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A subversive approach to a subversive parable [From Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43] On the surface, the story reads quite clearly—maybe a little too clearly. If you’re a regular church attendee…
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“Follow Your Grief”, excerpted from “Turning Toward Grief”
By James Crews
Follow Your Grief, By James Crews Everyone says to follow your bliss, but what if, some days, you need to pull the shades, draw the covers over your head, and turn…
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Rag Tag Bunch
By Sue Fulmore
On Sunday I looked at the people in the seats all around me. We were a ragtag mix. From seniors with their walkers to the heavily tattooed couple; from those…
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“The Howard Thurman Question That Changed My Faith” excerpt from “Light For The Way: Seeking Simplicity, Connection, and Repair in a Broken World”
How the theologian and mystic called the American church back to Jesus. Seventy-four years ago, scholar, mystic, and pastor Howard Thurman gave a lecture series at Samuel Huston College (now…
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There Should Be No Poor Among You
By Morf Morford
If there was one scriptural mandate many believers are willing to follow, it would be this one. But probably not how it was intended. There should be no poor among…
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Sacred Curiosity: Wondering Our Way Toward Wholeness , an excerpt
Introduction Outside, the summer air felt soupy and unstable, with the possibility of storms. Inside, clutching a rust-colored throw pillow and tissues, I watched heavy-bottomed raindrops begin to thud onto…
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Minneapolis changed me.
By Ariel Gold
Dear beloved friends, After the killing of Renee Good, faith leaders in Minneapolis issued a call. I went because ICE violence is escalating, because federal funding continues to fuel terror,…
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Staying Woke in Death
At the End of the Day As stated previously, as a minister of the gospel, a director of bereavement, and a chaplain within the health care system, I have been…
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Faith and Politics
By Morf Morford
Why would we never talk about what is most important to us? It’s a cliché that many live by – don’t bring up religion or politics in polite company –…
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Faith On The Spectrum
By JC Smith
Faith That Took Me Literally I didn’t choose this kind of faith — it chose me. I didn’t learn it in a classroom or from a pulpit. It was burned…
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“The Final Delusion, Pride to Humility”, an excerpt from “The Way of the Desert Elders: How the Wisdom of Ancient Christians Sustains Us Today”
The demon of pride conducts the soul to its worst fall. It urges it: First, not to admit (to having) God’s help; second, to believe that the soul is responsible…
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The Nationwide Day of Truth & Freedom
Tonight, I’m burning the midnight oil preparing my heart for the work ahead at the faith leaders’ protest in Minneapolis this week. I’m grounding my consciousness in the words of…
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A White, American Jesus
By S.M. Reed
He struck again. I was visiting another church yesterday in my never-ending quest to find one that is Evangelical, but that doesn’t bow a knee to Trump. The sermon series…
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Lost Shoes and Destiny
By Morf Morford
Sometimes, usually in the most unlikely situations, I have an overwhelming sense that things are exactly as they should be. Editor’s Note: Previously published on Morf’s Substack on January 15, 2026.…
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“Why Do You Stare at Us?” An excerpt from “Misplaced Glory: Breaking the Spell of Pastor Worship in the Modern Church”
“Why Do You Stare at Us?” Excerpted from Misplaced Glory: Breaking the Spell of Pastor Worship in the Modern Church by Stephen White. Release date January 2026. Reprinted here with…
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‘Just Like Selma’ hymn project aims to help churches recall King, mark Black History Month
(RNS) — The new song’s composer thought it could be a way to again hear from Black churches, collectively, about civil rights. Editor’s Note: Previously published on Religion News Service…
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The US — and its churches — can’t look away from MLK’s warnings about power any longer
(RNS) — The celebration of King often comes at the cost of his most radical critiques. Editor’s Note: Previously published on Religion News Service on January 16, 2026. (RNS) —…
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Remembering Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
By RLC Editor
On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. In celebration of his contribution to the civil rights movement, the United States Congress made the third…
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Tuesdays Against Executions: The Iran Crisis
Editor’s Note: Previously published on Death Penalty Action’s Substack on January 14, 2026. Normally, Death Penalty Action is focused exclusively on stopping executions in the United States, but every once…
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Stories of Faith and Religion, excerpted from “Everything is a Story”
One of the most profound television shows I’ve watched in the last few years on the struggle with religious identity is Vikings Valhalla, which tells the story of the complex…
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Can the Kingdom of God Come Over for Dinner?
