-
You never know the day your life will change—or the person who will change it. For me, her name was Om Hassan. I was 23, an American soldier…
-
Can American Evangelicalism Be Saved?
By Jana RiessShocked. 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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
A Revival On Its Knees
By Sam HerrmannIt’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…
-
Why Organizations Need Values-Driven Hope
By Gary EdmondsMuch 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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
#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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
Christian Group Plans ‘Revival’ to Protest ‘Toxic Evangelicalism’
By Jack JenkinsA 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.…
-
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…
-
Paul Ryan Faces an Urgent Moral Challenge
By John GehringBlues 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…
-
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…
-
Super Bowl 2018: God Will Be Watching
By Richard MouwTwenty 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…
-
Sorting Through the Church’s Silence on Sexual Abuse & Assault
By Beth MooreThe 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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
How to Change Hearts on Race
By Richard MouwA 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.…
-
Where is the Church on #MeToo?
By Autumn MilesOver 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.…
-
‘Pro-Life’ Must Encompass More Than Opposition to Abortion
By John GehringIf 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…
-
Baby Jesus Was a Dreamer in Egypt
By Thomas ReeseI 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…
-
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…
-
4 Thoughts on Trump’s Remarks About ‘Sh*thole Countries’
By Jon HuckinsIn 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…
-
Searching for Evidence of Hope in 2018
By Gary EdmondsHave 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…
-
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.…
-
On Mormons, Modesty, & Missing the Point of the #MeToo Movement
By Jana RiessDuring 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…
-
6 Religion Podcasts to Start 2018
By Aysha KhanTrue 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…
-
Politically Homeless: How Republicans — and Democrats — are Leaving Many Christians Behind
By Jim WallisI 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…
-
Looking Back with Lament, and Forward with Hope
By Richard MouwThe 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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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.
-
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…
-
The Wrong Choice? An Advent Meditation
By Anton FloresSimeon 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…
-
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…
-
Turning Guns into Garden Tools
By Mike MartinThe 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…
-
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?”…
-
Disarm Our Hearts: An Advent Prayer
By Art LaffinDuring 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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Lamenting the Lost Hope of Advent
By Mark CharlesAdvent 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,…
-
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…
-
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…
-
The Politics of Christmas
By Will O’BrienAmong 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…
-
Keep Watch: Peacemaking Through Advent
Advent is all about waiting. It is about patience, expectation, and longing. We wait in hope for the arrival of something better than what we have now. This is a…
-
The tax bill: What happened to ‘family values’ and ‘pro-life’ principles?
Abraham Lincoln said, “If you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Sure enough, now that Republicans are in power with majorities in both chambers of Congress, the cabinet…
-
Day Laborers of the Bible
By Cory DriverDuring a recent taxi trip through the various neighborhood of Rabat, Morocco, I was reminded of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Hundreds of Sub-Saharan migrants sat or…
-
The Crisis of Evangelicalism
At first, I was hesitant of coming on the #RubyWooPilgrimage, because “evangelical” is not a word I care to be associated with. In the past year, this word has shifted,…
-
Creation Groans: Why Red Letter Christians Should Care About Animals
I was a Christian long before I started advocating for animals. And though I’ve scoured the Bible looking for something like “Blessed are the vegans, for they shall inherit the…
