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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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Making Room for Resurrection Life
EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re celebrating this month the release of a great new book from RLC sister Dee Dee Risher. The Soul Making Room weaves memoir with biblical reflection to invite…
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Remembering Father Dan Berrigan
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: An inspiration to many Red Letter Christians for his determination to live the way of Jesus regardless of the consequences, Fr. Dan Berrigan died this past Saturday…
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Racism On and Off the Reservation
By Mark Charles
On Friday April 29, in response to a CNN interview question regarding the expected political and personal attacks from Donald Trump in a general election, Hillary Clinton stated that she has…
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Jubilee for Puerto Rico
By RLC Editor
In partnership with our friends at Jubilee USA, we are asking for prayers and calls to Congress on behalf of Puerto Rico. This Wednesday, please join tens of thousands…
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An Eye For An Eye Makes the Bible Blind
By Brian Kaylor
The question of a ‘flat Bible’ dominated a Sunday School class I guest taught a few years ago. The group had been reading and discussing a book I wrote…
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Acting with Jesus to Interrupt Injustice
As opposition to HB2 has mounted from equal rights organizations, to national business leaders, to rock stars to POTUS, many observes across the nation find themselves asking, Who outside…
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Death By Blackness?
The color of your skin shouldn’t determine whether you live or die. But that is precisely the case for Duane Buck, a Texas man facing execution. His case is…
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Red, White & Blue People
You’d think it was a Saturday Night Live skit or a fake headline from The Onion, but a black televangelist really did kick off a Trump rally in New…
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Why I Changed My Mind
As a kid raised in a conservative Baptist home, I was taught that sexual sins were much worse than the everyday, garden variety vice. We heard a lot about…
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Why I Got Arrested at the US Capitol
I was arrested today in Washington, DC, for insisting that the Federal government defend the 15th amendment to the US Constitution and protect Americans’ voting rights. As a…
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Time for a Moral Revolution of Values
On April 4, 1967, just one year before his assassination, and more than 48 years ago, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King called for a time to break the silence…
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Doctrine of Discovery: Part II
By Mark Charles
Featured Photo Credit: Kris J Eden EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part II in a two-part series introducing the Doctrine of Discovery and Mark Charles’ effort to start a conversation…
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Doctrine of Discovery: Part I
By Mark Charles
Featured Photo Credit: Kris J Eden EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a two-part series introducing the Doctrine of Discovery and Mark Charles’ effort to start a conversation about it among…
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Definitely Not The “Hospitality State”
With the stroke of a pen on Tuesday, Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi proved that his state does not live up to its self-labeled slogan of the “Hospitality State.” …
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Creation Care and Flourishing Ecosystems
By RLC Editor
With Earth Day coming up on April 22nd, Red Letter Christians talked with Shantha Ready Alonso, Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries, about ways churches and faith communities can…
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Key Christian Leaders Issue a Statement for Peace from Christians–to Iran and Israel
By RLC Editor
Today, several key Christian leaders, including Tony Campolo, Joel Hunter, David Neff and Jim Wallis issued the following statement: “As followers of Jesus, we the undersigned are committed…
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Helping the Church Navigate Our Racialized Society
By RLC Editor
Drew Hart recently released his first book Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism. We sat down with Drew to talk about his book and his…
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Seven Last Words. Seven Executions.