“Pray, then, in this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be revered as holy. May your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is…
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Sola Verba Christi: Returning the Faith to the Words of Jesus
By JC Smith
For five hundred years, Protestants have rallied around the Five Solas — Scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, and the glory of God alone. These principles were meant…
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Two Gospels, One Church: What “Wake Up Dead Man” Reveals About American Christianity
By Josh Olds
Two Gospels, One Church: What “Wake Up Dead Man” Reveals About American Christianity Rian Johnson’s latest “Knives Out” film pits faith as power against faith as discipleship—and makes clear which…
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Epiphany
Epiphany means “to make manifest.” By the fourth century, Epiphany was a major annual celebration for the church. It is a season when we see Jesus’ divine mission revealed when…
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“R” for Reprobate—But there are other “R” words
By Morf Morford
A generation or so ago, the term “reprobate mind” was common in Christian circles. It is telling that the term, for multiple obvious reasons, is not in widespread circulation currently.…
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Here We Stand: When the Innocents Are in Our City
By Carl Ruby
In Springfield, Ohio, we are living through a moment that feels both ancient and urgently modern. More than 10,000 Haitian men, women, and children now call our city home —…
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Report of the December 29, 2025 Holy Innocents Commemoration Nonviolent Witness at the Pentagon
By Art Laffin
From 7-8 AM this morning, 12 peacemakers from the DMV held a prayer service and nonviolent witness in proximity to the Pentagon to commemorate the Feast of the Massacre of…
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Watch Night, the Emancipation Proclamation, and a New Year
Watch Night and the Emancipation Proclamation Established in African American communities on December 31, 1862, Watch Night is a gathering to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation becoming law. When the clock…
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Changed for Good? What “Wicked” Reveals About Privilege, Complicity, and the Work of Racial Reconciliation
By Josh Olds
Warning: This article contains spoilers for “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good”. Strip everything else away from the two Wicked films—the spectacle, the steampunk, the singing—and you’re left with the story’s…
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“The Wilderness is Not Safe”, taken from “Enough for Today,” Ch. 29
By Donna Barber
The path to freedom is not safe. Who has ever made their way from bondage to freedom without risk? There are always things to go under, around, or through. Barriers…
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Pope Leo’s first Vatican Christmas crèche carries message of peace
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — As the Vatican unveils its crèches, Pope Leo XIV marks his first Christmas with a calmer tone and a forceful call against antisemitic violence. Editor’s Note:…
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Born out of national division, ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ is a balm for Christmas
(RNS) — A century and a half after Phillips Brooks wrote this haunting carol, there is much once again to lament, fear and grieve. Editor’s Note: Previously published on Religion…
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Children Behind the Walls: From Herod to ANAR
Week 4 Love Children Behind the Walls: From Herod to ANAR Bethlehem Is Not a Storybook: An Advent Journey Toward Peace “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great…
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Sometimes Having a Baby Is Resistance to Empire
Week 4 Love Sometimes Having a Baby Is Resistance to Empire Bethlehem Is Not a Storybook: An Advent Journey Toward Peace The Birth of Love “And she gave birth to…
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What Time Is It: Ancient Strategies for Modern Battles
Editor’s Note: Previously published on Randy Woodley’s Substack on Jul 29, 2025. Photo: Tipi at Eloheh. Photo by Jim Sequeira. Our Indigenous ancestors had a saying that roughly translates to…
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“Viewing Urban Youth with Value”, adaptation from “Don’t Despise Our Youth”
Viewing Urban Youth with Value Our perspective of young people is very important. Proverbs teaches us to “start children off on the way they should go and even when they…
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Why Do Many Christians Devalue Conscience and the Fruits of the Spirit?
I practiced psychiatry for 41 years in Birmingham, Alabama and incorporated some spirituality focused on conscience. Most of my patients were Christians. This article is based on my impressions from…
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The Invitation of the Living Church in Bethlehem
Week 3: Joy The Invitation of the Living Church in Bethlehem Bethlehem Is Not a Storybook: An Advent Journey Toward Peace “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices…
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Mary: The Mother Who Sings
Week 3 Joy Mary: The Mother Who Sings Bethlehem Is Not a Storybook: An Advent Journey Toward Peace From Silence to Song “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit…
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When Bethlehem Weeps: An Advent Reflection on Gaza’s Christians
By Jack Nassar
“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more.” Matthew 2:18 I cannot light…
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“Jubilee Economics: The Purpose, Practices and Possibilities for a Better Future”, an Excerpt
Biblical economics first caught my attention as I read about the brickyards of Egypt. Deprived of their livelihood, then their land, and finally their own labor and liberty, the Hebrews embodied loss…
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An Inescapable Invitation
We are, as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin observed, not human beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a human experience. The mystic awakening of our time is the…
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The Silent Saint
Week 2 Peace The Silent Saint Bethlehem Is Not a Storybook: An Advent Journey Toward Peace Dodging traffic in the winding streets of Bethlehem as I made my way toward…
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A Visit with the Shepherds
Week 2 PEACE A Visit with the Shepherds Bethlehem Is Not a Storybook: An Advent Journey Toward Peace The children squealed in delight as someone banged on the front door.…
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But who do I love? Absolutely everyone. But how? And what does that even mean?
