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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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How Privilege Keeps Us From Jesus
By RLC Editor
Lately I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and writing about privilege. It’s one of those topics that conjures up strong feelings almost immediately—which is both helpful and unhelpful.…
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While Candidates Debate, Impacted People Testify
A week ago tonight, we were in Kansas City, MO, for The Revival: Time for a Moral Revolution of Values. Local leaders had organized a strong witness at the…
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You. Have. Worth.
By Bob Lenz
The youth of today feel a deep need to belong, to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They just happen to be young at a time when…
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Happy Belated Constitution Day
By Mark Charles
Friday, September 16, was Constitution Day. While I am deeply grateful that we are governed by a Constitutional government, I’m also convinced that our current Constitution has been influenced…
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Franklin Graham, This Is Wrong
In these days of mean politics, the prophets’ words are piercing. They will not let us be silent. We must cry out against injustice in our land. But…
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Modern Blasphemy
By Morf Morford
On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god,…
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Ron Sider: Why I’m Voting for Hillary Clinton
By Ron Sider
This piece was published in Christianity Today on September 8, 2016. Reposted with permission. I have not publicly endorsed a presidential candidate in 44 years. But this year—the…
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Bearing Witness on Moral Day of Action
By Brian Kaylor
“Wait, are we going to a church?” The young woman’s tone and facial expressions clearly indicted shock and disgust. A few moments earlier, she excitedly shouted slogans into…
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Cancelling Executions in Texas (and Everywhere Else)
Today (September 14th) there was supposed to be an execution in Texas. But it was cancelled. In fact, the last 10 scheduled executions in Texas have been stopped. In…
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The Survival of Christianity in the Middle East
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s guest post is from Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, President Bright Stars of Bethlehem. At the end of the 1970s, I had just finished my high school education…
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Mother Teresa: Saint and Ordinary Radical
Caption: These are the feet of Mother Teresa. Her feet became deformed because there were just enough donated shoes at the Missionaries of Charity for everyone to get a…
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Hypocrisy in the Church House, Moral Witness at the State House
Bishop Wayne T. Jackson of Great Faith Ministries in Detroit, Mich., welcomed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to his church with open arms this past weekend. As a minister…
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Life Lines from Death Row
EDITOR’S NOTE: Shane gives a lot of interviews, but he doesn’t get to interview many people (not in print, anyway). But he’s so excited about LifeLines, a project initiated by…
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VP Candidate Denies Justice to Man Proven Innocent
By RLC Editor
While Indiana Governor Mike Pence has been stumping around the U.S. as Donald Trump’s running mate, he has been letting some serious issues go undone here in the Hoosier…
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#NoDAPL Struggle Continues in Federal Court
By Mark Charles
This week I had the opportunity to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline by attending an emergency hearing…
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Rule #2 Don’t Be An Asshat by Bruce Reyes-Chow
By RLC Editor
Bruce Reyes-Chow, longtime friend of RLC, has recently released a book on parenting with his lovely wife Robin. Check out our conversation and an excerpt below. Q1: Let’s start with…
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Who’s Talking about Black Lives in Israel?
Caption: This is the boy in Jericho from Onleilove’s trip in Israel. Last August I joined people of African descent from across the diaspora in Israel for a…
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Injustice, Not Kaepernick’s Protest, Should Disturb Us
My biggest issue with San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick has always been that he kisses his own biceps after big plays and revels in moments of self-adulation. But my view…
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Time to Go Down to the State House
Since April 4th of this year, I’ve been traveling America with The Revival: Time for A Moral Revolution of Values. With my colleagues Rev. Dr. Jim Forbes, Rev. Dr. Traci Blackmon,…
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Make Israel Great Again
It’s occurred to me that the call to make America great again is not new. I heard it in the Old Testament and I’ve caught whiff of it in…
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Dismantling Racism By Active Listening
By Kathy Khang
I don’t know about you but this year is turning out to be a discouraging, deadly year. I am afraid to turn on the news, read a newspaper, or…
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There Are No Shortcuts. We Need Lament.
