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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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Reassessing Religion through ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
As my boyfriend and I rode the elevated train through the Chicago neighborhoods, he held a thrift store copy of The Handmaid’s Tale which he could not bear to set…
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Does God Hear the Sacred Cry of Rape Survivors?
Editor’s Note: As Sexual Assault Awareness Month draws to a close, we offer this reflection with the hope that our churches and communities will break the silence around sexual and gender-based…
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Silent No More: Marching for Truth and Science
Over the weekend, I joined over one thousand people in Long Beach, Calif., for a March for Science. Similar marches took place all across America and the world, drawing hundreds…
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From Lament to Healing: Why ‘#ThingsOnlyChristianWomenHear’ Matters
In case you’ve missed it, Twitter has been aflame this week with the #ThingsOnlyChristianWomenHear hashtag conversation about women’s experiences in the church and everyday life. Red Letter practitioner Sarah Bessey — a Christian author…
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Blessed are the Blessed in Spirit?
By Eric Minton
As I inch dangerously close to my mid-30s with nothing but two overpriced masters degrees I rub together to keep my family warm in the middle of the night, I…
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A Native Perspective on War, Terrorism, and the MOAB Bomb
By Mark Charles
Last Friday, the hosts of Fox and Friends celebrated Thursday’s dropping of the MOAB bomb by the United States military against ISIS in Afghanistan. This was the largest non-nuclear bomb…
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Gospel Rewrite: The Holy Family Becomes Refugees
A reading from the gospel according to Matthew. 2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east…
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My Journey from Standing Rock to The Lancaster Stand
By Austin Sachs
On October 31, 2016, Standing Rock tipped. The protest that began in small fashion earlier last year, became a national movement as thousands across the country checked in at the…
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No Dignity on Death Row: Stop Ivan’s Execution
Unless Governor McAuliffe intervenes, Virginia will execute Ivan Teleguz on April 25th—despite evidence showing that his conviction and death sentence were based on false testimony. I have known Ivan for…
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Easter Special: Free Chapter from “Executing Grace”
By RLC Editor
In honor of Holy Week, we are making a chapter from Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us, by Shane Claiborne, available for FREE.…
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Lights for Gaza & the Darkness of Lent
Considered a time of repentance, sacrifice, and deep spiritual growth, Lent embodies the dichotomy of dark and light. As we focus for 40 days on atonement, we must not forget…
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Easter in Arkansas
Arkansas is set to execute eight people over a stunning pace of 11 days. Why the rush? State officials discovered that the lethal injection drugs will expire soon. As Christians…
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Not Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, but “Pro-Voice”
The abortion debate is back in the news cycle and, once again, men are calling all the shots. As the mainstream media covers the confirmation hearings of Neil Gorsuch —…
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“A Theology of Race and Place” by Andrew T. Draper
By RLC Editor
In an era of racial profiling and exclusion of the “other,” Draper presents a critical yet hopeful vision for the joining work of the gospel.
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REVIEW: “A Theology of Race and Place”
By Tony Campolo
Dear Readers, I want to recommend a book which has some unique insights about race relations. A Theology of Race and Place was born out of Andrew T. Draper’s experiences in the…
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In Honor of Persistent Women
As Women’s History Month draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment to honor the women—past and present—who shape every corner of our lives. With incredible grace, righteous…
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1300 Clergy Speak Out Against Discrimination in the Name of Religion
By RLC Editor
Around the nation, clergy are rising up in opposition to a leaked copy of a “religious freedom” executive order drafted by the Trump administration that would undermine protections for LGBTQ…
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A Dangerous Precedent: The Death Penalty in the Hands of Gov. Rick Scott
President Trump isn’t the only one issuing unprecedented executive orders these days. Florida Governor Rick Scott recently made waves when he pulled State Attorney Aramis D. Ayala off a high-profile…
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Did We Worship Our Way to Trump?
How did we get here? No, not just how did Americans manage to elect to the presidency someone so astonishingly arrogant, persistently dishonest, brashly ignorant, fundamentally disrespectful, proudly profligate, clearly…
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REVIEW: “Better: Waking Up to Who We Could Be” by Melvin Bray
We can do a better job of waking up to the realities of the marginalized and the oppressed.