Editor’s Note: First published on Public Theology with Zach W. Lambert on October 24, 2025. Years ago, I was sitting in the main session of a church leadership conference when…
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The Holy Door Portal
The Jubilee Year happens every 25 years in the Catholic Church. In ancient times it had radical ramifications with its call to free prisoners and forgive all debt. Today it…
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Hope Does Not Disappoint (Romans 5:5)
The Jubilee Year happens every 25 years in the Catholic Church. In ancient times it had radical ramifications with its call to free prisoners and forgive all debt. Today it…
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No Room at the Inn: Then and Now
Week 1 Hope No Room at the Inn: Then and Now Bethlehem Is Not a Storybook: An Advent Journey Toward Peace “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that…
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Bethlehem is Not a Backdrop
An Advent Journey Join the Advent journey over the next four weeks, beyond pageants and nostalgia, and step into the heart of Christ’s coming. Discover how He still moves in…
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A Reflection from “Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals”
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy…
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“Peace, Peace” When There Is No Peace: Trump’s Dogs of War
Editor’s Note: Previously published on Randy Woodley’s Substack on October 28, 2025. The prophet’s job, then and now, is to speak the truth loud and clear about what we’re actually…
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Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples Pilgrimage: Relational Healing on Navajoland with Earth, Wind, Fire, Air
Featured Photo Caption: St Christopher’s Mission “Relational healing lives, on the landscape of St Christopher’s Mission through pilgrimage” In my faith journey as a Mennonite, I am aware of the…
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Candles and Concrete – The Birth of Jesus Today
If Jesus were born in Bethlehem today, His first cry would be inside a walled city. Mary and Joseph would travel a road divided by checkpoints and concrete, stopping again…
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“In the Low”, an excerpt
When the floor fell out from underneath our Family, I found myself left in the lurch by folks who’d told me they’d stick by me. I found myself waiting for…
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Who Do We Want to Be?
By S.M. Reed
In our country today, you see two very different visions of America emerging. There are many ways we could define this, but I want to focus on just one: immigration.…
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Tony Campolo on Red Letter Christianity
Listen to Tony discuss the ideas and scripture behind the Red Letter Christians movement.
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A Legacy Worth Passing On: Tony Campolo’s ‘Divine Dissatisfaction’
Editor’s Note: One year ago today, our friend and co-Founder of Red Letter Christians, Tony Campolo, passed away, and today, we honor his life with a few posts, and links…
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An Altar Call from Tony Campolo
Transcript: We are facing a problem and that is that we’ve run out of time, and we have to close this thing down. I was going to preach. I’m…
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Who is Welcome at the Table? Hint: It’s Everyone.
Editor’s Note: First published on Public Theology with Zach W. Lambert on September 9, 2025. When it comes to Jesus’ table, there has long been debate about who is invited…
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What If Friendship Isn’t the Goal?
