The coronavirus pandemic, like the handwriting on the wall in Daniel 5, has interrupted our nation’s imperialist and idolatrous banquet of materialism, racism, white religious nationalism and militarism that Martin Luther King Jr. prophetically identified as lethal threats to the country and the world.
We’ve got plenty to be afraid of these days. So why does the Bible tell us not to fear?
The point is not what we fear, but what a life ruled by fear can do to us.
Lent 2020: Improvising grace and embracing repentance, civility and dissent in ‘a time of national urgency’
Whatever else, Lent is the church’s reminder that we are ever improvising, seizing the half-baked idea or the unexpected moment of irony, tragedy or failure as an occasion for grace.
Daring to enter the black holes of racism to do the cosmic work of racial justice
The Creator’s cosmic design encourages me as a white pastor to lead my church into the terrifying, life-altering work of racial justice.
Let’s bury the patriarchal narrative in American culture. Politics and churches are good places to start
American culture is patriarchal to the core. As author Leslie Dorrough Smith argues, the ideal male identity remains white, heterosexual and given to “family values” (even while their behavior contradicts this supposed conviction).
White America has been lying to itself about who we really are
We cannot continue to pretend that time will heal the deep wounds that divide us. Generation after generation, we bring our gifts to the altar without stopping first to do the work of reconciliation to which Jesus calls us.
Re-setting broken bones: Why the oft-lamented division in our culture is necessary and helpful
This moment does not call for cheap unity, but for a clarified division.
The looming prophetic crisis and the urgency for truth-telling
Truth-telling is a moral imperative no matter who may resent hearing the truth, no matter who may refuse to believe the truth and no matter what people who oppose the truth may do to truth-tellers.
Black History Month: I’m all in, but let’s tell the WHOLE story
The story of our struggle is a story of resilience, resistance and triumph-in-the-midst-of-tragedy that actually has the power to redeem this nation from the sins of the fathers and the privilege of the few that has come at the expense of the many.
Do your sources of information and inspiration all look like you and share your point of view?
To limit our intake of books, podcasts, movies, TV shows, sermons and articles to those produced by white men is the equivalent of limiting our understanding of God.
We need to talk about oppression, not just privilege
A friend quoted from memory lines from Langston Hughes’ poem, “Mother to Son.” I was reminded that it is the very definition of white privilege to think we can just sit down on the stairs because the work of racial justice is hard.
2019 was not a good year for the church: 10 resolutions for doing better in 2020
It’s high time for the church to drop all its stones and stop acting like its role is to be judge, jury, and executioner for those who believe and live in different ways.