-
By Kathryn Post
(RNS) — ‘The biggest lesson I had to learn is that God’s lack of an answer to my prayers to change me was an answer, because there was…
-
Dialoguing Across Difference: Abortion & Big Tent Theology
We must do better — and it starts with each and every one of us.
-
Happy 85th Birthday, Tony Campolo!
By RLC Editor
Celebrate with us the life and legacy of Tony Campolo!
-
The Problem With Lent
By Tim Otto
“If we go into the desert of Lent alone, we miss the purpose of Lent.”
-
The Power of Pilgrimage: A Freedom Road Conversation
Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III joins Freedom Road during black history month to help us go deep on legacy and the power of pilgrimage.
-
An Evolving Evangelism
By Luke Embree
“Many are asking how the church can continue to influence culture. But this is fundamentally the wrong question.”
-
You Can’t Beat Evil With a Stump Speech
“The darkness of this moment requires a brighter light.”
-
Will the Real Pro-Life Political Party Please Stand Up?
“Liberals and conservatives who care about life need to overcome the politicization of life issues to find common ground.”
-
‘That’s a Lie’: The Heckling of BIWOC on Christian Campus
By Kathy Khang
“And then a male voice from the audience yelled back: ‘That’s a lie.’”
-
Guns In Church: Reflections From a Seminary
How are we forming future pastors and church leaders through the liturgy of guns in our worship services?
-
Acting Against the Spirit of the Times: The Challenge of Howard Thurman
By Will O’Brien
Thurman’s powerful theological, spiritual, and social contributions are only superficially known in much of the Christian world today.
-
Healing Racial Trauma
But it is America. We have a history of racially traumatizing behavior toward the most vulnerable.
-
Black History Resources for All Ages
Because our history is a prophetic mixture of lament, resilience, resistance, pride, and celebration.
-
Voting for Our Own Souls
But the faith that sustains that struggle is rooted in a refusal to be conformed.
-
The Politically Homeless Christian
By Sarah Styf
Experience changes us. It helps form our opinions, views, politics, and beliefs.
-
Decoding Whiteness
To follow Jesus is to be anti-racist.
-
-
‘It’s All Good’
I must see Christ’s nature in everyone, even those who seem hopelessly lost and broken.
-
Announcing our new Interim Executive Director
Together, we exist to glorify Jesus and to amplify the voices of his revolution.
-
Will the Real Values Voters Stand Up?
Democracy is the ultimate DIY project.
-
On Going the Extra Mile (And How It Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means)
By Corey Farr
This subversive act flips the power dynamic.
-
When Worship Is Resistance: Hymn for the 81%
It is a love song to the church and a call to repentance.
-
The Good News That Breaks Cycles of Violence
By Chris Brown
The pattern of this world is violence, whether individual or national.
-
Writing a New History of Immigrant & Racial Justice
We must continue Dr. King’s work by demonstrating how great America could be if we would all just stop being so afraid of each other.
-
Why I’m Still Evangelical in Spite of President Trump’s Evangelical Supporters
By Ron Sider
I refuse to abandon a word that is biblical and has a wonderful history,
-
The Art of the Third Way
The kingdom of God is always on the other side of the fences we construct.
-
Bryan Stevenson: The Epitome of the Good Samaritan
He feels deeply and resonates with his clients.
-
Finding Freedom & Salvation in a Weary World
We cannot comprehend one another’s lives or struggles, or diminish others’ struggles in the face of our own.
-
In Living Kindness
When our psychology, theology, and economics are out-of-balance, we are in chaos.
-
-
When Faithfulness Means Checking Your Sources
The Bible is not one book, but a library.
-
The Defiant Hope of ‘Just Mercy’
“Just Mercy” is not a film about a man.
-
What I’ll Tell Our Kids About War
By Jon Huckins
I’ll tell them that Iranian people aren’t our enemies.
-
-
#PrayForPeace Candlelight Vigils
By RLC Editor
We cannot give into fear, but must embrace peace and reject violence.
-
Red Letter Christians Lament the Escalating Violence with Iran
This killing is a direct contradiction to the core moral teachings of Jesus.