By Jer Swigart
Every semester, I invite my leadership students to do something that feels both ancient and radical: take their “other” out to lunch. The instructions are simple: invite someone whose worldview…
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Why I Stopped Saying ‘I’m Christian Before I’m Black’ … My blackness is never at odds with my Christianity
By Jemar Tisby
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Footnotes by Jemar Tisby, on October 21, 2025. At first I tried to ignore it. I had been here before. The same online debate seems…
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A Moral Appeal to Policy Makers and ICE Agents to Stop The Immigration Reign of Terror
By Art Laffin
On October 3rd, members of Pax Christi USA, along with Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore, the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Franciscan Action Network, Congregation Action Network, Sisters of Mercy of the…
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A Moral Meeting with Leader Hakeem Jeffries
By Joel Simpson
In the midst of a government shutdown, clergy and people being impacted by healthcare cuts in the federal budget gather in the Capitol Building in DC. The halls are active…
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Human Suffering is Not a Political Pawn
By S.M. Reed
I’ve written on my blog before about the necessity of the separation of church and state. It is truly to protect the Church, both from state influence and from becoming…
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The Communities We All Long For: Recovering the Shared Vision Beneath our Divisions
By Jemar Tisby
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Footnotes by Jemar Tisby, on October 7, 2025. Morning light slips through your curtains, warming the comforter as you stretch awake—safe, rested, and…
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Not Out Front, But Among: Leadership in a Dividing Age
By Jer Swigart
The ground is shaking beneath us. Policies shift overnight. Communities fracture. Neighbors disappear. Congregations scatter. Leaders everywhere feel the pressure to respond: to rally the troops, cast the vision, and…
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Project Open Fridge: Love Beyond Walls Founder Dr. Terence Lester Takes the Refrigerator out of Kitchen in Unconventional Protest for Students Living in Poverty
As the recent U.S. government shutdown disrupts vital food assistance programs and November as National Homelessness Awareness Month, Love Beyond Walls announced the launch of Project Open Fridge, a campaign…
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Societal Collapse, Collective Psyche, and the Telos Adam
The following excerpt is adapted from the book, The Son of Man & Its Mystic Awakening: Reclaiming Eschatology & Atonement During A Convergence of Globalization, Nihilism, Science, and Spirituality, copyright…
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On Mount of Olives where Jesus Prayed, Monks and Nuns Keep Harvesting Olives
JERUSALEM (AP) — This year’s harvest happened as a ceasefire agreement was reached, spreading a tenuous hope for peace — peace that olive branches have symbolized since the biblical story…
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A Reflection for Halloween…
Before there was “Halloween”, there was “All Hallows’ Eve” — and All Saints Day. For hundreds of years, before jack-o-lanterns and zombies and candy corn, Christians around the world have…
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Unity or Uniformity?
A few months ago, a former classmate who is now a pastor reached out to me to ask my sense on a particular theological issue. I stated that one of…
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In ‘Dilexi te,’ Pope Leo presents early church as exemplar of love and care for poor
By Thomas Reese
(RNS) — In Scripture and in the history of the church, the poor are where we encounter God, the pope writes in his ‘Dilexi Te.’ Editor’s Note: Previously published on Religion…
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Neuroscience, Mysticism, and the Cruciform Brain
The following excerpt is adapted from the book, The Son of Man & Its Mystic Awakening: Reclaiming Eschatology & Atonement During A Convergence of Globalization, Nihilism, Science, and Spirituality, copyright…
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“Pastoral Acedia” an excerpt from “Pastoral Confessions: The Healing Path to Faithful Ministry”
By Jamin Goggin
My gray hair tells the story. I’ve been a pastor for twenty years. Long enough to know the trials of the vocation. Years of diligently preparing sermons, only to be…
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“The Father You Get: And the Ones You Make, Believe In, and Become”, an excerpt
By Patton Dodd
To paraphrase Voltaire’s famous saying about God, if fathers did not exist, it would be necessary to invent them. And if the fathers who do exist do not father us—if…
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“Shoes: Things That Speak of Vulnerability”, an excerpt from “Souvenirs of the Holy: Encountering God Through Everyday Objects”
We all enter creation barefooted: slick and wet, covered in fluid from the primordial womb that births us. As we grow, our feet develop and change, allowing many of us…
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“Seed Pods and Beach Stones”, an excerpt from “Rooted: A Spiritual Memoir of Homecoming”
Over the past few years of pandemic and polarization, as the ugliness of the world swelled around me in disappointing waves, my secret garden expanded. My need to create beauty,…
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Resisting from a Place of Rest, adapted from “Beauty and Resistance”
Adaptation from Beauty and Resistance by Jonathan Walton. In early 2023, I wept in the car from anxiety one Friday afternoon. I was afraid of losing my job. This isn’t…
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Beauty from Ashes
By S.M. Reed
For those of you who don’t know my story, let me summarize for you: I was raised in the White Evangelical Church. I attended all my life. I was a…
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Ruth: The Divine Love That Overcomes Othering, excerpt from “Reviving the Golden Rule: How the Ancient Ethic of Neighbor Love Can Heal the World”
