A few weeks ago, I sat with a Baptist leader who described himself as a “moderate Baptist.” He meant it as a compliment, and most people in our circles would receive it that way. After all, “moderate” is one of...
As we approach the 50th anniversary of Alex Haley’s novel Roots, we are not merely commemorating a book and a subsequent television event, we are revisiting a cultural earthquake. Before the bright lights of Hollywood casting calls in 1976 —…
I don’t know about everyone else, but some days I am really challenged by trying to hang on to hope. There are days when despair is attractive. For instance, I recently was doing a bit of searching for something to…
There are moments in American history when the question is not which party will win, but whether self-government itself is working as intended. This feels like one of those moments. On Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born into a…
As I write this, I am a preacher on sabbatical after two years of weekly preaching. I am a “young” preacher in that this is my first preaching job, although not young in age. I have done exhausting jobs before,…
When Rick Warren testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2015, he said something that remains true: Medicines cost less than tanks. As a Christian, I believe every person bears the image of God and is worthy of dignity. I…
The Jewish festival of Purim starts on the evening of March 2. As a scholar of Esther, the book that holds its supposed “origin” story, I always think of it more vividly on the days it is traditionally celebrated by…
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu announced their joint missile strike on Iran with a laundry list of the sins of the ayatollah’s regime while ignoring the violence they themselves have inflicted upon their own citizens and the people of Gaza….
President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a platform of peace, announced in the middle of the night March 1 that he had initiated “major combat operations” against Iran called Operation Epic Fury. By morning, Trump claimed that these strikes had…
On Feb. 5, the 74th annual National Prayer Breakfast was held in a ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel, with President Donald Trump as the keynote speaker. On Feb. 4, 2016, the 64th National Prayer Breakfast was held at the…
Adam Hamilton, founder and senior pastor of the largest congregation in The United Methodist Church, announced in an email and video Feb. 27 he is exploring a possible candidacy for the U.S. Senate as an independent. He said he is…
Proclaiming the dangers of Sharia law has become all the rage among Republicans over the past few months, while opponents denounce the movement as an effort to stoke fear of Muslims among conservative voters heading into the 2026 election. Republican…
You may or may not know Billy Preston’s 1974 hit, “Nothin’ from Nothin’ Leaves Nothin’.” But never mind, the refrain is as much mathematical truth as it is moral wisdom. As I considered the world this past weekend, the moral…