-
‘Good Guys’ Carrying Guns & a Savior Who Carried a Cross
By John Jones
I’m a Texan and a member of the Church of Christ like the congregation that was recently attacked. In fact, had my family been traveling through the area, we might…
-
The Moral Crossroads of Evangelical Christianity in the United States
Christianity in the United States is at a moral crossroads. Our ability as followers of Jesus to courageously seek unity in the body of Christ while responding to the political…
-
How to Celebrate Christmas: Change the World
By Amy Butler
Via RNS — In America, as in many other places where Christmas has been appropriated by secular culture, even people who don’t care who Jesus was or what he taught…
-
Behind CT’s Editorial Is a Crisis of America’s Religion of Whiteness
Via RNS — Given President Donald Trump’s rock-solid support from the evangelical Christian community, the appearance late last week (Dec. 19) of an editorial titled “Trump Should Be Removed From Office”…
-
Red Letter Christians Support CT’s Call for Impeachment & Removal
By Tony Campolo
There are many evangelicals — even among white evangelicals — who agree with the editor of Christianity Today, the top evangelical magazine, and want Donald Trump removed from office. As…
-
Refuse the Evil, Choose the Good
EDITOR’S NOTE: This reflection by Cláudio Carvalhaes is part of the 2019 Growing the Light: Advent Reflections on Farmworker Justice. Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it…
-
The ‘Small’ Expectations of Jesus
Size — no doubt it has become an obsession with our civilization today, hasn’t it? The biggest dream of all organizations, both for-profit organizations and nonprofits alike — is still…
-
In Tennessee, Is Redemption Only for the Powerful?
By Justin Jones
After public pressure this year, Governor Bill Lee shared that he will work with lawmakers to end the mandated recognition of “Nathan Bedford Forrest Day” in Tennessee. However, Forrest continues…
-
Let Billy Graham’s Legacy Speak for Itself
His legacy and accomplishments are impressive. His character and wisdom like no one this world will see again. He has sold millions of books, and preached the gospel t more…
-
Tasting God’s Justice & Joy
EDITOR’S NOTE: This reflection by D.L. Mayfield is part of the 2019 Growing the Light: Advent Reflections on Farmworker Justice. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert…
-
Can We Stop a New Civil War?
The United States has never been free of internal conflicts. But it feels different these days. A lot of people are feeling it, left and right. The disagreement and conflicts…
-
Keep Watch With Me: Advent & Peacemaking
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following excerpt, by Michael T. McRay, is from the brand new book Keep Watch with Me: An Advent Reader for Peacemakers, which features several Red Letter Christian…
-
Rising Together with Preemptive Love
EDITOR’S NOTE: To celebrate the recent launch of the Red Letter Marketplace, we’re touching base with some of our featured organizations to chat more about their good work toward justice…
-
Swallowing Stones
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article by Rev. Susan Chorley is part of the Radvent series, a daily devotional for radicals and would-be radicals. “I wonder if there is a time in…
-
Worthy of the Fruits of Justice
By Kaji Douša
EDITOR’S NOTE: This reflection by Kaji Douša is part of the 2019 Growing the Light: Advent Reflections on Farmworker Justice. “He said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned…
-
The Justice System is Broken
Jesus was arrested, given a trial, tortured, and then crucified on a cross — a criminal’s death. This should remind Christians that societal systems of justice are imperfect — and…
-
Mary’s Subversive Song
By Ryan Kuja
Find any nativity set, and we all know the familiar characters: Mary, Joseph, the little baby Jesus, and the various barnyard animals. Mary’s story is central to the Christmas narrative…
-
The White Evangelical Persecution Complex
It is widely known that white American evangelical Christians feel they are under siege. In 2017, pollsters at the Public Religion Research Institute asked Americans about their perceptions of discrimination…
-
American Jesus, Stay Away from Me
I once heard a fantastic sermon at my alma mater, Indiana Wesleyan University, the kind that stays with you over half a decade. I would credit the man who gave…
-
The Red Letter Marketplace
Dear Red Letter Movement family, We’re pumped to officially announce our newest international initiative: The Red Letter Marketplace! www.redletterchristiansmarketplace.com We have created a hub for missional businesses on our website…
-
Wake Up! A New Day of Justice Is Dawning!
EDITOR’S NOTE: This reflection by Brian McLaren is part of the 2019 Growing the Light: Advent Reflections on Farmworker Justice. “Besides this, you know what time it is, how it…
-
Henri Nouwen on Celebrating the Holidays — and Every Day
By Henri Nouwen
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from the posthumously published “Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in An Age of Anxiety,” by the late Henri Nouwen. Celebration is what we…
-
Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah Share ‘Unsettling Truths’ in New Book
Via RNS — President Donald Trump and independent presidential candidate Mark Charles agree on at least one thing. When Trump declared November for the first time to be National American…
-
Growing the Light: Advent & Farmworker Justice
By RLC Editor
The season of Advent draws us into a time of anticipation and preparation with all who long for release from oppression. This Advent, the unwavering allies of the Coalition of…
-
Paige Patterson’s Career Ended After She Came Forward. Her Struggle Continues.
