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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…
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Facing Our Addictions to Weapons & White Supremacy
Any of us familiar with the addiction recovery process know that until we overcome our denial, we still haven’t hit bottom. Hitting bottom is, in fact, what happens when the…
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America and the Loss of Collective Memory
Memorial Day is here. That spring holiday where we ostensibly honor fallen soldiers, in addition to barbecuing, sleeping in, and celebrating the fact that the snow has finally melted. It…
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An Imaginative Incarnation: The Carnival de Resistance
By Tim Nafziger
Repentance is at the heart of our Christian faith. But how and to what? The Greek word translated as repentance is metanoia. It means turning; a transformative change of heart.…
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‘The Sermon That Stole the Show’
It’s not Meghan Markle’s stunning 16-foot veil or bouquet of forget-me-nots, the favorite flower of the groom’s late mother, Princess Diana. It’s not the romantic words Prince Harry whispered to…
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Standing Up to Church Abuse
By Cory Driver
It is impossible to ignore the news of pastoral abuse of congregants that seems to come to light with increasing frequency. And we should not seek to ignore these stories.…
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Praying with Our Feet
Most of us have now heard about the most recent school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas. It’s the third school shooting this week, the 22nd this year.…
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How Christians Can Protect Endangered Species
By Jim David
This is somewhat difficult to grasp or believe. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, right now there is a very real possibility that 41 percent of all…
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To My Fellow Evangelicals: What You’re Cheering in Jerusalem is Shameful
By Richard Mouw
Of the two evangelical pastors who offered prayers Monday (May 14) at the ceremony for the opening of the American Embassy in Jerusalem, Robert Jeffress received most of the publicity. And…
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King’s Poor People’s Campaign Lives Again
Under sweltering 94-degree heat in front of the General Assembly building, a hardy group of progressive activists gathered to revive the 40-day Poor People’s Campaign, the civil disobedience movement founded…
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Why Paige Patterson’s Apology May Not Be Enough
In just two weeks, Paige Patterson has done what none could have predicted: He’s given America’s largest Protestant denomination two black eyes. The first injury was inflicted when his comments…
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#PoorPeoplesCampaign: 40 Days of Direct Action
EDITOR’S NOTE: On Monday, May 14th, the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival will launch nonviolent direct actions at legislative buildings across the country. Organized by grassroots fusion…
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My Mother Did a Very Brave Thing
By Kinga Farkas
A person, made in the image of God, is forcibly displaced from their home every 20 minutes due to conflict and persecution. That’s one out of every 113 people on…
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How American Christians Can Break Free from ‘Slaveholder Religion’
It’s been a century and a half since the American Civil War ended, but according to Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, the slaveholder religion of that era has quietly persisted until today. But to understand…
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End the Billy Graham Rule
One unintended consequence of recent male sexual misconduct in America, particularly among well-known pastors and Christian leaders, has been a resurgence of what is known as the “Billy Graham Rule”…
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‘Gratitude is Not a Happy Pill’
By Jana Riess
Editor’s Note: An interview with theologian Diana Butler Bass on her new book, Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks. Thanks for your beautiful new book on gratitude. A few years ago I took…
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Stay at the Table: James Cone, Racism, & American Evangelicalism
I was heartbroken to hear of the passing of Dr. James Cone, a legendary theological professor. Having taken many classes with him at Union Theological Seminary in New York, having…
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‘An Ethic of Resurrection’: Daniel Berrigan & the Kings Bay Plowshares
By Art Laffin
“The No to state uttered by the unarmed Christ is vindicated in His resurrection. Of this, the world can never be a witness…This is our glory. From Peter and Paul…
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The Expanding Kingdom: Philip & The Ethiopian Eunuch
By Cory Driver
To me, the story of the Ethiopian eunuch is one of the most heartbreaking and affirming stories in all of scripture. The Holy Spirit’s ministry to the Ethiopian eunuch opened…
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Moment of Decision for Evangelicals
At Wheaton College last week, 50 diverse leaders of evangelical institutions gathered to discuss the future of a movement that has, in its own imagination, tried to hold a spacious…
