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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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Why “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin” Doesn’t Work
By Derek Flood
Last week my post Love the Sinner Hate the Sin, Really? generated a lot of discussion on RLC. One point that kept coming up was the need to be able to…
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Embracing Brokenness
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: For the past 25 years, Bryan Stevenson has worked to heal the wounds of racism and poverty in America’s criminal justice system. In March of 2012, he challenged…
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After 25 Years: Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall
1989 was a big year for me, and for the wider world. It was the year I left my teenage years behind. It was also the year that the brutality…
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2014 Midterm Elections: What Does Jesus Say?
I’ll never forget the time I was handed a Voting Guide when I walked into church on Sunday morning. It was 2008 and I was a 23-year-old single…
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A New Conversation on the Death Penalty
Today (Nov 6) Wheaton College, often called “the Harvard of Christian colleges, ” is hosting a forum on the death penalty. But it’s not just any forum. It has…
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Adoption, Once and Always
I sat in my study leafing through yellowed documents stiffened by time. I read the letter typed in courier font by Sister Bertrille telling my parents they’ve been approved…
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Election Day Dialog: How Are We Political?
By Tony Campolo
EDITOR’S NOTE: In their book Red Letter Christians, Tony and Shane talk about what it means for the American Christians to faithfully engage the political process. As Americans go to…
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Happy Birthday, Haiti Partners!
By Tony Campolo
Haiti Partners, from its beginning, was built on the experiences of Kent Annan and John Engle who, over decades, have learned how to be culturally sensitive to the Haitian…
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“Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin.” Really?
By Derek Flood
“Love the sinner, hate the sin.” I’m sure you have heard the phrase a million times. Some attribute it to Augustine. Those who use it view it as a…
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Millennials: Don't Quit; Take a Break & Recommit
If you’re a Baby Boomer reading this article, you might be thinking: Why is she telling millennials not to quit their jobs? Most of them don’t even have jobs.…
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Delighting in God's New Family
By Chris Hoke
Two weeks ago my plane lifted off from sunny Los Angeles, where I had met with old friends, families and new acquaintances to raise funds for our growing . …
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What To Do When Your Backpack Is Full of Cash
Subway. N-Line. Crossing the bridge into Manhattan. Three in the afternoon. The shouting begins. “’Scuse me, ladies and gentlemen, showtime.” “Alright alright, ” shouts another. “Showtime ladies…
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Global Missions: What Are We Doing Here?
“Sorry this is so late, but I’m up tonight thinking: ‘why do we separate the church and missions?’ Any thoughts?” The text came through just after midnight on a Tuesday…
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Parenting On Our Knees
By Josina Guess
When Peggy Campolo was staying at home with her young kids, someone who didn’t quite understand the magnitude of the word “mom” asked what work she was doing. This…
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Standing With the Criminal Christ
By Matt Rindge
In 1900, W. E. B. Du Bois declared that “the problem of the 20th century” would be “the problem of the color line.” His prediction turns out to be…
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A Moral Monday Letter to Ferguson
EDITORS NOTE: In Ferguson, MO, faith leaders led a Moral Monday civil disobedience action today. Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, chief architect of the Moral Movement in North…
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Girls: The Hope of the Future
By Jon Huckins
Over the past few days, my four year-old, Ruby, has asked some profound and provocative questions that have both challenged and brought us much hope for the future. “Why…
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Where Gone Girl Goes Wrong
By Erin Lane
SPOILER ALERT: This post reveals key plot twists in the recently-released film Gone Girl directed by David Fincher. The bottom line? I want my money back, and my dignity too. …
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Undoing the Mess That America Made
By Tony Campolo
Just before the United States and the United Kingdom, along with token forces from a handful of other countries, invaded Iraq for the second time, Wheaton College staged a…
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SCOTUS' Silence & the Way of Jesus
On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) surprised the nation when it refused to further wade into the contentious waters of the debate over same-sex marriage. SCOTUS…
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Why Privileged People Love Quoting MLK
By Andy Gill
If you’re outspoken on the issue of race, chances are, at one point or another, you’ve had a conversation with a so-called “pacifist” who has cited MLK. King was nonviolent, they…
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Let My People Vote!