Via RNS — Megan Lively glanced down furtively to the copious notes she had jotted in a thick spiral-bound notebook resting in her lap. She was about to speak to…
-
The Power of Prayer, Vulnerability, and Interdependence
From the time I was a child, I was taught that as a Black girl who would one day become a Black woman, I needed to work twice as hard…
-
Learning Resistance and Courage From Ida B. Wells
My earliest act of resistance came when I was a teenager, when I was taken to the local doctor. He had a waiting room for black patients in a dimly…
-
Sex Scandals Show Why Evangelicals Need to Recover the Sacrament of Confession
Via RNS — Recent news that popular Christian comedian John Crist has been accused of sexual harassment put the spotlight once again on sexual sin within the church. This would not,…
-
Why Jesus Followers Should Be Prison Abolitionists
I am about to be a public defender, and not one that just helps the system move along or only works hard for innocent people, but the kind of public…
-
The Rise of Fundamentalist Catholicism
By Mark Silk
Via RNS — It is normal and customary to identify Pope Francis’ conservative critics as “traditionalists.” But much of what they say is a far cry from Catholic tradition —…
-
Paula White and the Mainstreaming of American Pentecostalism
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article from Sightings refers mainly to white American Pentecostalism, and does not acknowledge the thriving presence of Black, Latinx, and Asian Pentecostalism in the U.S. and around the world — many…
-
A Feast in the Wilderness
One day the teaching session had gone on so long that it was getting toward dusk when we suddenly realized nobody had eaten anything all day. It was too late…
-
Could a Revived ‘Theology of Hope’ Restore Faith in Hopeless Times?
Recently, I’ve been pursuing instances of “hope,” which, one would think, are usual and non-rare. But if you pay even marginal attention to media, politics, arts and, yes, religion, you…
-
Debunking the Trump-Cyrus Prophecy
Why on earth does the Religious Right cling so desperately to Donald Trump’s presidency? One answer has to do with a supposed biblical prophecy that Trump has come to fulfill,…
-
Cast No Stones
By Chris Brown
EDITOR’S NOTE: This reflection is from Dr. Chris Brown, the son of a criminal sentenced to death. His book, Child of Grace: A Death Row Story, takes you on a…
-
Why Trump — Not Jesus — Is at the Heart of White Christian Love for Kanye
By Andre Henry
Via RNS — Rapper Kanye West is once again being likened to the Apostle Paul, and this time, it’s not just Kanye making the comparison. After Kanye released his highly anticipated…
-
Is Jesus King of Kanye’s Bank Account?
Via RNS — Well, the new Kanye album “Jesus Is King” is all the buzz. It’s expected to sell 65,000 to 85,000 copies this week alone, and a quarter of a million…
-
A Christian Response to the Rise of Extremism in Iraq
By Kathy Kelly
Yesterday morning (Oct. 27), President Trump announced the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and three of Baghdadi’s children. President Trump said Baghdadi, the founder of ISIS, was fleeing U.S. military…
-
Mourning Elijah Cummings, Preachers and Presidents Recall a Man of Faith
By Jack Jenkins
Via RNS — After news broke last week (Oct. 17) that Maryland Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings had died, many were quick to note that one of the last things the longstanding…
-
Where Are Our Safe Spaces?
As a Christian, I often contemplate what is expected of me as a believer. How should I treat my neighbor? How should I respond to life’s events? How should I…
-
Jury Convicts 7 Catholic Pacifists of Breaking Into Nuclear Submarine Base
Via RNS — A federal jury on Thursday (Oct. 24) convicted seven Catholic peace activists of three felonies and a misdemeanor for breaking into a nuclear submarine base in Kings…
-
‘Border Church’ and ‘Border Mosque’ Team up for Prayer Service
Via RNS — For more than a decade, the Rev. John Fanestil, a United Methodist minister, has held a Sunday service at Friendship Park, a historic meeting place on the…
-
Progressives: Let’s Leave Room for Others to Make Progress
By Nick LaParra
Via RNS — Two weekends ago, Ellen DeGeneres attended a Dallas Cowboys football game and was seated next to her friend, the 43rd president of the United States, George W.…
-
Why Three Temptations?