Last night the state of Georgia executed the kid who they let live under a bridge. Joshua Bishop was a person who never had a fair shake at life.…
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Gospel Rewrite: Jesus and Healthcare
In December I began working for a non-profit law firm that provides free assistance to vulnerable Tennesseans trying to access affordable health care. One of our current challenges is…
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We Are Better Than This
By Kathy Vestal
She was one of my best friends in the early years of elementary school. Those years were difficult for her though, because she was so different from the rest…
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The Racism Lurking Behind NC’s Anti-LGBT Law
Meeting for a one-day emergency session last week, North Carolina’s General Assembly passed HB2, which has been widely criticized as the nation’s worst anti-LGBT bill. In supposed defense of the…
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Executing Grace by Shane Claiborne
By RLC Editor
Shane Claiborne’s newest book will come out on June 7th – Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us. In this book Shane offers…
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Shane Claiborne’s Executing Grace
By RLC Editor
Shane Claiborne’s newest book will come out on June 7th – Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us. In this book Shane offers…
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Of an Invisible Rabbit and an Unbelievable Resurrection
“Years ago my mother used to say to me, she’d say … ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant.’ Well, for years…
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The Last Verdict
In 2010 I picked John Grisham’s latest novel, “The Confession” (Doubleday), which features the story of a wrongfully convicted man facing the death penalty. When I chose the book,…
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Taking a Stand Against HB-2 in North Carolina
By Brian Ammons
Yesterday, we remembered Maundy Thursday, the day in the Christian tradition where we retell the story of the Passover meal Jesus shared with his friends before being handed over…
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What Would Be Your First Commandment?
By Morf Morford
Every belief system has its do’s and don’t’s. Every club has its rules, every job has its requirements and some neighborhoods have covenants. Even the Star…
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Terror and Maundy Thursday
By Logan Quan
We know the story. We watch in horror as we see the first blurry footage, the blood and shrapnel on the ground, and the harried paramedics. There is talk…
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Creation Has a Future in God
By Mick Pope
As Easter approaches, my mind turns afresh to the message that on the cross, evil is defeated. I’m also reminded that all things are reconciled to God through Christ.…
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Loving Is an Awkward Business
By Lenora Rand
Maundy Thursday is almost here…that’s what they call Thursday during Holy Week on the Christian liturgical calendar. Sometimes it’s also called Great and Holy Thursday, Sheer Thursday, as well as…
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Equipping Churches to Build Strong Communities
By RLC Editor
RLC recently highlighted the work of the Chalmers Center’s Curriculum Specialist, Mark Bowers, through his piece on Flipping the Script on Financial Education. In January, we featured the transcript…
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Facing America’s Extremism
When I was growing up in the 1980’s and 90’s, the Moral Majority thrived among the Southern Baptists who raised me. Our churches couldn’t endorse Ronald Reagan, but he…
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Everyone’s Against Slavery- And Here’s How to Show It!
Thanks to International Justice Mission, Not for Sale, Stop the Traffik, and other excellent organizations, there’s been a lot of attention focused on the existence of modern day slavery…
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Why I Chose to Protest Trump’s Chicago Rally
By Logan Quan
March 11th, Friday afternoon, 4:30pm, at the entrance of the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion. I’m sweating buckets as I walk through security for a Donald J. Trump…
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Shrinking Our Worlds: Presence in a Polarizing and Painful Season
By Jon Huckins
The other night Janny and I sat on our front patio after getting all the kids down to listen to the sacred silence and debrief our day. We talked about our new…
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Onward Christian Peacemakers!
Dear Dr. Moore, I don’t believe we have ever had the opportunity to meet, but I hope we will meet someday and have the opportunity to get better…
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Flipping the Script on Financial Education
Mainstream financial guru Dave Ramsey is known for his admonishment to live simply in the short run, so you can live more extravagantly in the long term: “Live like…
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Followers of Jesus, We Need a New Name
By Tony Campolo
If there was any doubt that the name “Evangelical” has become politicized, news reports about recent primaries should have settled the question. The word “Evangelical” has been used…
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Angry Pastor, Angry Politician
By Tony Kriz
For years we were baffled by the “Angry Pastor” phenomena. Little did we know, it may have been a foreshadow of an emerging national mania. Angry Pastor …
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Spring Cleaning, the Donald, and the Gods of Scarcity
By Lenora Rand
I recently started thinking about doing some spring-cleaning. Hoping that might give me something to do other than worry about Donald Trump. Which led me to the book…
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What Would Jesus of Valdosta Say to Donald Trump?
