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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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Occupy the Manger: How God Does Revolution
Occupy the manger. I’m sick of phrases that begin with occupy. But that’s what God did. He occupied a manger in the form of a baby born to a poor…
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Santa – Our Imaginary Friend
One of the tough decisions that all Christians have to face when we accept Christ is to embrace truth and reject lies. Many of those lies are society’s lies. They are…
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All I want for Christmas is the Real Christmas story
By Morf MorfordIt doesn’t seem that much to ask. With all the passion, energy and hype around Christmas, you’d think there would be some interest in refining our focus on what we…
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Kinyarwanda: Forgiveness is Freedom
By Andrew HimesKinyarwanda: Forgiveness is Freedom, a new movie from talented African American director Alrick Brown, is not a movie about genocide, though it is set in Rwandan during the 100 days in…
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A Third Way? Beyond the “Affirming / Not Affirming” Dichotomy
By AnonymousI should begin by explaining why I am writing this piece anonymously. It is not because I wish to protect myself from the inevitable criticism that comes with any position…
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Soundgarden, John Mayer, Bowling Alleys and Advent
My eight-year-old son, Mattias, just recently had his eighth birthday, complete with a magician, bunnies, doves, party favors, sugar, balloons, cards, effusive attention and – of course – gifts. Some…
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How To Satisfy Jesus (via the Gospel of Elvis)
I wish I had a nickle for every time God spoke to me through Elvis. Like Elvis’ song “A Little Less Conversation”: A little less conversation, a little more action…
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At The Corner of Injustice, Exploitation and Corruption
Growing up as a product of the system as well as working in the inner city, I experienced and witnessed many things that disturbed and angered me. Things such as…
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The Occupation of the Lord’s Prayer
By Jeremy JohnThe occupation is like Jesus’ parable, where a king invites all of his privileged, first-tier guests to the wedding. But nobody came. So the king takes the invitation out to…
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Problems of the Privileged
By Roy GobleA friend of mine was playing golf at her country club when she began to recognize a disturbing pattern: there were a lot of complaints about meaningless things. I asked…
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Open and Affirming Because of the Bible
I want to start by saying that any time there are two people with opposing views concerning a third group of people, the resulting conversation will involve much audacity, hubris…
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Open? Yes! Affirming? No.
By Dan MartinI’ve been running into a lot of comments from friends across the blogosphere lately, revolving around the issue of how the church should respond to homosexuality today. I write this…
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A Visit To Occupy Washington D.C.: Some Thoughts on Violence and Nonviolence
My son and I were in Washington, D.C. on November 20th to attend the “Super Vigil” for a just and fair budget. Afterward, when we had finished visiting with a…
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Preacher or False Prophet
My first job in a church was as a music minister. I loved the senior pastor I served with, as did the congregation we faced every Sunday morning. He taught…
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Prophetic Pepper Spray, Suffering, and the Revolutionary Kingdom: UC Davis and #OccupyWallStreet
By Kurt WillemsSuffering. Not something that is glorified in itself in Scripture, but the glory is in the cause suffered for. Suffering, most often, is the result of circumstances uncontrollable to the…
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I’m Thankful for My Government
It might seem strange to say, but I’m thankful for my government. I’m not necessarily talking about the politicians in Congress whose commitment to ideology over reality is driving our…
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The Girl Who Cried Wolf, and Other Myths
You can’t go online lately without hearing about hearing about Herman Cain and the allegations of sexual harassment haunting his campaign. Those posts inevitably make me wince—not the articles themselves,…
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Individualism, Desire and the Christian Self
By Matt AnslowIt is frequently said that we live in an individualistic society. This is not all bad. The fact that individualist philosophy values the individual’s worth is fantastic. Not so fantastic…
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Politics, Prejudices, and Hungry Dogs
It was a cold and drizzling Easter Sunday morning, early just before the sun rises, in rural northern Kentucky. I was assisting the local Methodist pastor in leading the community…
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Emmett Till to Herman Cain: It’s No Longer About Civil Rights
In August, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till, and African-American, was killed for reportedly flirting with a white woman. He was beaten, his eyes cut out of his head, and his lifeless…
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Racism, Moral Law and the Penn State Abuse Scandal
By Leroy Barber“A time comes when silence is betrayal.” — Martin Luther King My heart is very heavy today as I read about the eight boys who were sexually assaulted by Gerald…
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The Walker: An Anonymous Blur on the Horizon
By Morf MorfordEven though virtually all of us have seen him as he wanders relentlessly, day and night, across and beyond his home town, few know his name. Those of us who…