-
Our Come to Jesus Moment: The Boston Declaration
Taking a page from the Hebrew Bible, a diverse group of theological experts recently gathered in Boston wearing sackcloth and ashes to dramatize their grief and sorrow over the corruption…
-
A Confession (Of Sorts) from a Former Fundamentalist Christian
By Tara ConradtWhen I first walked into church I knew as much about politics as I did about faith. As I immersed myself in fundamentalist Christian culture, I found myself breathing in…
-
The Wall I Pretended Not to See
A half hour from my house stands an icon I used to rarely think about. The San Ysidro Port of Entry is considered one of the busiest border crossings in…
-
Why Guns in Church are Not for Me
So it’s been a week now, and after thinking about it nearly every day, I’ve come to a decision… I still do not want you to bring a gun to…
-
Clean Water and ‘The Living Water’
There are still places in the world where people have never heard the name of Jesus. This is the case for much of the state of Bihar in Northeast India.…
-
Praying for DREAMers
By Elrena Evans“What’s DACA?” my eight-year-old son asked the other day. “DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,” I told him. “It was a program that allowed children brought to this…
-
Calling All #SoulsToEnroll: Health Care for All
If you haven’t been following the national conversation about health care closely, you may not know that the time to sign up for health care is now. To be very clear,…
-
An Altar Call to Support the Captives on Manus
No food. No water. No sanitation. No safe place to go. No future. This is the reality on Manus. This week, our “aerial sit-in” has been one of many actions…
-
Hope’s Drums: A Call and Response Litany
This time, one year ago, members of extended families shivered at the reality of the unavoidably approaching Thanksgiving holiday. I was among them. If we’d learned nothing else before November,…
-
#LoveMakesAWay: Aerial Sit-In for Asylum Refugees
By RLC EditorA pastor and a provisional psychologist were recently suspended four stories above the Subiaco office of Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on a hanging tent. The two Christians, part of…
-
Covenant Fidelity: An Interview with Walter Brueggemann
By Don GoldenEditor’s Note: This is the second part of an interview series with Walter Brueggemann on his book, God, Neighbor, Empire: The Excess of Divine Fidelity and the Command of Common Good (Baylor…
-
Is It Okay to Be White?
Apparently there is a national movement started by white nationalists in the netherworld of 4chan to post sheets of paper on college campuses and other places that say, “It’s okay…
-
An Open Letter to Liberty University to ‘Engage in Peaceful Debate’
By RLC EditorEditor’s Note: On October 30, 2017, pastor and anti-Trump author Jonathan Martin was escorted off Liberty University by armed campus police officers. He was banned for life from Liberty University for…
-
Conservative Evangelical Christianity, The Death of America
There’s an unsettling of the spirit moving across the land — the culmination of years of religious Christian corruption. Good people everywhere are sensing it deep within. What for many…
-
Why I Bother Being Lutheran: Theology of the Cross
Author’s note: Oct. 31, 2017 marks 500 years since German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenberg, sparking the Protestant Reformation and forever changing the Christian…
-
For the ‘Cause of Christ,’ Liberty Alumni Return Diplomas
Regarded as the largest evangelical Christian university in the world, Liberty University attracts thousands of students each year to its Lynchburg, Va., campus. The private institution, founded by the late…
-
Why This Pro-Life Christian Does Not Support Banning Abortion
I’m a Christian who sees abortion as an ethical issue. I believe people of faith should oppose abortion and work to reduce the abortion rate. Because of this I won’t vote…
-
As A Mother of Two Sons, My Take on #MeToo
Every time another powerful man in America is revealed to be a serial abuser of women: Harvey Weinstein, Bill Clinton, Bill O’Reilly, Roger Ailes, Bill Cosby, Donald Tr … take…
-
The Mosque in My Backyard
I have a mosque in my backyard. Not an imposing, domed, stone edifice with spindly minarets—it actually looks like a small, utilitarian, B-Flat, or ordinary type of building. If you…
-
‘Because #MeToo Breaks My Heart, Makes Me Pissed as Hell’
By Eugene HungA few years ago, I worked for a women’s rights NGO, mobilizing men and boys both to stop violence in their communities against women and girls and to advocate for…
-
#RubyWooPilgrimage: Supporting Women in Leadership
Did you know that the first feminist convention to promote women’s rights was not in Seneca Falls in 1848? And it was not all white. A good decade before the…
