When you read this opinion piece, the presidential election of 2024 will be finished, if not finally decided. It seems to me the election will determine whether the Seven Deadly Sins or the Seven Classical Virtues will be ascendant in…
Two things can be true at the same time
In case you missed the controversy, Easter Sunday and Transgender Day of Visibility fell on the same day this year. Oh, the horrors! Conservative evangelicals — many of whom who believe transgender identity is not a real thing — saw…
As more Americans delay health care they can’t afford, it’s time for the church to be a light once again
Imagine facing a medical condition and choosing to do nothing because of money. That was the case for 38% of Americans in 2022, up 12 percentage points from the previous year. According to Gallup, 27% of Americans reported the medical issues…
Faced with a frightening dream, my father with dementia showed me the way
A few nights ago, I had a dream that terrified me. Actually, it woke me up feeling physically ill in my waking moments. I was on the side of a mountain that had a series of large boulders lining it….
Charity versus justice
It’s an old saying but true: If you have to keep rescuing people out of a raging river, eventually you ought to walk upstream to see who’s throwing those people in the river. This is the difference between charity and…
Private property or the public good? Thoughts on wealth, taxes and justice
Growing up in the 1970s, there were some things I was sure of. One such truth was that America is a Christian nation — founded by Christians, based on Christian principles, uniquely favored by God. I suspect many Christians who…
How a Muslim beggar taught me about dignity
Perhaps I had grown too accustomed to seeing people dig through the garbage containers at the edge of the street in my residential neighborhood in Semarang, Indonesia. Then, one day I prepared a sermon for the small English-language congregation I…
‘God don’t make junk’: Transformed vision prompted transformed community in S.C. neighborhood
Metanoia, a grassroots, asset-based community development ministry founded in 2002, is changing lives and perceptions in a North Charleston, S.C., neighborhood.
Photo Gallery: Metanoia in photos
All photos taken in this photo gallery of Metanoia are by Stephen B. Morton. [Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”14″ gal_title=”Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield”] In this series, we learn what happens when a community rejects traditional concepts of charity but instead taps the existing…