Through Empowering Families for Spiritual Formation research and experience with churches and families, we have come to learn worship is an integral piece of engaging faithful families and encouraging spiritual formation. However, we also have learned churches can grow in…
In conversation with Kevin M. Young
Kevin M. Young is a writer, pastor, weightlifter and public theologian. I first ran across Kevin on Twitter, where he regularly comments and laments within a social media environment dominated by conservative Theo-Bros who exult in cruelty and call it…
Unless Congress intervenes, Trump will cut funding for LGBTQ crisis hotline
In August 2019, the Federal Communications Commission proposed to Congress the need for a crisis hotline that would connect people to suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors. On Oct. 17, 2020, the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020…
America’s moral emergency
As our nation celebrates its 249th birthday, we find ourselves in a time of moral emergency. The seven deadly sins of Western Christianity are being paraded as virtues by our most powerful and wealthy, and the classical virtues of our…
Evangelical certainty and the God gap
“There are a lot of angry homosexuals out here today,” the man holding the megaphone barked. He had come to Fort Worth’s Trinity Pride Day to speak for God. Much to my wife’s chagrin, I couldn’t let his crude comment…
A certain kind of envy, both good and holy
The Ten Commandments are considered “the background and foundation of Israelite law,” according to Walter Harrelson, distinguished professor of Hebrew Bible at Vanderbilt Divinity School. The tenth injunction is against coveting that which is not your own, but your neighbor’s:…
Now I believe: The cruelty really is the point
I can be slow on the uptake. Back in 2018, the journalist Adam Serwer argued that “the cruelty is the point” for Donald Trump and his supporters. “The Trump era,” Serwer wrote in The Atlantic, “is such a whirlwind of…
How would Jesus judge America?
Judgment is not my favorite subject. I’d rather speak about grace. However, I cannot deny that Jesus, at least in the memory of the Gospel writers, mentioned judgment on numerous occasions. Which has me wondering, if Jesus were to visit…
Alligator Alcatraz tourism
My wife, Lauren, told me a story once. When she was 16, her mother put her on a plane to Europe. She gave her a peck on the cheek, a few words of encouragement and a credit card. “Have fun,”…
With ‘allies’ like these, who needs adversaries?
Hosting drag shows in a church. Board members posting incendiary statements about political violence. Dismissing or scolding dissenting LGBTQ voices. Sometimes it’s “inclusive” churches that can do lasting damage to the cause of LGBTQ inclusion. I was reminded of this…
Living out the story of God
As an avid reader, a personal standard for a good book is a storyline that captures the imagination with an invitation to enter into the world-building and characters’ lives. The book should bring questions like, “Where might I fit into…
How I struggle with Christ’s command to forgive
When I reflect on the people who have hurt me the most in my life, I realize the Christian commandment of forgiveness seems beyond my strength. Sometimes I can do it, and then some days I feel a fury I cannot…