In his book Reviving the Golden Rule: How the Ancient Ethic of Neighbor Love Can Heal the World, Andrew DeCort offers a fresh guide into the history of “love your…
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When I Was Hungry: The Least of These & The Christian Duty to Act
Matthew 25:31-46 The Call: The least protected children on earth In the operating room in southern Gaza, an American orthopedic surgeon counted the wounds then stopped. “I’ve seen more incinerated…
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“Mary, the Good Mother”, an excerpt
Mary, the Good Mother, an excerpt from Embracing the Old Witch in the Woods: Liberating Feminine Wisdom from Christian Patriarchy In patriarchal contexts, women’s worth has historically been tied to…
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Communion that Heals the Wounds of Sin and Violence
A couple of months ago we had an idea. I’d say the Holy Spirit moved among us and we launched a new initiative called God Loves Gaza (if you haven’t…
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Accepting Humanity, Not Crimes: Praying for the Enemy
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28 Rifles and a backyard table Yohanna Katanacho,…
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“The Justice of Jesus”, an excerpt
“What do you mean by ‘justice’?” This is a question I frequently am asked when I talk about justice in my preaching or writing. If you’re a Christian advocate for…
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The Credibility of the Gospel in Palestine and Israel is at Stake When the Church Remains Silent
Today, we are at a real crossroads—historic, moral, and spiritual—because the Church’s witness is at stake. The world is watching to see how Christians will respond to the grave, man-made,…
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Blessed to Be a Blessing
By S.M. Reed
Have you ever been through a difficult move? I have moved around quite a bit in my life, actually, but the hardest move I remember was when I was seventeen…
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Declaration from Church at the Crossroads: Our Response to the Public Calls of Palestinian Christians
Shane’s Invitation to Sign the Declaration Introduction This document is a public declaration of Christians gathered at the 2025 Church at the Crossroads conference in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. In it, we…
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“In Guns We Trust: The Unholy Trinity of White Evangelicals, Politics, and Firearms”, an excerpt
Floodlights bathe the stage in a purple haze as I step back from the microphone and tap a foot pedal, sending a riff from my Stratocaster reverberating out across the…
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The Sages We Silence
From Jerusalem to Gaza: when teachers are targeted, a people’s future is executed “I am sending you …wise ones” “Therefore I am sending you prophets, wise ones, and scribes; some…
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Church at the Crossroads: Our Response to the Public Calls of Palestinian Christians
Introduction This document is a public declaration of Christians gathered at the 2025 Church at the Crossroads conference in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. In it, we seek to respond to two public calls…
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Palestinian Christians at Chicago Conference Ask Fellow Believers to Stand Against Gaza War
By Bob Smietana
Glen Ellyn, Ill. (RNS) — The Christ at the Crossroads conference, organizers said, is aimed at moving US Christians from feeling bad about the war in Gaza to taking action…
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American History
American History Poem by Reynolds Chapman The storytelling of the oppressed Will have its enemies Like flowers have weeds Drought, pavement, extraction We will not stop planting Weeding, keeping…
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When Power Silences Prophets
From Jerusalem to Gaza, Jesus’ Lament Lives On in the Martyrdom of Palestinian Journalists Author’s note: Judaism is a many-voiced, ancient faith to which Jesus belonged. Zionism is a modern…
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Statement on the Murder of Charlie Kirk
My heart goes out to Charlie Kirk’s family and all who loved him… especially his wife, Erika, and their two precious children. We must never rejoice in death. My faith…
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“Trust What You Love,” excerpted from “Give Me a Word”
Trust What You Love Jungian analyst and wise woman Clarissa Pinkola Estés writes, “It is said that all you are seeking is also seeking you. That is, if you lie…
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When You Don’t Have a Pencil: The Trauma of Poverty in Education
Taken from From Dropout to Doctorate by Terence Lester. Copyright (c) 2025 by Terence Brandon Lester. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com In April 2014, educator Joshua T. Dickerson was inspired to write a…
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Gathering in the Garden: The Story, an excerpt from “We Pray Freedom: Liturgies and Rituals from the Freedom Church of the Poor”
Early in the pandemic, leaders of Domestic Workers United (DWU), a grassroots organization of Caribbean, African, and Latinx domestic workers building power and demanding their rights in New York City,…
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This Time Will Be Different
Addiction doesn’t just affect the one who uses. It affects all of us. Families get caught in the same circle of hope, disappointment, anger, and exhaustion. We keep saying, “This…
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The ‘Single-Issue Voter Club’ and the Fight Against Gun Violence
Please, for the love of God, for the sake of those not yet killed by the next mass shooting, consider becoming a “single issue voter.”
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Juan de Fuca and the Shifting Sands
It is August – that most pregnant time of year. This moment is always so full– so full with the unfolding of the previous 8 months. And so full of…