It’s no secret that organized religion is in trouble. Over the past few decades, the American church has seen a freefall in membership, attendance and reputation. Current data suggest the steep decline has stabilized for now. But the long-term trajectory…
Juneteenth 160 years later
This year, Juneteenth turns 160. While it only became a federal holiday in 2021 — joining the calendar as America’s 11th official holiday — it commemorates one of the country’s oldest and most painful journeys: the ongoing fight for true,…
Why I’m taking a break from Christian media
The Newsboys’ Going Public was one of the first CDs I bought as a teenager. Then I discovered DCTalk and the Christian music scene of the 1990s. I was all in — subscribed to the magazine and read all the…
A word about June 14 to Christians beyond the USA
Last week the editor of Riforma, an Italian-language newspaper published by and for Baptists, Methodists and Waldensians in Italy, asked if I’d be willing to write a front-page article for this week’s edition sharing my perspective on events in the…
What Oscar Romero has to say about this moment of national unrest
When I was a graduate student in history, I wrote my thesis on the life of the El Salvadorian archbishop Oscar Romero. I contended he was a unique figure in that he held closely to many of the ideas of…
What’s in a mask?
The first few years I lived outside Alabama, I received the same question by those learning where I grew up: Did you see members of the Ku Klux Klan walking down the street in Alabama? This question was sometimes asked…
People I met at the No Kings rally in Nashville
Since more than 80% of evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump in 2024, when seeking folks to interview at the June 14 No Kings protest in Nashville, Tenn., I sought those bearing religious-oriented posters to explore their perspectives. With several…
God’s hand, sex and 2020 vision
Let’s analyze a political celebrity’s claim about God. For comparison: In summer 1986, while I was on a Christian college mission trip to the Philippines, my parents and my younger sisters were taking a very out-of-the-way route to Myrtle Beach,…
What a database can’t do
It is a dark irony that people who claim to stand for truth can so effectively bury the truth about abuse. Although it never should have been her story, Jennifer Lyell was one of many who bravely reported abuse at…
Hearing the elephant and seeing the owl: Memories of John Killinger
When I learned of John Killinger’s passing on June 5 at age 91, I found myself reflecting with deep gratitude on a friendship that spanned 35 years and strongly influenced my life and ministry. Respected as one of America’s most…
The girl at the edge of belonging
She was 15, and she believed. She hadn’t been raised in church exactly. But somewhere along the way, she found her way in — drawn by something tender and true, something that stirred in the songs and the stories, the…
How I’m preparing for No Kings Day
In the long-ago time when cell phones were becoming more ubiquitous, we were encouraged to put the letters ICE with the names of our contacts who should be called In Case of Emergency. Everyone knew if someone was in need…