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Following Jesus in a Gilded Age
From a plan to take away healthcare from millions of Americans to a budget that proposes reorganizing government to serve corporate interests over the common good, President Trump and Speaker Ryan have made clear this…
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Jim Wallis For President
By Tony Campolo
With President Trump’s disapproval rating at an historic 54%, it’s not too early for Americans to begin working on behalf of a viable alternative for 2020. It is not a crazy idea…
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We Will Meet TrumpCare With #MoralResistance
Dear Speaker Ryan, I’m writing today on behalf of America’s Moral Movement to say that the TrumpCare you are advocating is wrong. If it passes Congress and is signed…
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Why Christian Missionaries Oppose Trump’s Muslim Ban
Recently I interviewed many missionaries on the muslim ban. They unanimously denounced it. These Christian missionaries work in Muslim countries and contexts and spoke under the condition of anonymity. After the…
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Why I Quit Church For Lent
I’m giving up church for Lent. To be truthful, I gave up church two months ago. At the beginning of January, I notified my pastor that I would be resigning…
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Bloody Sunday & the Lie of “Voter Fraud”
On the first Sunday in March, 1965, TV networks interrupted their regularly scheduled programming to show law officers on horseback chasing and beating unarmed Americans on the Edmund Pettus Bridge…
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The Death Penalty on Trial
Last month, I was arrested, along with 17 other people, as we held a banner on the steps of the Supreme Court that said: “STOP EXECUTIONS.” We were not…
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How Not To Be Evangelical This Ash Wednesday
By Eric Minton
Whether or not I care to admit it, growing up Caucasian, Middle Class, and Baptist in East Tennessee has shaped the way I see and understand the world. Much of…
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Can A Juror Be Disqualified For Following Jesus?
By Tony Campolo
The constitution of our nation specifically states that our governing bodies must not utilize religious tests in determining who can and who cannot serve in government posts. Unless, I am…
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Trump, Like George Wallace, Can’t Beat #MoralResistance
On Saturday, February 11th, tens of thousands of people joined the Moral March on Raleigh to demonstrate our commitment to resist extremism in America at both the state and…
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Donald Trump Is Not My President
Presidents’ Day is the perfect day to declare that Jesus – not Donald Trump — is the hope of the world. It was the early Christians who were…
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Practical Hope In Face of Uncertainty
Many of us have been searching for a meaningful response over the last several months, when so many vulnerable people in our nation—and around the world—have felt threatened. Admittedly,…
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Red Letters Are For White Working Men Too
By Tony Campolo
Older white working class men have been hurt and are angry—and for good reason. They have suffered three-quarters of the eight million job losses caused by the 2008 financial crisis.…
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Small Things: What You Can Do Today To Resist Hate
“Then is Donald Trump still president?” my 6-year-old asked. Our family was passing around the morning’s newspaper the day after the Women’s March. I had just pinpointed where I…
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Share This: How Jesus Saves From The Facebook Wars
A post circulated amongst my Facebook friends as America swelled with opinions on President Trump’s travel ban and a federal judges decision to block it. Not taking in Syrian refugees and closing…
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Amidst Public Outrage, A Strategy for Moral Resistance
From the historic Women’s March to #NoBanNoWall protests at airports to the Senators who have committed to filibuster the richest cabinet in US history, Americans are learning how to…
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8 Things You Can Do To Welcome the Refugee Christ
With the news of President Trump’s EO and subsequent talk of refugees, Muslims, safety and security (not to mention the recent hate crimes and terrorism against Muslims), America has once again…
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To Our Critics: Jesus is Our Lens
By Tony Campolo
From time to time, we Red Letter Christians are confronted with the critique that our most serious error is that we discount the black letters of the Bible. Nothing could…
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An Alt-Inaugural Sermon for President Trump
President Trump signed executive orders this week to build a border wall and punish sanctuary cities. In keeping with campaign promises, his administration has also announced plans to restrict travel…
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Terry Edwards & Unequal Justice in America
They removed all the black folks from the pool of potential jurors. In the trial of a black man convicted of killing two white folks. Not in…
