On April 12, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, Ala., for leading a nonviolent demonstration for human rights. While he was being detained, he was given a newspaper that contained a statement written by eight white preachers….
On Epiphany, tend the light of Christ with truth and love
On Epiphany, which the worldwide church celebrates today, we should ask ourselves how we, the church, will rise and shine in these dark days of discouragement so that we will be a light to the world. The answer has to…
Southern Baptists need a vaccine for racism
As we have recently celebrated the birth of Christ, we would hope that our nation would rededicate itself to the true Christian ideals of the season: peace, love, goodwill toward all. Yet, after four years of the Trump presidency, and…
In times like these: Love of hope and hope of love
Does hope mean anything anymore? What is the point of hope in this season? I’ve asked myself those questions, along with many, many others in the preceding months and today. I look at the mess we’ve made of the United…
Four radical implications of knowing you are God’s child
We are children of God. This statement is incredibly simple. And incredibly radical. In Genesis, God creates humanity out of God’s image. Humans are made into God’s image and grow into God’s likeness. We are like God; we bear God’s…
Remembering John Lewis: An invitation to make ‘good trouble’
Rep. John Lewis has bequeathed to the church a call to make “good trouble” and to stir up the gift that resides in us: faith in God and faith in each other. I pray the followers of Jesus are finally…
Black people have the right to defend themselves by the same means their white counterparts do
Here’s the unsettling but important point being made: You cannot just kill black people indiscriminately, wantonly, whimsically and expect that they will – or better yet – that they SHOULD accept it as if their lives do not matter to themselves, their families and their communities.
White politicians and conservative evangelicals are still riding ‘the wrong train’
Bonhoeffer was right. If you board the wrong train, running along the corridor in the opposite direction doesn’t solve your problem. White Christians need to get off the racism, capitalism and militarism train.
COVID-19: Now I understand King’s truth of the ‘inescapable web of mutuality’
Prophets have been saying this for millennia: Justice will not be guaranteed to me until we have built a culture ensuring justice for everyone. My own welfare can only be found in the welfare of my most vulnerable neighbor.