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Thursday Morning Sabbath
By Elrena Evans
The year my eldest child started middle school, I looked at our family calendar and realized we were going to have a problem. With five children and multiple schools now…
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On Sin and Social Justice
By Ross Murray
I was speaking with a friend and colleague who, like me, is deeply committed to LGBTQ advocacy within the faith community. We had long bonded over our shared experiences of…
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Heeding the Sacred Call to Give Sanctuary to the Vulnerable
Since taking office, the Trump administration has made detention and deportation top priorities of its immigration policy, increasingly targeting immigrant families in communities across the United States through an aggressive…
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‘Sense of Place’: An Earth Day Sunday Resource
Today many churches across the United States will observe Earth Day Sunday. Since 1970, communities have taken one day each year to be especially mindful of the Earth and its…
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Still Evangelical? Literary Festival Panelists Question Label After Trump, #MeToo
The panel of Christian women writers described the night Donald Trump won the presidency as, in the words of one, “a nightmare.” “As the numbers rolled in, (there was) just…
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Bill Hybels: Why Sexual Harassment is Not a ‘Distraction’
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated and includes an author’s note. When Willow Creek founding Pastor Bill Hybels stepped down from ministry last week, he said he was…
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Let’s Change Course Starting This Tax Day
I’m usually proud to pay my taxes, but this year is different. Ordinarily I am glad to contribute to the common good. I’m glad that some of my taxes go…
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Why I Stand with the LGBTQ Community
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you…
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Wakanda Forever: Cultivating Moral Imagination & Beloved Community
Most of my friends and family saw the Black Panther movie two or three times. I saw it twice during the week it was released. I first viewed it on opening night…
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A Glimpse of Heaven
A friend of mine, a pastor, recently shared that he’d gotten some complaints from his church. Apparently, he doesn’t preach about hell enough. I’ve heard a version of this a…
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At ‘Red Letter Revival,’ Leaders Give Voice to Evangelicals on the Margins
By Jack Jenkins
When Tony Campolo began his altar call in Lynchburg, he embellished his spiritual charge in a way not often heard in evangelical services. “Are you ready to say ‘I’m going…
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Of Pastors and Presidents
By Mark Silk
Back in 2007, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour questioned the late Jerry Falwell about inviting confessed adulterer and presidential wannabe Newt Gingrich to give the commencement address at Liberty University. “How do you resolve…
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#LynchburgRevival LIVE STREAM
By RLC Editor
After a whirlwind time of planning and prayer, the #LynchburgRevival is finally here! Folks are coming from 28 different states (and a few countries) to seek refreshment and renewal. Tune…
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Revival: A Liturgy for Repentance
“He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘Sovereign Lord, you alone know.’” (Ezek. 37:3) As the Red Letter community prepares for its upcoming revival taking…
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Break My Heart, Heal My Heart
“Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like you have loved me. Break my heart for what…
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Don’t Domesticate MLK
Whenever we remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., some people inevitably pull out a piece of sandpaper and try to smooth the sharp edges of the great civil rights…
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How Might Easter Be Reinterpreted in Light of Climate Change?
There’s a new hashtag game called #ExplainEasterToAnAlien. Funny stuff. But it got me thinking: How will we explain Easter to an alien? As I recently wrote for the BBC, the discovery of extraterrestrial…
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What If We Heard Each Other This Easter?
This past Sunday I turned 33. Because I work as a Pastor in a church, this past Sunday I also preached twice and led a Bible study. And let me be honest with you,…
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The Power & Legacy of Revivalism
By Tony Campolo
The revival meetings led by Charles Finney, the “Billy Graham” of the 19th century, were a far cry from what they became in the 20th century. Finney’s revivals, as part…
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How Jesus Saves Us from Slaveholder Religion
Editor’s Note: This excerpt is from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s new book, Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion (InterVarsity Press) – a fitting confession for Holy Week as we remember Jesus…
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Am I Not a Theologian, Too?