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#NoDAPL is My Story Too
By Jon Huckins
On his second business day in the White House, President Donald Trump signed an executive action greenlighting the Dakota Access Pipeline, which had been halted to seek alternative routes. The…
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Learning to Love: The Gospel I Saw at the Women’s March
I joined my diverse sisters and brothers in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Saturday for our local Women’s March. I recognized so many familiar faces, people I knew well because we have…
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Come to the Table in Trump’s First 100 Days
In the wake of an election that has left some angry, others confused and still others tentatively hopeful, people are hungrier than ever for spaces to break bread with,…
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Shackles & Jail for Protesting the Death Penalty
By John Dear
On Tuesday, Jan. 17th, 18 of us climbed the steps of the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. to protest the death penalty. We unfurled a huge thirty-foot long…
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Ending the Death Penalty Before It Kills Us
On Tuesday, after celebrating the MLK holiday, I engaged in my last act of resistance in the Obama era. For over 30 hours, I and 17 other faith leaders…
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Going to Jail for Jesus and Justice
I just got home from jail. We were shackled with chains on our hands, feet, and waist in the DC jail. I was chained to families of the murdered and…
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Only By Prayer & Fasting: A Day of Self-Purification for #MoralResistance
As some prepare to celebrate the inauguration of Donald Trump and others get ready to protest, I am reminded of the words of Jesus to his disciples: some demons…
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This MLK Day, Don’t Just Do Something. Become a Pilgrim.
This Monday, as the US celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., some of us enjoy a long weekend to rest or finish those projects…
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How to Survive 2017
By Lenora Rand
2017 has barely begun, and already I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. With everything. Of course, with the state of the world – from the refugee crisis to the wars being…
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How Jesus Confronts Dylann Roof: Making Capital Punishment History
On Tuesday, January, 10, a jury in Charleston, South Carolina, recommended the death penalty for Dylann Roof, who murdered nine people during Bible study at Mother Emmanuel AME Church. Many say…
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A Call to Moral Resistance: #StopSessions and Stand for Justice
In light of the challenges facing our nation at the onset of a new presidential administration, all people of conscience must stand up for our deepest moral values of love,…
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Matthew 25 in the Age of Trump
By Jim Wallis
Many people are frightened and appalled every day with the appointments and behavior of President -elect Donald Trump. And many Red Letter Christians are asking: What can I do? The politics…
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Good News for Epiphany: A Baby Changes Everything
By Eric Minton
Your therapist will tell you that we’re all susceptible to a post-holiday slump this time of year. Which makes sense. Attempting to believe that life isn’t a tragic, repetitive loop…
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Our New Year’s Resolution: We Cannot Bow Down
2016 proved that we as a nation have a heart problem. When America is weighed in the balance of God’s desire for love and justice, we are found wanting.…
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The World Will Be Saved by Beauty
2016 has left me breathing deep–occasionally gasping–to keep my head above the undercurrent of sadness and anxiety. Our world’s wounds sure have made these shoulder’s sag. Which is why I was glad…
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Where’s the Outrage? Moral Clarity in the Age of Trump
By Don Golden
When Jesus confronted the social indifference of the religious leaders of his day, Marks gospel says, “they remained silent” (3:4) and that Jesus “looked on them with anger, deeply distressed”…
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“A Christmas Carol” in Rural America
On Wednesday, December 20th, while many were finishing their Christmas shopping, Special Superior Court Judge Gregory McGuire heard arguments in a Raleigh, North Carolina courtroom for an injunction against…
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God With Us, Close Enough to Touch
By Josina Guess
When I was very young, friends of my parents gave our family a handmade nativity scene from Spain. Each figure had stiffly coated fabric clothing, and there were delicate,…
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The “Danish Option”: Christians Prepare to Register as Muslims
By Tony Campolo
Did you know that following 9/11, legal arrangements were made to register Muslims living in the United States? 90, 000 Muslims were registered during that initial effort. Those Muslims…
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Call to Action: We Cannot Stand Down!