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Muslims in the Military – A Case of Envy
I envy the distrust that Muslims in America face. There are loud voices claiming that they can’t be counted on to be totally dependable citizens. In particular, we are being…
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Failure of Personhood (in Mississippi and Elsewhere)
I was honestly surprised last Tuesday when Mississippi rejected the referendum that would have legally defined “personhood” as beginning at conception. I figured the personhood movement targeted Mississippi because it…
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Jesus, Forgiving Economic Debts and Personal Sins
By Jeremy JohnIn the Lord’s prayer, our daily prayer, we pray, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” As we forgive our debtors. Forgive us our debts. In Aramaic, debt…
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Naked Greed Day: Give Them Your Underwear, Too
“When someone sues you for your outer garment, give them your undergarment as well” (Matt. 5:40). Jesus said that when someone sues you for your clothes off your back (presumably…
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When Soldiers Become Saints (WITH VIDEO)
Today the United States celebrates Veteran’s Day… and the Church celebrates Martin of Tours, … a conscientious objector to war whose Feast Day is recognized by Christians around the world…
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Nevermind the Nonsense (Ode to Jesus & Johnny Rotten)
The notorious, belligerent, somewhat anti-social punk rocker Johnny Rotten, at the end of his final live show with his band the Sex Pistols, yelled out to the audience, “ever get…
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Homosexuality, Democrats & War – My Interview with Tony Campolo
By Marcia PallyI met Tony Campolo at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, between a performance of Rigoletto, which he and his wife had attended at the Metropolitan Opera. I sat down…
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When You Say “Sin, ” What Do You Mean?
I wrote a piece recently that appeared here on the Red Letter Christians site, and the discussion that followed in the comments section was particularly interesting to me. The article…
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TGIF (Trash Goes Into Flight): The Bastardization of Creativity
By Matt AnslowTurn on the radio and you’ll find yourself bathing in the cesspool that is popular music. Whoa, slow down there cowboy! That’s a pretty harsh way to start, you can’t…
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On the Death of My Mother and the Nature of Love
By Andrew HimesOn Tuesday afternoon, October 4, 2011, my sister Faith called from Chattanooga and said, “Mom’s gone.” I heard a rushing sound in my ears and my heart thumped and I…
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Was Jesus a Bigot? He Did Call a Woman a Dog
One of the biggest barriers to helpful, healthy conversation about the Christian faith seems to revolve around fear. What if I don’t know something I should and others find out?…
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Foreclosure Tourism
By Morf MorfordIf you think driving by a series of For Sale signs in your neighborhood is sobering, consider what a closer look might hold. I took a real estate sponsored tour…
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Military Christianity and the Way of Jesus
As I write these words my Dad’s dog tags are lying in front of me. He was in the Army during World War 2, serving in North Africa and Italy.…
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Women of Winter: The Outcasts
By Greg DillAbout a month ago, I finished reading a book by one of my favorite Christian authors, Max Lucado. The title of this book is “God Came Near”, arguably his best…
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Occupy Wall Street, the Church, and the Apocalypse
By Jeremy JohnHow long have we been comfortable in the 1st world church? Nourishing ourselves on the warm broth of prayer and fellowship, resting and gathering strength, singing worship songs that seek…
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The Biblical Version of Occupy Wall Street
As I followed the media coverage on the revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and now even America with Occupy Wall Street and the “99%” Movement, I knew that it sounded…
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Honky-Tonk Hymns in the God Pod
By Morf Morford“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 (NIV) As I walked down the narrow concrete hallways,…
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October’s BEST Reading
By RLC EditorDue to frequent request, each month Red Letter Christians will provide you with the latest list of most popular and talked about books on our site. This list is derived…
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I Want To Be In The 1% Who Get God’s Grace
There have been a number of photos circulating the Internet in which people hold posters that say why they are or are not part of “the 99%” represented by the…
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To What KIND of Sinners Was Jesus a Friend?
It’s no secret that Christians, of various flavors and stripes, are all over the board on how we deal with sin and Sinners. Though most of us have all sort…
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Are Evangelical Republicans Really Pro-Life?
By Tony CampoloOver the past decade, my Evangelical friends regularly ask me how I can be a Democrat and a Christian at the same time. I understood why that asked the question. …
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Would Jesus Occupy Wall Street?
By Dan MartinThe other day, a Facebook friend of mine posted a big caption on his profile: “JESUS Is With the 99%.” Predictably, he got a bunch of “likes” from his liberal…
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From Prosperity Gospel to Disparity Gospel?
