the North Carolina mountains. Mounds of earth pushed up, bookmarking spots of creation that deserve a little more attention. Scientists say the Appalachian Mountains are ancient. Older than the Rockies, older than the…
This is what your indifference has done
A few weeks ago, one of my dearest friends called me on a Saturday evening from the floor of his apartment closet, where he was huddled in fear of ICE breaking down his door. My friend lives on the 25th…
Why I am staying: A call to reform the SBC from within
Change can feel like the hardest thing in the world. It brings forth tension — fear, anxiety, worry and even anger. We often see change as an enemy to fight, something to survive rather than embrace. But some change is…
Here’s why authoritarians go after historians and journalists
“Those that don’t know any history think everything is an overreaction right now. Those that do know history think everything is an underreaction right now.” These were the words posted recently on Threads by medical physicist and musician Benito Thompson. To which…
The evolving and continuing role of the U.S. church in Bible translation
For more than a century, the church in the United States has been actively involved in supporting nearly 7,400 language communities of the world by sending missionary Bible translators, praying and funding Bible translation. According to recent statistics from ProgressBible, 4,172…
Demand the United States end genocide in Gaza
More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli assaults in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023. “The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that many people reportedly continue to be killed and injured, including people seeking food along…
No, MAGA supporters aren’t the same as Nazis
We humans love dichotomies. For example, when we meet someone, our brains tend to classify the person as masculine/feminine, taller/shorter, etc. Of course, false dichotomies abound. While a woman is either pregnant or not, a person can have both masculine…
We have time to …
In 49 C.E., Seneca wrote a book on time management. In On the Shortness of Life, he came down hard on his fellow Romans for pursuing political careers they didn’t really care about, holding elaborate banquets they didn’t especially enjoy…
You’ll hear no endorsements from this pulpit
The IRS recently announced it would no longer enforce the Johnson Amendment. The amendment, passed in 1954, bears the name of then-Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson. The Johnson Amendment prohibited churches, religious organizations and other nonprofits from participating in electoral…