On Wednesday, December 14, an all-white caucus of the North Carolina General Assembly called the legislature into a second special session, giving their fellow legislators only two hours’ notice. …
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Open Letter to King Herod: Why I Was Arrested at #NCGA
Dear King Herod, I do not know whether anyone lodged a formal protest all those years ago when you ordered the slaughter of the innocents. But yesterday evening,…
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Disarming to Welcome the Prince of Peace
By Mike Martin
This past summer, as the NRA rallied enthusiasts with the specter of a Cinton-led assault on 2nd Amendment rights, Rev Jeremy Lucas pooled money to buy raffle tickets…
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“Merry Christmas” More Radical Than We Think
It’s not all that strange this time of year to see Christians outside in bathrobes, trying to keep a little baby warm in the straw of a cattle trough.…
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Dear White Evangelicals: Can You Hear My Cry?
By Erica Hughes
Dear White Evangelicals, For the last three years, I’ve been trying to figure out what it means to be a black woman in America — more specifically, what…
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How To Repair the Breach in America
On Monday, nearly a full month after Election Day, Republican Pat McCrory finally conceded the governor’s race in North Carolina to his Democratic challenger, Roy Cooper. Even as Republicans across…
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Jodina Hicks: Let the Little Children Come
By Tony Campolo
Red Letter Christians around the world should get to know Jodina Hicks, who now heads up a program in the city that Times Magazine calls, “the worst city in America.”…
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The Glory of the Lord at Standing Rock
On the Second Sunday of Advent, I got to be part of an historic celebration of the power of nonviolent resistance. Here at Standing Rock, thousands of voices are…
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Going to Jail With Jesus & the #Fightfor15
On Tuesday, November 29th, I joined fast food, healthcare, childcare and other service workers across America to protest slave wages in 21st-century America. Together with 53 workers and fellow clergy…
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Why Christians Must Be Born Again… Again
Writing for the New York Times this week, Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne (both white men) confessed that their evangelicalism is complicit in the reactionary racism that has both elevated…
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Beyond Evangelicalism: We Need a New Jesus Movement in America
By Tony Campolo
By Tony Campolo & Shane Claiborne As the election retreats like a hurricane going out to sea, first responders are assessing the damage left in its wake. One casualty is…
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What It Means to Call Jose “Brother”
The day after Donald Trump became President-elect, my young friend Jose couldn’t finish his drive to work. Halfway there, he had a panic attack and had to pull over.…
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False Religion and the Rise of Trump
By Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Two weeks after electing Donald Trump to the highest office in the land, America pauses this week for…
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We Can Live Without the Death Penalty
Since the election of Donald Trump two weeks ago, America’s streets have been filled with protesters determined to stand against the politics of hate and fear. Many activists and people…
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The Love of Jesus in Trump’s America
Last week as the election results came in, I watched my daughter, fifteen, go to bed in tears. Just the day before she had gone with me into the voting booth and triumphantly…
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A Fire to Heal This Aching Land
By Josina Guess
The morning after Donald Trump became President-elect, I met my mother-in-law and pastor at our church. I prayed with my mother-in-law in that old brick building, knowing full well…
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My American Life
Over a decade ago, I met my first Somali Bantu refugee family and became smitten with them, sucked into the complexities of their lives as they navigated cultural and class…
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On CNN: Reconstructing America Again
Early Wednesday morning, after running a controversial campaign that was even endorsed by the KKK, Donald J. Trump thanked his supporters for victory and promised to be a president…
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A Gut Check for the Left: Finding the Politics of Jesus in America
I’m not a pantsuit person, but I wore my own version of one Tuesday – white ripped jeans and white blazer – in support of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the…
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The Divine Dance by Richard Rohr and Mike Morrell
By RLC Editor
My six-year-old daughter is all in when it comes to Christianity, except for one little thing that she can’t quite come to terms with: The Trinity. The absence of a…
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A New Home for Homeless Christians