By Morf Morford
Editor’s Note: As we witness the final push for campaigns in the US midterm elections, we’re glad to share this word from RLC Contributor Morf Morford about what it means to follow…
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Let My People Vote!
By Morf Morford
Citizenship takes different forms at different times and in different situations. Voting is one—but only one—form of expressing our values and allegiances. The ancient Greeks (who gave us…
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These Royals Make You Believe In God
People say that professional sports fuel what is worst in us. Our greed, our impatience, our willingness to ruin our bodies for the sake of fame. Our glorification of…
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A New Sanctuary Movement to Stop Deportations
There is a nonviolent uprising around immigration happening in Philadelphia and a dozen other US cities. Faith leaders announced this week they are building a movement of “sanctuary congregations” and…
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Mental Illness, Biblical Counseling, and the Role of the Church: A Conversation with Alasdair Groves
Alasdair Groves is the Director of Counseling and a member of the faculty at Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) in New England. He has a passion to foster genuine…
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From Tubal-Cain to Jesus: Waging Peace in a World at War
By Mike Martin
The recent movie Noah (2014) casts Tubal-Cain as the antagonist, organizing an army to take the Ark. Genesis 4:22 states he was “the forger of all implements of bronze…
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A Hope Greater Than Our Confidence
One Sunday night, Emily approached me as people were making their way out of our home. We’d gathered to worship and share cake with a sister in celebration of…
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The Dangers of Hashtag Activism
It’s been a great year for slacktivism. Tweeting has ushered in a new kind of benevolent human being, the hashtag activist. The following list is a few of the…
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Superman is Great, But Jesus Is Better
By Micah Bales
The stories that captivated as a child all featured a leader – or, sometimes, a whole team of of them – who made bold decisions, took decisive action, and generally drove…
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Why I Could #FloodWallStreet, but Refused to #Occupy It
It’s easy to dismiss protests like this week’s #floodwallstreet as another gathering of unemployed hipsters with nothing else to do. It is true that the crowd protesting on lower Broadway…
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How Jesus Views Women
By Emily Timbol
Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson have more in common than the fact that their domestic violence has become headline news. They’re both running backs in the midst of successful careers.…
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Acting Like A State: ISIS, the US, and Jesus as Lord
Like most Americans, I’m horrified by each new story I read about ISIS. A friend who works in the region wrote weeks ago to tell me ISIS had taken Rutba,…
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Adoption's Reality: My Time With A Teen Birth Mom
As we walked into Mrs. Ava’s house, I wasn’t sure what to expect. A negligent, unstable ox of a woman, ready to trample me for having taken her daughter…
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Why I’m Marching About Climate Change
By Mick Pope
Today people are coming together around the globe to march on climate change. I’ll be marching as well, not in spite of my faith but because of it. In…
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Doing Good Without Giving Up
By Ben Lowe
Jesus calls and transforms us who follow him to be salt and light in an often dark and decaying world. This is a remarkable responsibility and an unmerited privilege.…
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A #BringBackOur Girls Confession
I am going to trust you with the truth. I wish we could sit down, you and I, with two cups of coffee and a brownie split between…
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Practicing Generosity: Giving Circles for the Kingdom
With the sun setting and a slight breeze picking up, my wife and I look at the table spread before us with no small sense of anticipation. We are…
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Eat, Sleep, Pray: Spiritual Practices with Newborns
With a summer baby we slip into bed while the sun is still setting and get up after the sky is already bathed in light. But still we haven’t slept a solid stretch. Because all night he…
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Cultivating a Lived Faith: Spiritual Practices for Activists and Contemplatives
Some Christians find themselves more naturally inclined toward activism—toward throwing themselves into the mix of it all. Others find that contemplation—an orientation toward rhythms of silence, prayer, intercession, etc.—is…
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A Nonviolent Uprising
Dr. King said: a “riot is the language of the unheard.” What happens when folks do not feel like their voices are being heard? They shout louder.…
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Why I Won't Watch #RayRice
Have you seen it? The Ray Rice video? The one where he knocks out his then-fiance, now-wife? You should know about this, they say. You should see this,…
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A Day At The Beach: Theology Under The Sun
