Fourteen years ago, I was getting ready to walk into a church where I was the guest speaker on a Wednesday night. I never had been there before and was not sure where to go. A man was walking through…
When Christ knocks at the door
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Revelation 3:20 often is heard as a quiet, private invitation — Jesus asking politely to enter an individual heart. But to John’s first hearers, living under the pressure of empire, this image…
As predicted, Trump’s deportation policies are damaging US economy
The U.S. economy already is showing signs of stress due to President Donald Trump’s deportation and border policies, new economic research shows. “Although current deportations are only now ramping up to the levels threatened during the 2024 presidential campaign, over…
‘Come as You Are’ Is Not a Slogan for the Church
In her introduction to your latest book, Jesus Changes Everything, Tish Harrison Warren mentions something many Christians are concerned about: that we live in a post-Christian world.
Notre Dame event models the hospitality needed for national healing
As I walked through the snow toward McKenna Hall at Notre Dame University, I imagined the next 12 hours would include hard truths and valuable insights from professors and pundits about the reelection of Donald Trump and the Republican takeover…
The good graduate student: A modern parable
This past Sunday was beautiful. After a wonderful worship service, many of us walked downtown for Williamsburg’s PrideCon, an annual event put on by Love is Love Tidewater. It was a welcoming environment where people felt safe and free to…
This is Halloween: Seven ways to do something good this Halloween
“This Is Halloween” is the opening song to Tim Burton’s 1993 stop-motion animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas. The movie is set in Halloween Town, a city where the community focuses on Halloween, under the leadership of the Pumpkin King,…
In Central Texas, the Naomi House makes me proud to be a Baptist again
I never imagined I would utter, much less think, these words: “I am proud to be a Baptist.” But it happened. I don’t need to recount the long laundry list of problems with our denomination or with the church in…
Gifts of hospitality in the midst of grief
I’ve known two fundamental truths about myself since I was little: I am adopted, and I am Latina. A birth heritage of Mexican descent always has felt like an important piece of who I am. I was adopted at birth…
Seeking the blessing of those who welcome us to the land
Edith and I travel a lot and have done so for years. We spent four years where we just traveled around from reservation to reservation across the United States and Canada and mentored a number of people. We also did…
What would Dolly do?
I went to Dollywood for the first time this summer, a pilgrimage of sorts. After all, Dolly Parton is a larger-than-life icon, and Dollywood is so much more than just an amusement park. Dolly grew up in poverty in Sevierville,…
The U.S. Postal Service is near bankruptcy: why Christians should care
The parable of “The Friend at Midnight” offers insight into the importance of a postal service now under threat. People of faith should weigh in on this important political and moral issue.