The United States is not there — at least not in relationship to our close neighbor, Cuba. Thanks to the tenacity of the church in the U.S. committed to God’s justice and love, and to President Obama, our neighborliness is…
Who is the Good Samaritan now?
Another day, another police officer-involved shooting. These national tragedies are happening with frightening regularity. So much so that we don’t need narration; we know the end from the beginning: “He had a gun.” “I felt that my life was in…
Retweeting mercy in the midst of darkness
In her July 10 message at the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber retells the story of the Merciful Samaritan. The message is timely, coming as it does on the heels of a week —…
No more Samaritanizing
When we Samaritanize others we imply that they are fatally flawed by identities like their race or religion, their ethnicity or their uniforms, and thus are unworthy of care, understanding or perhaps even life itself.
Brexit, Trump and the Stranger
The news of the British referendum shook the world this week, sending financial markets into turmoil, prompting rage from British Millennials, and inspiring no small amount of fear in an American public. Few waited very long to draw comparisons between…
Are you a first responder?
“Do you consider yourself a first responder?” The question seemed odd at first, but it was sincere. The person who asked had not mistaken me for a firefighter or a police officer or a paramedic. Something different was meant. Not…
Chipping away at the block of wood in my eye
Introductory word: Family Systems Theory calls for a focus upon one’s self, rather than upon another, when seeking to improve interpersonal dynamics. After all, one’s own part within a relationship is the only part one has the power to change….
Salvation by works?
Salvation by works. That’s a phrase that is anathema to baptists the world round. Instead, the rallying cry is sola fide, by faith alone. But what if that wasn’t the message of Jesus? We are, I presume, all familiar with…
‘Love Your Neighbor with Your Vote’
We don’t put out political yard signs at our house. For 21 years as a journalist, I could not take a publicly partisan stand on political matters. And now as a pastor, I should not take a public partisan stand….