-
#NFLKneeldown: Leroy Barber on Fasting from Football
An interview with Jesus-follower Leroy Barber about boycotting the NFL and kneeling for justice. Leroy, what is the #NFLkneeldown? NFL Kneeldown has been a series of peaceful actions, where supporters…
-
The God Who Transcends Inclusive Language
By Tony CampoloRecently, I heard a speaker who referred to God as SHE! My initial reaction was surprise. Just when I began reflecting on why he referred to God as SHE, he…
-
Silent No More: How Women & People of Color are Changing U.S. Sports and Christianity
“… women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says,” 1 Corinthians 14:34. Rarely has any…
-
The Power of Going First
“I’ll go first” is perhaps the most powerful statement a Christian can make. It is the people who go first that I most admire: the innovators, the risk-takers, the pioneers.…
-
A Reminder for the Relocated
It is hard to believe—as I catch the glistening light bouncing off the wings of bronze dragonflies that swarm the black-eyed Susans in front of the church chapel—that a murder…
-
Prayer, Posture, and the Politics of Patriotism: Sunday School Edition
By Khalid SmithThis is my third week since officially deciding to boycott the NFL. One of my chief concerns was how I would do this without being just a social media activist who…
-
Sleeping with Dreams of Justice
In light of the U.S. president’s announcement earlier this month to end DACA, the “dreamer” legislation protecting more than 680,000 residents living in the United States from deportation, I was…
-
A Black Man Convicted by a Racist Juror Is About to Be Executed
It seems pretty clear that an African American isn’t going to get a fair trial from a juror who calls him a “nigger.” And yet that’s what happened in the…
-
The Gospel of Donald Trump
By Morf MorfordFor Christians, the gospel is the ultimate Good News. But it is only “good news” if we recognize how desperately we need it. I’ve been a member of a Presbyterian…
-
Revolutionary Love in an Era of Rage
By Valarie KaurSixteen years ago a Sikh American father was shot down in front of a gas station in Arizona. Balbir Singh Sodhi, affectionately known as Balbir Uncle, was the first person…
-
The Truth About Debt
I want to make a confession this week. I’m in debt. Major debt. I have student loans from seminary I’ll be paying off for years. We have two car loans…
-
History Through the Eyes of the Poor & Oppressed
By Tony CampoloIf you were to ask African-American students here at Eastern University why they want the statues of Confederate generals and memorials to Confederate soldiers removed from public places, they are…
-
#TheDeclaration: Speaking the Truth with Love, Without Apology
It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. Rev. Trey Lyon, watched a Facebook Live feed from friends present at the Charlottesville Mass Prayer Service on the night before the planned…
-
Why I Took My Family to Face White Supremacists
By Jon HuckinsMy wife, Jan, and I were having a relaxed morning watching our four kiddos play at our neighborhood park when I got word that a white supremacist group was planning…
-
Why I’m Hanging Up My Football Jersey
By Thomas Kaden“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” ~Desmond Tutu I couldn’t sleep two nights ago. Before turning out the lights, after…
-
The Power and the Threat of Kneeling: Colin Kaepernick
There are plenty of reasons to dislike Colin Kaepernick, if you want to do so. Maybe it’s his hair. It refuses to conform, be tamed. Maybe it’s his background: half-black,…
-
Theological Declaration on Christian Faith & White Supremacy
By RLC EditorEditor’s Note: After Charlottesville, a group of theologians and movement makers drafted a statement denouncing the religion of white supremacy. Modeled after the Barmen Declaration, this theological statement represents an…
-
Red Letter Christians in These Troubling Times
By Tony CampoloAbraham Lincoln once said, quoting scripture, that a house divided against itself cannot stand. It is increasingly obvious that our country, right now, is a nation divided against itself. The…
-
How The Nashville Statement Erases Jesus
On Aug. 30, a group of American Evangelical pastors and leaders put out a statement they innocuously called The Nashville Statement, named after the town it was written in. Like an…
-
A Statement on The Nashville Statement
By Eric MintonI recently attended a rally in my town to advocate for the spread of “kindness” rather than vitriolic hate speech. I did so because there is apparently so much confusion…
-
The Twisted Theology of White Supremacy: ‘We Light the Cross’
I’m in Tennessee on a little mountain getaway, trying to write a book. As soon as I got down here and settled in, I heard about a white supremacist rally…