When you think about the great theologians, what names come to mind? Those who have profoundly impacted my theological foundation include the Rev. James Cone, philosopher Cornel West, the Rev. Eboni…
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Call It A Family Reunion
By Kate Kooyman
I got to hold a baby who was less than a day old. I got to watch big sister look with pride and a little suspicion, the first glances of…
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God, Guns, & Gen Z
By C.S. Pearce
One week after the Parkland school massacre, Florida’s House of Representatives voted 97-10 to pass a measure requiring every school in the state to display the motto “In God We…
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The Power of Showing Up
From our vantage point, sitting in the car, it looked as if every police officer from Missouri came to give their respects. The procession included ambulances, fire trucks, and police…
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#EnoughIsEnough: My 5-Year-Old is Afraid
Yesterday, I drove my son Jacob to Pre-K at 9:55 a.m., and on our way we drove through the neighborhood streets surrounding our local high school. As we got closer on the…
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The Wall, The People, and The President: Let’s Have the Conversation
By Jon Huckins
Yesterday, President Trump made his first visit to California since his inauguration. One of his campaign promises was to build a wall on the southern border, and contractors having been…
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A New World Is Possible: Reviving the Soul of America
By Don Golden
In case you missed it, Red Letter Christians is holding a revival in Lynchburg, Va., on April 6-7. The idea for this revival took shape at our annual Red Letter retreat…
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Women: “The Devil’s Gateway?”
By Jon Huckins
Jimmy Carter recently named the abuse of women “as the primary human rights issue in the world today.” We don’t have to look far into the global plight of women…
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Can American Evangelicalism Be Saved?
By Jana Riess
Shocked. Devastated. And most of all, worried about the future. That’s how I’d describe the tone of the new book Still Evangelical?: Insiders Reconsider Political, Social, and Theological Meaning, in which…
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Dear Conservative Evangelical Christian, Answer Me This
I have to admit, I’m growing increasingly confused with nearly every moment. Not just confused — alarmed, if I’m honest. I’m no spiritual giant, but it’s been my longtime understanding…
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Displaced Souls: Manus Island Refugees & the Death of DACA
Hours after President Trump equated immigrants with a “vicious snake” at last week’s conservative CPAC Forum, he stood side by side with Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull at a joint…
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A Revival On Its Knees
By Sam Herrmann
It’s hard to anticipate what a new school, community and culture will be like, let alone understanding how it will affect you. When I transferred to Liberty University three years…
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Why Organizations Need Values-Driven Hope
By Gary Edmonds
Much has been said over the last several decades about why organizations should be values-driven and how to recognize one that is. Becoming values-driven takes more than just writing down…
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Thoughts & Prayers Are Not Enough
The headlines, alerts and tweets appeared on my screen — again. Another school shooting. The 30th U.S. mass shooting this year alone. And it’s only February. Not long after the…
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Ground Zero: Why We Need the Lynchburg Revival
On October 30, 2017, I went to Liberty University for two reasons: to see my friends Johnnyswim in concert and pray with a handful of students the next morning. These were students who have consistently expressed concern about…
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Kids Can Fix Our Guns Fixation
In Broward County, Fla., it has been like we are all sitting shiva. The shooting in our backyard — 17 students and staff killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School…
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#LentTogether: The Cost of Discipleship, in Community
Lent is a season of preparation. It is a liturgical period of time where we soberly look toward the cross and consider the true cost of discipleship. It is a…
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The School Shooting Epidemic: America’s Chickens Have Come Home To Roost
An idol is anything we sacrifice our children for. May the blood of our children lead us to repentance. 29th day of school. 18th school shooting. “America’s chickens have come…
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The Little Big Differences in Christian Nationalism
Sometimes small alterations make a great deal of difference. For instance, we have about 90 percent of the same genes as cats and more than 98 percent of the same…
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Ashes to Ashes, I Love You
The collision of Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day on the same date this year feels a little strange, yet there’s also something poetic about it. “Remember that you are dust,…
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Christian Group Plans ‘Revival’ to Protest ‘Toxic Evangelicalism’
By Jack Jenkins
