If you were listening to R&B in the early 1990s, especially in Cleveland, you may recall Chris Bender’s hit song “Who Will I Choose?” In the song Chris has a dilemma, he has two love interests contending for his heart….
Trading the Cross for a cause
Many moderate and progressive-minded Christians are trying to live our faith in the most actionable way possible. We want a church that takes suffering seriously, tells the truth about injustice, shows up for neighbors and looks like Jesus in public….
Is Scott Adams in heaven?
‘Dilbert’ cartoonist Scott Adams died Jan. 13 after a short battle with prostate cancer. Adams was known for his wry satire of white-collar office life through his long-running comic strip, which appeared in 2,000 newspapers in at least 70 countries…
Remembering Stephanie
On the third Sunday in Advent in 1991, as we returned home from Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., 16-year-old Stephanie Erin Leonard announced to us: “I think it’s time for me to be baptized.” It was the first…
On being ‘just Christian’
A couple years ago, when I first moved to Wisconsin, I joined a local megachurch Bible study that wasn’t attached to my church. Despite attending a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregation, I found Wisconsin was generally bereft of young folks…
Seven commendations for resisting counterfeit faith
Night owl that I am, these thoughts began composing in my mind at the stroke of midnight, just as the U.S. government closed (many of) its doors. I began imagining the anxiety, even panic, hundreds of thousands of federal employees…
Hymns bear witness to faith and fear
Sitting and looking out on the frothy waves crashing on the rugged shoreline outside the window of our room at an inn in Depoe Bay, Oregon, these old words came to me: I was sinking deep in sin far from…
From the pulpit to the picket line: For many miners, religion and labor rights have long been connected in coal country
In October 2025, Cecil Roberts will officially retire from his role as president of the United Mine Workers of America. A sixth-generation coal miner, he has led the union for 30 years. Only one man held the role longer: John L. Lewis, whom…
Just me, a pink float and the River of God
For the past few months, I’ve been framing my spiritual life — really, my spiritual health — with a specific image: I am floating down the river of God’s work in the world on a bright pink float that, for…
These are the helpful conversations about religion we need
The assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University is undoubtedly going to lead to a lot of conversation about our identity as a nation, the nature of our problems and how we pursue justice. One of the contexts for…
To understand a faith, first understand the people who practice it
Earlier this summer, I was in Salt Lake City on production for “Undivided,” a planned new TV show about American religions that I’m hosting. In Salt Lake I met with Latter-day Saints, known widely as Mormons — a term that…
Why we cannot disengage from local politics
Elections have consequences. Unhinged and capitalistic leadership can lead to rumors of war, separation of families and reckless decisions that entangle people who never should have been involved in the first place. We are living on the brink of an…