By Lenora Rand
Image: The prophet Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem in a stained glass window of the Cathedral of Brussels, Belgium. Every time I spend any time on Facebook…
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Political Slogans For Christians to Rally Behind
By Brian Kaylor
Like many states this year, Missouri (where I live) held its presidential primary during Lent as Christians spiritually prepared for Easter. Missouri voted the Tuesday before ‘holy week’ and…
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Enemy Love Trumps ALL
By Jon Huckins
If I’m completely honest, I’ve been really discouraged as of late. A major source of my discouragement has been the way the USAmerican evangelical church (a tribe I have identified…
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In the Name of Jesus, Stop Executions
(Religion News Service) Some folks will argue that the death penalty is necessary for the most heinous crimes, the “worst of the worst.” But it is increasingly clear that…
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Jesus Was the Greatest Radical the World Ever Saw
“I believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I endorse the Nicene Creed. I believe that Jesus died for me. I believe that…
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RLC’s New Executive Director!
By RLC Editor
It is with great excitement that we announce to you our new Executive Director – Don Golden! Don has over 25 years of experience fighting for the great social…
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Donald Trump & the Left Behind Books
By Tony Campolo
I just learned that Tim Lahaye died. He is the T.V. preacher who rose to international fame when he and co-author Jerry B. Jenkins wrote the best selling “Left…
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Trump, Jesus, & America’s Crisis
By Derek Flood
The Gospel of Matthew is written from a time of crisis and presents an urgent message in response to that coming crisis. While its apocalyptic tone can be confusing…
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Common Prayer: Making Liturgy Dance
Ladies and Gentlemen – We are thrilled to announce the release of a new app for Common Prayer – and it is available for FREE! When we created Common Prayer:…
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Why I Refuse To Register To Vote
A new graphic surfaced in the New York Times showing, apparently, why we are in the position we are in with Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton. In every…
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Seven Ways to Be an Untoxic Christian During a Toxic Presidential Campaign
We’re living through what seems like the most toxic presidential campaign in American history. It’s partly due to having extremely unpopular candidates. It’s partly due to the particularities of…
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A Revival to Hope America
When I was growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I used to love to sit in my grandmama’s kitchen and listen to her sing as she made dinner. Whenever…
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A Nation In Need Of Healing
By Tony Campolo
On Tuesday evening, July 26th, at the Democratic National Convention, I was given the opportunity to deliver the benediction. It was at the end of the day’s program during…
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Christianity is Not a White Western Religion
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: While many white evangelicals have worried that Black Lives Matter is a subversive movement, here at Red Letter Christians we are grateful for members of our network who have…
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Community Equity
On Tuesday evening this week, the Walltown community was out for this summer’s last block party. The storm that threatened to send us all running for our porches held…
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Embrace: God’s Radical Shalom for a Divided World by Leroy Barber
By RLC Editor
When we embrace hard places and hard people in our lives, we can create amazing things together—risks worth taking. Hard Places, Hard People Some people and places are just plain…
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How We Treat Those Who Are Always With Us
Some say poverty can never be overcome. It’s a problem that simply can’t be solved. After all, Jesus said, “The poor you will ALWAYS have with you.” It’s…
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Becoming Truly Pro-Life
By Greg Dill
For many years I had identified as being pro-life. But really I was just anti-abortion. No matter the situation, I viewed all abortions, those who received it and those…
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Faith Is Not A Spectator Sport
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson is president of Auburn Seminary, a multifaith leadership development and research center. She is the author of “God’s Troublemakers: How Women of Faith…
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Stop Conflating #BlackLivesMatter with Violence Against Police