A group of progressive evangelicals and other Christians are planning a “revival” this spring to protest “toxic evangelicalism” and evangelical leaders such as Jerry Falwell Jr. who support President Trump.…
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To Turn Our Backs on Dreamers is to Turn Our Backs on Christ
As Republicans in Congress and President Trump persecute immigrant families and leave young immigrants’ futures in limbo, they should take note that they are out of step with the president’s…
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Paul Ryan Faces an Urgent Moral Challenge
By John Gehring
Blues legend Robert Johnson, the story goes, made a deal with the devil and sold his soul on a Mississippi highway to play virtuoso guitar. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s musical…
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Progressive Christians Can Embrace Paul Too
As churches struggle to become more inclusive, the Apostle Paul continues to confound. Conservatives champion Paul, quoting his writings to support their arguments. For progressives, Paul is often a source of disdain. To them, Paul hates women, condones…
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Super Bowl 2018: God Will Be Watching
By Richard Mouw
Twenty years ago this month I had a public theological disagreement with Reggie White of the Green Bay Packers. In addition to his significant role as defensive end for the…
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Sorting Through the Church’s Silence on Sexual Abuse & Assault
By Beth Moore
The choirs of outcries from Hollywood over the Harvey Weinstein scandal and those echoing globe-wide over the atrocities of USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar against children drop a question…
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The Unveiling of Christian Nationalism
As the Trump administration struggled to celebrate its first year amid a government shutdown, Vice President Mike Pence had a particularly hard time with churches recently. Determined to soldier on…
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3 Lessons From a Pastor Up Close to the Kentucky School Shooting
As the shots rang out through Marshall County High School, shock waves simultaneously reverberated throughout all of Marshall County as one fact was becoming increasingly clear: Our county would never…
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Love Song for Liturgy
Seven years ago, when we opened the doors of our now-closed intentional Christian community house, I was unfamiliar with the power of liturgical, call-and-response prayer. Growing up in a southern,…
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How to Change Hearts on Race
By Richard Mouw
A pastor from a small Midwestern town once asked me for advice. “I serve a congregation in an all-white town. The nearest city is an hour’s drive away,” he said.…
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Where is the Church on #MeToo?
By Autumn Miles
Over the past several months our society has experienced a monumental shift in the treatment of women — particularly in regard to how they are treated by men in power.…
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‘Pro-Life’ Must Encompass More Than Opposition to Abortion
By John Gehring
If being “pro-life” only means opposing abortion, we need a better conversation about the myriad ways human life is threatened today. Today, the March for Life will bring together thousands…
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Baby Jesus Was a Dreamer in Egypt
By Thomas Reese
I feel guilty that I have not written about “Dreamers,” those children who were brought illegally into the United States by their parents. The reason I find it difficult to…
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An Open Letter to Pastor Jeffress: Fight Racial Injustice in the Spirit of Rev. Dr. King
Dear Pastor Jeffress, Grace and peace. I greet you in the name of our Lord and Liberator, Jesus Christ. I have been moved to write you this letter because our…
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4 Thoughts on Trump’s Remarks About ‘Sh*thole Countries’
By Jon Huckins
In the midst of figuring out a road forward on DACA and comprehensive immigration reform, President Trump made a statement about countries who had the most need for support/relief in…
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Searching for Evidence of Hope in 2018
By Gary Edmonds
Have you watched the news recently? Things look dour, don’t they? But, I have good news that I hope will encourage you. Rather than feeling anxious about what media companies…
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Highpoint Church: How You Know Jesus Has Left Your Church
Here’s how you know Jesus has left your church building: When only the powerful are allowed to speak and preach the word of God. When forgiveness is offered without repentance.…
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On Mormons, Modesty, & Missing the Point of the #MeToo Movement
By Jana Riess
During the Golden Globes on Sunday, history was made. Women draped themselves in black to protest the culture of sexual harassment that has long defined Hollywood. Women and men spoke…
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6 Religion Podcasts to Start 2018
By Aysha Khan
True crime and self-help podcasts are all the rage. But even avid listeners might not know about a trove of podcasts aimed at those interested in religion. If your resolution…
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Politically Homeless: How Republicans — and Democrats — are Leaving Many Christians Behind
By Jim Wallis
I feel politically homeless as we enter 2018 — and I know I am not alone. Many Christians are feeling the same, as other Christians, especially white evangelicals, have undertaken…