By Mick Pope
As spring is struggling to establish itself here in Australia, summer is ending in the Northern Hemisphere. I hope my US friends are enjoying the last of the sun,…
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ISIS vs the Way of Jesus
Obama admits to not having a strategy when it comes to ISIS. Duck Dynasty Godfather, Phil Robertson, wants to “Convert ‘em or kill ‘em.” But what does Jesus’ Way offer…
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Step by Step, Block by Block: Letting Ferguson Change Us
After almost two weeks of hearing news stories about the tragic, frustrating and chaotic story unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri, my friend Shane and I decided to go get between the…
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Freely, Freely, You Have Received: An Experiment in God's Economy
This past Sunday, our church gave away $160, 000… to the congregation. No, it’s not a church growth strategy or a scam or a shell game. And we didn’t do it…
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Saved By Bitterness? Fighting With A Whole Heart
By Erin Lane
“Why is being bitter such a bad thing?” I ask Rush on one of our regular night walks. Amelia strains her neck into a bush of monkey grass while I continue. “I mean, I don’t…
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What Resurrection Looks Like: Standing Together for Justice
By RLC Editor
EDITORS NOTE: Capital punishment was in the news this week as two brothers twice convicted in North Carolina were declared innocent by a court of law. People of Faith Against the…
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Doing Good Without Giving Up by Ben Lowe
Running for Congress at age twenty-five, Ben Lowe seized the opportunity to meet voters waiting for their morning trains into the city. “Hi, I’m Ben Lowe, and I’m running…
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Doing Good Without Giving Up by Ben Lowe
Running for Congress at age twenty-five, Ben Lowe seized the opportunity to meet voters waiting for their morning trains into the city. “Hi, I’m Ben Lowe, and I’m running…
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Violence in God's Name: Our Greatest Sin
By Derek Flood
Some Christians seem to talk about little other than sin. In reaction, others try to ignore it. But we can’t understand Jesus’ plan to redeem the whole universe without understanding…
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The Pacifism of Jesus: Reclaiming Christianity's Challenge
By John Watson
Early Christians were confusing. They were pacifists living in the Roman world, a world which saw violence and death as constant positive reminders of the struggle of life over…
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Seeking An Epathethic Space: The Challenge of a Christian Witness in America
Rev. Michael McBride, known simply as “, ” is the Director of Urban Strategies and Lifelines to Healing Campaign for the PICO National Network. The Lifelines to Healing Campaign is a…
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The Dignity of Work: What I Learned from Jesus and Mr. Jefferson
I grew up believing the myth that poverty is out there, somewhere else in the world. I was taught that if you work hard enough, you can make it…
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Labor Day Lessons: What I've Learned From Workers About Hope For Our Times
This summer, I marched with McDonald’s workers from three dozen cities to the company’s corporate headquarters outside of Chicago. I knew I had to come when the workers invited…
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Coming Home: A Friend's Return from Prison
By Chris Hoke
Three weeks ago, I sat in a prison’s small, sterile waiting lobby on a Sunday morning, alone. We’d waited for this day for seven and a half years. …
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Back to School: Learning to Love God's Good Earth
By Nancy Sleeth
I’ve started seeing school buses on my walk into work each morning, which makes me reminisce about my teaching days. One of my best memories: going green at the…
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No One Is Beyond Redemption: What Billy Moore Taught Me
In the fall of 2010, I was working for the Montana Abolition Coalition to pass a bill that would end the state’s death penalty. As a part of my work,…
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Ferguson: Reading From a Script
Sometime on Aug 9 in Ferguson, Mo., Michael Brown and Darren Wilson lost their unique identities as individuals and picked up a script as old as America itself. Older…
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Why "Burn Out" Is Often a Falling Out (And What We Can Do About It)
Theology doesn’t save us from spiritual burnout— people do. No matter how convincing our doctrines and beliefs may be, they’re ultimately empty and unsatisfying if there’s no human…
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Blow the Shofar! Women Lead Day 5 of #MoralWeekofAction
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: In 14 state capitals across the US, faith and justice leaders are organizing a Moral Week of Action to conclude the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have…
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Pilgrimage to Ferguson
Something felt right about going to Ferguson. And something felt right about going with Derrick. I’ve watched Derrick grow up as an African-American youth in North Philadelphia, facing unfair obstacles…
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Blessed Are… Those People?