Political conventions are weird. They’re a throwback to the days when delegates spent days traveling by horse, or later, train, to vet the men who were vying for their…
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Rev. Barber’s Moral Vision for America
A late addition to the closing night line-up of the DNC, Rev. William J. Barber may be the least known voice in a cast that has showcased the who’s-who…
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The Deeper Truth Our Nation Needs
By Will O’Brien
The Friends Central Meeting on Cherry Street in Center City Philadelphia has probably never reeled and rocked like it did on Monday night. Rev. William Barber from the Moral Mondays…
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Why I Support Hillary for President
By Tony Campolo
Editor’s Note: This is Tony’s original endorsement of Hillary, published on RNS in April of last year. I like Hillary Clinton. We are personal friends. But that’s not…
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What Trump Deserves From Evangelicals
By William J. Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Receiving the nomination of his party with the longest acceptance speech on record, Donald Trump paused in a gesture of…
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Law & Order or Justice & Love
“When I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order to our country. Believe me. Believe me, ” said Donald Trump last night as he…
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Nomad: A Spirituality for Traveling Light
By RLC Editor
‘I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. I may never fly o’er the enemy, But I’m in the Lord’s army! Yes Sir!’ …
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We Stand With Love
I’m a committed follower of Christ, and Christ taught that the greatest commandment was to love … to love God, self, and neighbor, yes, but to go farther: to…
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Leaving A-Holiness Behind by Christian Piatt
By RLC Editor
The following is from Christian Piatt’s new book, “Leaving A-Holiness Behind: From Pious Jerk to Not-SoPious Jerk, ” available in print and E-book formats everywhere July 20th. When I…
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The Gospel Missing from the Convention Floor
Commentators on the opening night of the Republican National Convention have focused more than an average amount of attention today on the benediction, offered by Rev. Mark Burns. Writing…
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This Cannot Be The New Normal
By RLC Editor
EDTOR’S NOTE: Today’s guest post is from Dr. Linda Thomas, Professor of Theology and Anthropology at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. She blogs regularly at “We Talk.…
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Bipolar Faith by Monica Coleman
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: Monica A. Coleman’s new book, Bipolar Faith, tells the story of how mental illness shaped her faith, opening the way to a deeper understanding of the gospel’s truth.…
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Postpartum Depression and #blacklivesmatter
It took me much longer than it should have to identify that I was going through postpartum depression. There were so many logical ways to explain away the feelings.…
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How Would Jesus Vote?
By Tony Campolo
Brad Fulton of Indiana University has just completed a study that gives evidence that political activity (i.e. providing directives on voting) in churches has been decreasing. The most…
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The Women in Jesus’ Life
By Morf Morford
Jesus seems to have his most productive and satisfying conversations with unnamed, individual, stigmatized and vulnerable women. There is “the woman caught in adultery” (John 8:1-11) and of…
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It’s Our Time to Stand & Fight
Before I could finish weeping about Baton Rouge where Alton Sterling was killed, another shooting happened less than a day later in Minnesota where Philando Castile was killed. This turned my tears…
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Bipolar Faith: An Interview with Monica Coleman
By RLC Editor
Red Letter Christians got the privilege to chat with Rev. Dr. Monica Coleman about her latest book Bipolar Faith. Bipolar Faith is your memoir, but it is also…
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How Jesus Saves the World from Us by Morgan Guyton
By RLC Editor
Have American Christians become what Jesus came to stop us from being? It’s not an unreasonable question after decades of toxic culture war. Growing up Southern Baptist, I used to…
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Death Penalty Abolitionists: Sheep Among Wolves
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s post is from Don Golden, author, activist, and longtime RLC friend, who joined the vigil to end the death penalty on the SCOTUS steps this past…
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Declaration of Independence: Are All Men Created Equal?