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Looking Back with Lament, and Forward with Hope
By Richard Mouw
The final days of 2017 have been the occasion for various published lists of “the most notable” happenings of the past year. I have read many of those lists, including…
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Mary Knew the Risks of #MeToo
When the angel of the Lord announces the plan for Mary to carry within her and birth Emmanuel, she questions, but ultimately agrees. Mary gave consent. So Mary does not…
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Deep Down, You Don’t Really Want to Change the World
In 2010, two researchers rounded up teachers and college students for two studies. The first asked college students to rate their peers. The names of the most creative — those most likely to…
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Sexuality, Race, & Gender: 3 Explosive Insights About America’s 100 Largest Churches
Last October, evangelicalism was rocked by the launch of ChurchClarity.org, an organization that reports churches’ LGBTQ+ policies and rates congregations based on their level of clarity. The website angered Christians on both sides…
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What Jesus’ Economy Looks Like
Jesus has a different economy in mind than the one on offer in our world. Jesus’ currency is love. He believes in empowering the impoverished. He also believes in every…
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Breastfeeding God
We can assume that Jesus was a breastfed baby; after all, he survived. Before the human-made miracle of baby formula and without access to a potential wet nurse, breastfeeding was…
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The Real Meaning of Christmas — God Entered the Crap
God is with us in the struggle to survive, amid the throes of poverty, in the fight for freedom, in a world full of violence.
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Waiting for God in Sanctuary
At 4:45 a.m., Pastor José Chicas logs onto Facebook Live to lead his scattered congregation in prayer. Before the darkness lifts, most of his faithful will be on their way…
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The Wrong Choice? An Advent Meditation
By Anton Flores
Simeon said to Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the…
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Calling the Bluff on White Jesus
I love this picture of white Jesus clutching a baby dinosaur to his bosom. Apart from the fact that it reminds me of a young mother snuggling her sleeping baby…
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Turning Guns into Garden Tools
By Mike Martin
The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary sent shock waves across the country. Many thought it would be a turning point in federal gun legislation. That didn’t happen. Many states took local action by…
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It’s Time for a Sexual Counterrevolution
After radio host Garrison Keillor was dumped from his media throne for sexual misconduct, a friend of mine quipped on Facebook, “Are there any old famous dudes who haven’t been sexually gross?”…
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Disarm Our Hearts: An Advent Prayer
By Art Laffin
During Advent, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus coming into the world, I am challenged and inspired by Jesus. Who is Jesus? What does it mean to…
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The Bible Roy Moore Forgot: Psalm 40 for Alabama
The worst part about the prospect of Senator Roy Moore getting elected — and I had a lot to choose from — might have been that this man was stealing…
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Turning of the Tide
Today is a turning of the tide. Last night, Doug Jones won the Senate race in the state of Alabama. “The people of Alabama have more in common than that divides us.…
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5 Faith Facts About Doug Jones
Democrat Doug Jones wasn’t supposed to have a chance in the Senate race that pitted him against Republican Roy Moore in the ruby red state of Alabama. But in recent…
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Consider the Ram: A Letter on Not Sacrificing One Another on the Altar of Self-Righteousness
By Eric Minton
(A Brief Explanation) Open letters delivered over the internet are typically one of the least interesting and most easily dismissed mediums for getting your point across, especially to people who…
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Lamenting the Lost Hope of Advent
By Mark Charles
Advent is the season of hope, the season of waiting for the coming of Christ. As Christians we believe that our hope is found in Christ, and that the church,…
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How Abortion Covers a Multitude of Sins, Even Condoning a Pedophile
Once again, abortion is being used to justify supporting a political candidate that deserves nothing but condemnation by Christians. Repeatedly, we find that opposition to abortion “covers a multitude of…
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Don’t Mess Around with Jerusalem
President Trump just announced that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Some say that it is an early Hanukkah gift for the Jewish people. I don’t…
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The Politics of Christmas
By Will O’Brien
Among the many manifestations of his project to “make America great again,” President Trump has frequently and pompously declared that “We will be able to say ‘Merry Christmas’ again!” When…