As noted, there were three temptations given us, but scripture is clear; there were 40 days of continuous temptation, not just three on the last day. The three given us…
-
How We Can Use the Current Crisis in Politics and Christianity to Reclaim Jesus
By Jim Wallis
I remember a breakfast conversation with a member of Congress in Washington, DC, in 2017 about the relationship between faith and politics. He asked, with deep puzzlement in his eyes,…
-
Who Carries the Vision?
Around the moment when the hand of our historical clock was ticking from B.C. to A.D., Herod ruled Judea as a puppet of Rome. Granted the title “King of Judea,”…
-
Seeing Jesus in Unexpected Places
By Elrena Evans
This is the baritone played in fourth grade band by the kid who got kicked out of kindergarten. This is the Book Club selection read by the kid who got…
-
SCOTUS: In God’s Image
By Jacqui Lewis
This week, the Supreme Court is hearing the cases of people who were fired because they are gay or trans. Many use biblical interpretation to undergird prejudices against LGBTQIA people.…
-
Let’s Not Ask Botham Jean’s Family to Choose Forgiveness over Justice
Via RNS — Sometimes it can feel like you are better off being white and guilty in America than Black and innocent. As I watched the recent trial of Amber…
-
Christians in Support of the Impeachment Inquiry
EDITOR’S NOTE: On October 1-2, 2019, Red Letter Christians gathered in Goldsboro, North Carolina for a Red Letter Revival to lift up Jesus and justice. While President Trump has claimed…
-
How a Courtroom Ritual of Forgiveness Absolves White America
Via RNS — Last week, fired Dallas police officer Amber R. Guyger, who is white, received a sentence of 10 years in prison for the murder of an unarmed black…
-
God Is Not Dead!
I sat near the back pew at Goldsboro District Assembly, after the ushers asked me to move up a few pews. Didn’t you know that pastors, especially Lutheran ones, abhor…
-
Deconstructing: When the Price is Belonging
A few years ago I walked out of the church I had attended and served at for many years. I didn’t really have a choice. I followed Jesus out of…
-
#GOLDSBOROREVIVAL LIVESTREAM
By RLC Editor
It’s time for a Christianity that looks like Jesus again. It’s time for gospel preaching and prophetic witness. It’s time to return to the things Jesus said. It’s revival time!…
-
It’s Revival Time!
Christianity in America is in a funk. The same people who led many of us to Christ have also led us to Trump. In 2016, 81 percent of white evangelicals…
-
We Are Not of Those Who Shrink Back
Dr. King once diagnosed America as having a septic commitment to racism, poverty, and militarism that was destroying the nation’s soul and ripping apart its moral promises and possibilities. And…
-
Who’s an Evangelical and Who Gets to Decide?
By Thomas Kidd
Via RNS — The most often repeated story about religion and politics these days is the evangelical love affair with Donald Trump. Virtually every week we get another story of…
-
My Tension with Kanye West’s ‘Sunday Service’
“He’s fashionable, he’s reaching a lot of people who weren’t going to church, and he sits with people who have diverse opinions.” I’ve heard a wide range of thoughts about…
-
Left Behind: How End Times Heresies Undermine Evangelical Action on Climate
By Don Golden
Climate Week kicked off in New York City this week (September 23-29) as a matter of global urgency. Organized in collaboration with the United Nations, the week is meant to showcase…
-
Smuggling Justice
By Laura Melvin
I had no plans to step into one of my favorite parables, but sometimes you meet someone in need along a road. Sometimes, it’s really not a choice to walk…
-
People of Faith Know What Must Be Done on Climate Change
Via RNS — As America’s youth march in the climate strike this week and United Nations leaders discuss climate change at their summit in New York, the climate crisis is…
-
Why Is Temptation So Tempting?
Lu 4:3-4 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written,…
-
Love Your Neighbor: Use Their Preferred Pronoun
Via RNS — Last month, hundreds of thousands of freshly minted high school graduates stepped onto university campuses for their first day of classes as freshman college students. It is…
-
Amazing Grace in the ‘Killing House’
Behind my desk there sits a clock, crafted by Terry King, a man who has become my friend and who has lived in Unit 2 on death row in Tennessee…
-
‘The Neck That Turns the Head’
Everybody’s talking about this recent Politico article outlining the underbelly of Liberty University President and Trump fanboy Jerry Falwell, Jr., and I figured as the author of a book on Trump-supporting Christians, I…