As a middle class American girl growing up in rural Baptist churches, I learned that the Kingdom of God means heaven, and that heaven is like the gated communities…
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Jim Foley, ISIS, and What I Learned from Being Kidnapped
By Peggy Gish
We sat on mats in a traditional sitting room in a remote village of northwestern Iraq. One of our captors guarded the door with his assault rifle at the other…
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Don't Let Anyone Look Down On Your Youth
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: In 12 state capitals across the US, faith and justice leaders are organizing a Moral Week of Action to conclude the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have…
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We Make the Road By Walking by Brian McLaren
By RLC Editor
This summer Jericho Books released Brian McLaren’s newest book, We Make the Road by Walking. We got to catch up with Brian during his book tour to hear more about…
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We Make the Road By Walking: An Interview with Brian McLaren
By RLC Editor
This summer Jericho Books released Brian McLaren’s newest book, We Make the Road by Walking. We got to catch up with Brian during his book tour to hear more about…
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Moral Week of Action, Day 3: Equal Protection Under the Law
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third daily meditation in a seven-part series of prayers for the Moral Week of Action coordinated by the Forward Together Moral Movement at 12 state…
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Moral Week of Action, Day 2: Education
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: As we noted yesterday, faith and justice leaders have joined together for seven days of action at state houses around the country to highlight the many ways corporate…
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A Better Way to Talk About Homosexuality in the Church
By RLC Editor
By Tim Otto One evening, sitting at a restaurant with friends, I found myself on the receiving end of an angry lecture by a young woman whose goal was to…
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Moral Week of Action: Labor and Economic Justice
By RLC Editor
EDITORS NOTE: Since May of 2013, the Forward Together Moral Movement, led by Rev. William J. Barber II and other faith and justice leaders, has challenged the North Carolina state government…
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What If It Were Your Son?
By Leroy Barber
EDITOR’S NOTE: RLC Contributor Leroy Barber, who was interviewed by Romal Tune on the Red Carpet this week, flew to Ferguson, MO, yesterday. The questions he took with him are…
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Reading Revelation in An Unjust World
By Ed Cyzewski
Injustice appears to be the main thread running through the news these days. Systemic racism has been exposed when a police officer, according to all eyewitness accounts, murdered an unarmed…
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Life Among the Bus-Riders: A Window on My City
“You smoking ganja?”he asks into his cell phone as he cozies up to your group at the bus station. He’s selling weed with tact—taking advantage of the crowded space, pretending…
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Go to Hell: God's Gracious Word to American Christians
For every season, there is a message. “Do not be afraid.” “Let my people go.” “Take up your cross.” “I have a dream.” In America today, I’ve come to believe,…
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Wake Up, America: Why We Can’t Afford to Ignore Ferguson
By Josina Guess
My four year-old daughter covers her ears at the sound of the thunder and says, “I wish I didn’t have ears.” We snuggle under her Great Grammy’s “crazy” quilt, and…
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The Dangers of Jaywalking: White Power, Black Rage, and Ubuntu in America
By Chris Lahr
When the police in Ferguson, MO, released the name of the officer who shot Michael Brown last week, they also released surveillance camera footage of Brown in a convenience store,…
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Five Reasons Post-Christianity is Good for Followers of Jesus
Anyone who has been paying attention knows that Christianity is in decline in the western world by all accounts. From progressive mainline churches to evangelical mega-churches, most institutional religious bodies…
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Red, Yellow, Black and White by Leroy Barber
By RLC Editor
Leroy Barber has dedicated more than 25 years to eradicating poverty, confronting homelessness, restoring local neighborhoods, healing racism, and living what Dr. King called “the beloved community.” Leroy starts projects…
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Two (or Three) Things NOT to Say About Your Short-Term Mission Trip
By Amy Peterson
Last night I was reading a book by a young woman who moved to Africa as a teenager. Her story stirred up a lot of feelings, both positive and negative,…
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Who's Most Precious in God's Sight: An Interview with Leroy Barber
Leroy Barber has dedicated more than 25 years to eradicating poverty, confronting homelessness, restoring local neighborhoods, healing racism, and living what Dr. King called “the beloved community.” Leroy starts projects…
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Meet Sofia, Mother of Unaccompanied Minors Who Crossed US Border
By RLC Editor
EDITOR’S NOTE: Photos of children warehoused in detention centers have compelled Americans to ask, “Why would parents send their children to the US alone?” A team from World Vision recently traveled…
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Ebola, Inequality, and the One Who Brings Us Hope
A couple of weeks ago, when news of the Ebola crisis in Africa first broke, my husband Ben said something surprising to me. “You know, as soon as somebody from…
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38 Minutes to See What’s Behind Ferguson, MO
Give me 38 minutes. If you don’t have them now, block them out on your Google calendar, right now, for later this evening. Stay up past your bedtime if…
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Everyone Has to Eat: The Story of WIC, the Story of Us
Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident…
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The Bible says ‘Mourn’ for Iraq and Gaza before you tweet for it!