By Brian Kaylor
On Monday, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump held one of his ‘yuge’ rallies in Valdosta, Ga. While most people outside the Peach State are likely not familiar with that…
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This Do In Remembrance of Me
Recently, I again outed myself as an Evangelical – though progressive I may be. And while I’m quite comfortable donning the label, there are admittedly more than just a few things I’d like…
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A Gift for Trump Supporters
I’m giving away FREE books to folks who are thinking about voting for Trump. I realize that many of you who follow my stuff are not Trump-supporters, but…
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Evangelicalism Is Not a Bad Word: 8 Redeeming Qualities of Conservative Christianity
Editorial Note: Originally published on Huffington Post. Evangelicals and conservative Christians often seem to get a “bad name” in the press and popular culture. It is true that Christians,…
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Embodied Solidarity Fast
By RLC Editor
EDITORIAL NOTE: The weekend before Lent began, Wheaton College forced tenured professor Larycia Hawkins to resign because she chose to wear a hijab in solidarity with Muslim sisters who…
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Confronting Religious Hypocrisy in the Way of Jesus
By Cindy Brandt
“Whenever I’m approached by an evangelist – by a Christian missionary – I know I’m up against someone so obsessed and narrowly focused that it will do me absolutely…
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Rev. Leonard J. Vander Zee and Biologos
By RLC Editor
BioLogos invites the church and the world to see the harmony between science and biblical faith as we present an evolutionary understanding of God’s creation. Rev. Leonard…
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Even More Stories of Irresistible Revolution
By RLC Editor
In celebration of The Irresistible Revolution’s 10th birthday, we recently asked readers and Ordinary Radicals all over the world to submit stories of their revolutions. We were overwhelmed with…
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The Firehouse: Sparking Fires in Youth
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: Phil Jackson, longtime friend and Board member of RLC, wrote today’s piece to give us an insight into some of his work with youth in Chicago. Phil has…
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A Moral Movement to Hold Candidates Accountable
EDITORIAL NOTE: The largest political rally in North Carolina this election year was not for a Presidential candidate, but for a moral agenda. Today’s commentary is from Red Letter Christian…
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O Amiriyah: A Lament After 25 Years
This week marks 25 years since the horrific US bombing of the Amiriyah shelter in Iraq. It is one of the most sickening things I’ve ever seen. On…
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Lenten Meditation and the Moral Movement
EDITORIAL NOTE: Thousands of people from all walks of life joined the Moral March in Raleigh, North Carolina this past Saturday to stand together for love and justice in…
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Continuing to Celebrate Ten Years of The Irresistible Revolution
By RLC Editor
In celebration of The Irresistible Revolution’s 10th birthday, we recently asked readers and Ordinary Radicals all over the world to submit stories of their revolutions. We were overwhelmed…
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The Iroquois and the American Constitution
By Tony Campolo
As Red Letter Christians, we have tried to become a voice for oppressed people, but we have sometimes failed to speak out on behalf of Native Americans. While endeavoring…
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Lent Devotionals
Beginning today, February 10th, many Christians throughout the world will celebrate LENT (the season leading up to Easter, which lasts 40 days, plus Sundays.) This year, I hope you will…
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Mardi Gras Fashion Advice for the Church
My earliest memories of Mardi Gras are of my parents dressing me to take me to the parades in uptown New Orleans. Mom made sure I had on clothing which…
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The God of Nature
By Mick Pope
Happy Anniversary America! 2016 marks 100 years of your National Park Service. Although the official date is August 16, the celebrations began in the January edition of National Geographic…
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Celebrating Ten Years of Irresistible Revolution
By RLC Editor
In celebration of The Irresistible Revolution’s 10th birthday, we recently asked readers and Ordinary Radicals all over the world to submit stories of their revolutions. We were overwhelmed with the…
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How You Should Be Walking
Derek is hard to describe, but I’ll try. The first time I met him, he wanted to know if I could “lay down a beat” for him to freestyle…
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RAWtools in Philadelphia
By Mike Martin
Narratives collided in Philadelphia during MLK week at the University of Pennsylvania. Rev. Charles “Chaz” Howard, chaplain at Penn and founder of Gun Free World invited RAWtools and Shane Claiborne…
