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You never know the day your life will change—or the person who will change it. For me, her name was Om Hassan. I was 23, an American soldier…
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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 EditorThe 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 EditorEDTOR’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 EditorEDITOR’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 CampoloBrad 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 MorfordJesus 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 EditorRed 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 EditorHave 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 EditorEDITOR’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 GobleCasino 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 CampoloThe 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 EditorLisa 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 AnnanOne 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 EditorEditor’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 EditorEditor’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 MorfordIt’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 CampoloEditor’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 PopeA 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 EditorEDITOR’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 CharlesIn 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 MorfordMany 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 CampoloA 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 EditorWhen 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 CharlesThe 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 EditorI’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 RandMother’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…
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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 EditorEDITOR’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 CharlesOn 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 EditorIn 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 KaylorThe 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 CharlesFeatured 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 CharlesFeatured 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 EditorWith 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 EditorToday, 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 EditorDrew 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 VestalShe 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 EditorShane 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 EditorShane 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 AmmonsYesterday, 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 MorfordEvery 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 QuanWe 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 PopeAs 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 RandMaundy 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 EditorRLC 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 QuanMarch 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 HuckinsThe 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 CampoloIf 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 KrizFor 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 RandI 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 KaylorOn 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 EditorEDITORIAL 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 EditorBioLogos 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…