By Mark Charles
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,…
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On Pilgrimage: Vocation In & Beyond the Church
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is the third in a 3-part “On Pilgrimage” series following 21st-Century Freedom Rides. The Forum for Theological Exploration has partnered with School for Conversion to explore 21st-Century Freedom Rides as a practice for…
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On Pilgrimage: The Keepers of Freedom’s Story
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is the second in a 3-part “On Pilgrimage” series following 21st-Century Freedom Rides. The Forum for Theological Exploration has partnered with School for Conversion to explore 21st-Century Freedom Rides as a practice for…
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When Your Good News Isn’t Good Enough
Christians are taught to think of the good news of Jesus Christ in this way: God loves us, but we’re sinful. As a result, we’re separated from God. Jesus died…
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The Wealth of People Unlike Me
By Roy Goble
Casino mogul Steve Wynn is a billionaire. He has amassed a fortune with casinos across the globe. High profile and high energy, at 74 he is still pushing forward.…
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Trump and His Evangelical Followers
By Tony Campolo
The god for many Christians may not be the god revealed in Jesus Christ. Two thousand years ago the Apostle Paul warned us about the possibility of Christians turning…
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On Pilgrimage with Saint Benedict (Part 4)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 4 of a 4-part series. Read previous entries here, here and here. Next stop: Norcia, the contemporary Italian for Nursia, birthplace of Benedict and his twin…
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On Pilgrimage with Saint Benedict (Part 3)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 3 of a 4-part series. Read previous entries here and here. Back on the busy streets of Florence, we load up in a string of taxis…
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On Pilgrimage with Saint Benedict (Part 2)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of a 4-part series. Read previous entry here. At mass on Sunday morning, Monsignor Verdon invites Fr. Martin and me to give…
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The Very Good Gospel by Lisa Sharon Harper
By RLC Editor
Lisa Sharon Harper, Chief Church Engagement Officer at Sojourners, recently release The Very Good Gospel. She spoke to RLC about her new book, which has been brewing in Lisa’s soul and life…
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On Pilgrimage with Saint Benedict (Part 1)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is the first in a four part series. Follow link at bottom to read next post. Several years ago, while visiting an intentional Christian community,…
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The Tender Hope of Kneeling
By Kent Annan
One Sunday morning a few years ago, our church sanctuary was empty except for a few of us talking near the exit. My son, two at the time, was running…
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Making a Killing – Guns, Greed and the NRA
By RLC Editor
Editor’s Note: June is Gun Violence Awareness month, and Brave New Films has a recent documentary, Making A Killing: Guns Greed and the NRA, which outlines the money and…
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I Will Not Betray You With Silence
By RLC Editor
Editor’s note: Our dear friend Bryan Sirchio shared this song with us. Keep up with him on his website. I wrote this song in response to the Orlando…
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Straight and Scared
“Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?” –John Wesley Yesterday, I read an acquaintance’s comment on social media where he angrily disputed an article another…
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Caught in Adultery
By Morf Morford
It’s a shame so many stories from the Bible have become so familiar – so analyzed and homogenized – that we have lost both their meaning and power. …
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Donald Trump Was Right
By Tony Campolo
Editor’s Note: Donald Trump again called for a temporary ban on Muslims on Sunday, in light of the shooting in Orlando, committed by an American-born man. Donald Trump…
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Tragedy in Orlando: How to Reduce Violence
Editor’s note: This is shared from Gareth’s blog with permission. In the aftermath of the attack in Orlando, if you are nearby and can offer direct support, I’m…
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Trump, Violence, and Counter-Violence
When two of the most unpopular and least trusted candidates for President of the United States become the nominees of the two major parties, some ugliness is bound to…
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Everything I Know About Prayer I Learned From George Carlin
Everything I know about prayer, I learned from the late comedian and atheist George Carlin. Well, maybe not everything. Long before I was old enough to listen to…
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Everybody Wants a Revolution… But No One Wants to Do the Dishes
Social justice is cool. Talking about loving the poor and oppressed is super cool. Maybe you’ve got a shelf FULL of the latest books by social justice crusaders. Maybe…
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World Environment Day: Creation’s Groan & Your Vote
By Mick Pope
A friend of mine recently somewhat facetiously lamented that there wasn’t a day for people like him – short, fat and balding. He’s a bit of as self confessed…
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Testify! Time for a Moral Revival
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: Several weeks ago, Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo interviewed Rev. William Barber about his conviction that America is in the embryonic stages of a Third Reconstruction. Since then,…
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Mercy for Dylan Roof?