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Five Things I Wish Christians Knew About Politics
Faith and politics will always be connected to each other, and each elicits strong emotions, but here are 5 truths I wish Christians would apply to their faith: No…
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Our Better Angels: An Appeal to American Christians in a Time of Trump
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will…
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America’s Original Sin by Jim Wallis
By RLC Editor
Red Letter Christian and Sojourners President Jim Wallis recently published America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America. In town hall style meetings across the…
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A Gospel Bigger Than Race
By Jim Wallis
Red Letter Christian and Sojourners President Jim Wallis recently published America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America. In town hall style meetings across the…
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Trumpism and Evangelicals
By Tony Campolo
Donald Trump has revealed something about we the American people. It is not just Republicans who are marching to his drumbeat. If he becomes the Republican nominee for the…
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The Third Reconstruction for White Folks
For Martin Luther King Day, Religion Dispatches is hosting a conversation on Reconstruction 3.0–the call for a Third Reconstruction that Red Letter Christian Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II…
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Michelle Higgins: Continuing the Activism of Jesus
By RLC Editor
Michelle Higgins drew national attention when she spoke at InterVarsity’s Urbana Conference on December 28, 2015. InterVarsity publically affirmed the Black Lives Matter movement, which was seen by many…
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Revival In Houston: Reflections on GCN 2016
Photo is provided by James Farlow. Follow him on Twitter @jamesonfarlow. Imagine. In the heart of Houston, Texas, a city that has remained in the national media for the…
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Dr. King, Donald Trump and the Red Letters at Liberty University
By RLC Editor
Students at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va, have raised concerns this week about the administration’s choice of Presidential candidate Donald Trump as the Martin Luther King Day speaker on…
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Gleaning Toward the King Jesus Economy
This talk was first given on the mainstage at the CCDA Conference in Memphis in November 2015. You can watch Michael give this talk here. “Why work?” Think…
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The Irresistible Revolution (After 10 Years)
By RLC Editor
10 years ago, Shane Claiborne introduced us to life as an ordinary radical in his book The Irresistible Revolution. This life is one of an authentic faith rooted in…
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16 Hopes for 2016
A few years ago, I started compiling a list of hopes for the new year. It started as a personal thing, but others seemed to find some inspiration in…
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Grief at the Heart of a Moral Movement: A Personal Meditation for 2016
In a violent and fragmented society, sometimes the grief is so deep that I cannot help responding as a father as well as a Christian pastor and a political…
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Slaughter of the Innocents: A Lament for Tamir
By RLC Editor
Today’s guest post from Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney was originally published on her blog, at http://www.wilgafney.com. We are a nation that kills children. We are a nation whose protectors…
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Santa Knows Why I Don’t Quite Hate Christmas
By Tim Tyson
Ebenezer Scrooge despises Christmas, and Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol traces Scrooge’s repentance and rebirth as a warm, generous person. The tale remains fresh because each year brings that…
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Dear Mr. Trump… With Love From Iraq
By RLC Editor
Today’s post comes from our friend Sami Rasouli, who has hosted hundreds of American’s in Iraq over the past decade. He is a leaders in the Muslim Peacemaker Team,…
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Out of Sorts by Sarah Bessey
By RLC Editor
Today we hear from award-winner blogger and author of Jesus Feminist, Sarah Bessey. Sarah’s latest book, Out of Sorts, recounts her journey through an evolving faith, ending not with the…
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Shepherds vs. Magi: Dynamics of Privilege within the Nativity Story
By Tony Kriz
Advent has become one of my favorite times of year, but that was not always so. When I was a child Advent meant little more than a chance to…
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Don’t Call It Christianity
By Morf Morford
Ever give something valuable to someone and then find that they didn’t take care of it or appreciate it? Sometimes I think that’s the way God must feel…
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Dear Baby, Remember Our Friends in Prison
By RLC Editor