By Matt Darvas
Like it or not, the world is at war. However most of the time, we don’t give it a second thought. We don’t have to, that is, until a crisis…
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Gungor and the Two Faces of Evangelicalism
By Derek Flood
This past week the Christian corner of the internet has been somewhat abuzz with headlines like: Gungor drifts from biblical orthodoxy (World Magazine), Dove-Award Winning Gungor Rattles Christian World, (Christianpost) and Singer to Answer for…
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Do Christians Really Need The Bible?
Christians need Jesus and God but do we really need the Bible? Before you label me as a heretic, here’s why I think there may be good reasons to answer both…
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Is Jesus “Religious”?
By Micah Bales
As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see…
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We Spend Lifetimes Striving to Give Love, Create Beauty and Find Peace. Why?
It was a bright September day, clear, cool and perfect. My wife Genie, my grandchildren Lucy (age 5 and in the picture here taken that spring at Easter), Jack (3)…
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War, Women, and Children
By Pete Newlove
“I am looking for peace. I am looking for mercy. I am looking for evidence of compassion. any evidence of life. i am looking for life.” (Suheir Hammad, “First Writing Since”) Just…
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The Serpent Sheds its Skin: Porn, Homo Economicus and Human Flourishing
By Mick Pope
Pornography goes back thousands of years with early examples being found on Egyptian tombs dating back 3000 years ago. Today it is so all pervasive that we can speak about…
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The Chaplain who Blessed the Hiroshima Bombers, Repents
Sixty-nine years ago, as a Catholic Air Force chaplain, Father George Zabelka blessed the men who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over the next twenty years, he…
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It’s time to review our recent Middle East history and recalibrate our reactions
By Jim Hooker
I got up this morning thinking about writing a blog post about the horrible carnage taking place in Gaza and my reactions as an American and as a Christian involved…
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From Behind the Walls, pt. 3: Freedom
“From Behind the Walls” is a series of stories and prayers on encounters Michael McRay had while serving as a volunteer prison chaplain. He leaned over and whispered to me,…
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From Anne Frank to Gaza
By John Watson
Seventy years ago today, on a hot August day, the Dutch hiding place of the Franks was discovered by the Nazis. The family was sent east. Only one of them,…
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From New Vaccines to Capetown Townships, Discovering People Who Are of Value to Christ: An Interview with Arthur Ammann
Arthur Ammann, M.D., is a pediatric immunologist and advocate known for his research on HIV transmission in women and children and his role in the development of the first successful…
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Deported: A View From the “Other” Side
By Jon Huckins
I was recently sitting in a Tijuana shelter that houses men for 12 days after they have been deported from the United States. I was guiding a group of pastors and…
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postChristian: What’s left, can we fix it, do we care? – An Interview with Christian Piatt
RT: What’s the concept of church that you are addressing with postChristian? I think we’ve fallen victim to the misapprehension that worship, or church, is the point. Those are simply…
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Christians: There’s only ONE side to pick in Israel vs. Palestine
By Matt Darvas
When my wife and I visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories last year as part of a study tour run by a leading seminary from the United States, I was…