Support for the death penalty is declining, with executions and death sentences now at their lowest level in decades. Polls show a majority of Americans are against the…
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What’s Behind Donald Trump’s Response to Global Warming
By Mark Charles
In the past year Donald Trump has proposed the building of two different walls. The nation is well versed on the first wall. It’s a big one, along our…
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Memorial Day Is Not On the Church’s Calendar
Odds are that you won’t be going to a Memorial Day celebration of any sort…unless you think going to stores for the sales counts. You might be among the…
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Zika, Love, Motherhood and Injustice: A Letter to Kalissandra de Olivera
The World Health Organization predicts that more than 2, 500 babies will be born in Brazil with microcephaly if current trends continue in the Zika virus outbreak. Zika is…
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Remembering Greg and the Grace of Feet
In Durham, North Carolina’s Walltown neighborhood, where I live, work and worship, we’re having a memorial service this afternoon for a friend of Rutba House who was unhoused for…
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Lord, Save Us From Your Followers
By Morf Morford
Many years ago, in my first year of teaching adults, I had an older female student who had lived in Iran. She told us of the ‘morality police’…
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A Question for Donald Trump
By Tony Campolo
A movement called Circle of Protection, since the start of the campaigns for the presidency started, has called upon each of the candidates to make a video in which…
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Of Sex, Gender and the Universe
Before he was even three years old, my young friend Jonathan became fascinated with the solar system. He could recite the names of each planet, in order, moving outward…
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Can We Do Short Term Missions Well?
By RLC Editor
When I was 16, I went on a short-term mission to Nicaragua. Ten years later as a long-term missionary to Mexico, I was ready to tell the whole church…
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Confessing a Silence that Kills
Tyler Clementi was a freshman at Rutgers University in the fall of 2010. One day after his roommate and another Rutgers freshman secretly broadcast a live video stream of Clementi with…
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Pardon Us, Friends: Remembering Fr. Dan & the Catonsville 9
48 years ago today, Father Dan Berrigan, his brother Philip, and seven others, who became known as the “Catonsville Nine, ” went into a Selective Service offices in Catonsville, Maryland, and…
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The Good News of Pentecost
By Mark Charles
The Pentecost story in Acts is a beautiful display of God’s value for multi-culturalism and diversity. In Acts 2, God faced a challenge. His son had been crucified, was…
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Slow Kingdom Coming by Kent Annan
By RLC Editor
I’ve always thought of myself as a justice-oriented, do-gooder-type person, but over the years, I’ve become a bit fuzzy about what exactly that means. For example, most people would…
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Kent Annan’s Slow Kingdom Coming
I’ve always thought of myself as a justice-oriented, do-gooder-type person, but over the years, I’ve become a bit fuzzy about what exactly that means. For example, most people would…
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Beating Guns in Memory of Trayvon Martin
Photo credit: Coe Burchfield This week we heard that the gun George Zimmerman used to kill Trayvon Martin was being placed up for auction, with an opening bid of…
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The Color Orange: Violence in the School System
Editor’s Note: In order to highlight the state of our urban schools and the school-to-prison pipeline, Dee Dee wrote the below poem in response to a recent assault in…
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End the Lead Epidemic
For months I’d heard stories about the crisis in Flint, Michigan and carried a sense of heaviness that I couldn’t shake. I struggled to wrap my mind around how…
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Calling All Mothers: Let’s Make ‘Mother’s Day’ Count
By Lenora Rand
Mother’s Day is a pain in the ass. There, I’ve said it. A day when we spend more than $14 billion in this country trying to tell moms we are…