Our friends at School for Conversion down in North Carolina work to make “surprising friendships possible.” Since 2009, their Project TURN has invited students from outside prison to study…
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Jesus is a Prayer Shamer
By Micah Bales
These mass shootings are starting to seem routine. In the wake of the San Bernardino murders, all the politicians and talking heads were behaving predictably. Those who support more…
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Actively Waiting This Advent: #StandWithBWG
This season I am reminded of the meeting Mary had with Elizabeth to announce she was with child. Though this could have been a time of anxiety for Mary,…
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No, COP21 Is not the Messiah but We Hope It’s not a Naughty Boy Either: The Paris Agreement and Saving the World
By Mick Pope
With the ink barely dry on the page, the analysis of the COP21 climate talks begins, and so too hopefully the hard work of getting it done. Regardless of the…
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Nurturing Peace
I, like many people of faith, am reeling from Jerry Falwell Jr.’s proclamations to his student body. Falwell encouraged the students of Liberty University (there are more than 100, 000 of…
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Peace
By Cindy Brandt
When I was living in China, taxis were a convenient and cheap mode of transportation. One time, our taxi driver got into a small fender bender. The cabbie of the…
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An Abundance of Friendship Drives Out Fear
Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the angels proclaimed “peace on earth, good will to all people.” We imagine the scene as a silent night–all calm, all bright. But Matthew’s gospel…
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Politics of Christmas Live Stream 12/5
By Jordanna Yap
Will sheds light on our common misconceptions of the Christmas story. Thanks so much for joining us! RESOURCES FOR ACTION – ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS: Advent…
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God-talk without God-words
By RLC Editor
The following is a guest post from Sarah Ann Schultz from HOPE International. Chacos plodding on red clay, I made my way home through zigzagging rust-colored roads from the…
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Peace on Earth and the Politics of Christmas
By Will O’Brien
The following piece from Will O’Brien is in conjunction with the live streaming that will take place on Saturday morning from 9:30-11:30ET. Check back here on Saturday morning to watch Will’s…
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This Is No Time for Those Happy Little Christmas Songs
By Lenora Rand
Last year, in early December, protestors were filling the streets of cities across the country, because Michael Brown and Eric Garner were dead and we had all just found…
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Evangelicals Reject Anti-Muslim Hatred
Former South Carolina governor David Beasley closed a recent three day gathering focused on Islamophobia and Religious Freedom at Temple University by reminding the thirty plus leaders gathered that Jesus…
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Thanksgiving Day: Being Grateful for Us
The theme of gratitude and the practice of giving thanks to God for the abundance of God’s gifts to us are deeply biblical. On the other hand, the American Thanksgiving…
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Are We Making Police More Dangerous by Saying They’re Endangered?
Most people have probably seen the movies where the wife of a police officer tearfully tells her husband, “Every day I worry about you. I’m so afraid there will…
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What I Got Wrong About the Civil Rights Movement
By Shawn Duncan
As a teenager I can remember being stirred deeply by the stories and images of the Civil Rights Movement – on the rare occasions when they came up in…
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Put the Refugee Jesus Back Into Christmas
By the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Following the news that one of the Paris attackers was carrying a Syrian passport, 24 US governors…
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Jesus Commands You to Welcome Refugees
By Micah Bales
Despite what you may have picked up about Christianity from some of our more loud-mouthed brethren, Jesus did not spend his time denouncing gay people, foreigners, or people of other…
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What to Do About Radical Islam
By Tony Campolo
The predictions of the onetime professor of political science at Harvard University, Samuel Huntington, seem to be coming true. You may remember that in his book, The Clash of Civilizations,…
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Prophesy in Paris: Apocalyptic Climate Change & the Voice of the Church
By Mick Pope
A recent study suggests that a glacier in Greenland with enough water in it to raise sea levels by half a meter, is starting to crumble. As Washington Post writer…
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Paris Must Not Be Another 9/11
By Micah Bales
Just like you, I was horrified when I learned of last week’s terror attacks in Paris. The scale, precision, and barbarity of these crimes are hard to fathom. My first…