Trying to mix Christianity with a political party can be sort of like mixing ice cream with horse manure. It might not harm the manure, but it sure messes up…
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Exposing the Myth of Voter Fraud
In recent years Republicans in state legislatures have expressed grave concern about voter fraud as they presented a “solution” of tough voter ID laws and other restrictions that deprive…
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On CNN: Our Vote Is Our Voice
My Jewish friends have been helping me with my Hebrew this election season. The Hebrew root for “vote, ” they tell me, is the same as the word for…
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Against Melancholia: Stay Woke 2016
I was born on the island of Okinawa, Japan, on the East China Sea, when my dad was serving as a captain in the US army. In our postcolonial…
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Assimilate or Go Home by D.L. Mayfield
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: D.L. Mayfield’s new book, Assimilate or Go Home (HarperOne), is an honest and probing account of one young evangelicals attempt to proclaim good news among Somali Bantu refugees. In the…
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Gender Equality Can Win in 2016
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s guest post is from Hannah Rasmussen, author of Good News about Gender: A Bible Study for Young Adults. She edits books for the church in Africa with…
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7 Highlights of a Morality that Looks Like Jesus
By Kathy Vestal
Somebody’s hurting my brother and it’s gone on far too long, and it’s gone on far too long, yes it’s gone on far too long. Somebody’s hurting my brother…
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Belonging and Becoming by Mark and Lisa Scandrette
By RLC Editor
Taken from Belonging and Becoming by Mark and Lisa Scandrette. For many of us, the word family stirs up a complex mix of emotions. You might think of cherished…
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What Troubles Me Most: Decision 2016
By Tony Campolo
Most Americans are disgusted with the ways this year’s presidential election is unfolding. The name calling is horrible. But beyond the personal attacks, both candidates are gearing their remarks…
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Rev. Barber Addresses “Voter Fraud” in TIME Magazine
EDITOR’S NOTE: RLC works to lift up the prophetic voices of true evangelicalism, amplifying the cry for Jesus and justice in the public square. Visit www.redletterchristians.org for original content…
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Saying No to Extremism in NC & America
For the last year, Donald Trump has hovered over America like a Mickey Mouse balloon swelling over the Macy’s parade. Earlier this week, as the air continued to come…
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Hillary & the Gift of the Despised
By Kathy Vestal
In North Carolina basketball country, we know that when someone says he’s pulling for ABC, that means “Anybody But Carolina.” Why? Because the team most likely to win is…
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The Gospel in a Somali Apartment Complex
The thing I like best about the apartments of my Somali friends are the colorful tapestries on the walls. The fabrics, draped everywhere, to give a little comfort and…
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Join Us Today to Help End the Death Penalty
The death penalty is dying in America. We could be the generation to end it once and for all. Death sentences are the lowest they have been in…
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A Plea for Healing: Open Letter to IVCF
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: Last week, TIME Magazine reported that InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has established an “involuntary termination” policy for any staff who self-disclose that they disagree with IVCF’s position statement on…
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A Columbus Day for the People of Haiti
By RLC Editor
Christopher Columbus landed in the new world in December 1492 on an island he named La Espanola. The indigenous Taino people for whom the island was home called it…
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Tony Campolo: Divine Disatisfaction
By RLC Editor
Filmmaker Greg Fromholz is using his camera to capture intimate portraits of Christian wisdom, embodied in people like Eugene Peterson and Phyllis Tickle. Recently he has decided to make…
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#EvangelicalsAgainstTrump & the Struggle of Faith
The best among America’s evangelicals have always called the faithful above partisan disagreement to the common ground of our identity in Christ. We are Republican, Democrat, and Independent. But…
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Alfred Olango & the Church in San Diego
By Jon Huckins
My city is in pain. On September 27th, El Cajon police shot and killed Alfred Olango, a 38 year-old immigrant from Uganda. Cries from our streets have risen to the ears of…
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Reclaiming Religious Liberty
From the New York Times to the Dallas Morning News, a mainstream consensus has emerged in the 2016 Presidential race. This week, even USA Today weighed in: Donald Trump is a real danger to…