I’m not going to spend too much time or energy expressing my disdain for Prosperity Gospel, the kind of ministry by the likes of Joel Osteen that preaches about how…
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He Has A Name
By Morf MorfordI can’t remember his name now, it was one of those not very unusual names, Tom, or Ron or Mike, but the man holding the “Will work for Food” sign…
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Am I Part of the 99% or the 1%? (Scattered Thoughts on #OccupyWallStreet and Global Poverty)
By Kurt WillemsFor the past several weeks, many of us who believe that the economic values of the United States are broken, have watched Occupy Wall Street on the news with awe.…
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Superheroes inspired by Quran: Nothing to fear
By Kay CampbellBuy levitra onlineth=”270″ height=”149″ />The contested reputation of Muslim leader Fethullan Gulen is a case study in the vexations faced by Muslims who are working for peace in a world…
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Moving Money: Investing in a New World
Nearly a decade ago, we threw a party on Wall Street where we gave away $10, 000 outside the Stock Exchange. The money had formerly been invested in stocks but…
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Sci-Fi Theology: Just Passin’ Through
By Joe PerdueOne of the earliest and fondest memories of my childhood involves getting up at four in the morning on Saturdays to watch black and white science fiction movies with my…
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A Woman’s Plea for Peace
“100 years ago, almost all casualties in war were men in uniform. Today, the majority are women and children.” So began the PBS documentary “Women, War & Peace.” I steeled…
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Al Mohler, Mullets and Gay Marriage
I admit it. I used to listen to country music. We all make mistakes. I saw the error of my ways about the same time Billy Ray Cyrus came on…
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A Devotion for Wall Street
A reporter recently asked me, “As a Christian leader, does your faith have anything to say about Wall Street?” I said, “How much time do you have?” The Christian message…
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Following Francis: The Veneration of (Imperfect) Saints
When people find out that I am 3rd Order Franciscan and that I have written a book that reflects on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, it is not…
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Waiting For St. Benedict: Where Does Occupy Wall Street Go From Here?
A couple of weeks ago, the Occupy Wall Street protests looked like a typical gathering of disgruntled young people, not unlike protests outside WTO or World Bank gatherings over the…
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Thanking God for R.E.M.
As soon as the news hit a few weeks back that rock band R.E.M. was retiring after over 30 years together, a call went out to writers to compose tributes…
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Questions for God from Behind Bars
By Morf MorfordLive your questions now, and perhaps even without knowing it, you will live along some distant day into your answers. -Rainer Maria Rilke What question would you ask God? I…
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Beware, Or You Too May Be – Left Below! (When the Simpsons and Harold Camping Collide)
By Kurt WillemsLeave it to Homer Simpson to help us understand the “end times” better. Beware, or you too may be – Left Below! This warning filled our TV screens, our newspapers,…
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Hope for Despairing Christians In A World That is Getting Worse and Worse
By Tony CampoloBuy cialis softg” alt=”” width=”169″ height=”170″ />For many Evangelical Christians, the normative attitude is to view world history with despair. Most have been led to believe that forces of darkness…
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What Would Jesus Occupy? Faith & #Occupy Wall Street
It might sound like a set up for a punchline; two God’s Politics contributors, a Muslim professor, an economist, a theologian and translator of Zizek’s work, and an Benedictine Abbott…
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Anwar Al-Awlaki: Eye For an Eye, or a Third Way?
I’ve been reflecting on the recent killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an Al Qaida leader operating from Yemen, by American forces. A friend asked me if the fact that al-Awlaki was…
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“If you’re not rich, blame yourself” (Herman Cain vs. John Wesley)
“If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself.” Thus says Herman Cain to the unemployed Wall Street protestors. I understand why he said it. He wants…
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Mustard Seeds of Hope: Israeli’s and Palestinian’s Standing Under the Banner of Non-Violence
By Jon HuckinsMy 1 year old daughter is at the stage in her development where she is captivated by anything around her. Whether a shoe, toy or even her own foot, she…
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Evangelical School Cancels Breakfast with Bush
By Will BraunAfter news leaked that Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto, Ontario was planning an invitation-only fundraising breakfast with George W. Bush last month, it only took two days for…
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Liberia, the Nobel Peace Prize, and Me
Last Friday, three women were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their commitment to women’s rights. Two of those women, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee, were from Liberia, the…
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Why Jesus might be a Republi-demo-liber-green-peace and freed-O-crat
By Kurt WillemsA few months ago there was a provocative article written by Phil Zuckerman and Dan Cady called: Why Evangelicals Hate Jesus. It would be easy for many to be up…
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Living Into a New Story
My wife, Amy, and I just got back from a quick trip to Las Vegas for my 40th birthday. I jumped off a 109-story building, we did the zip line…
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In and Out of the Zoo
By Morf MorfordWhere no gods are, spectres rule. Novalis One time I took a group of people in the drug rehab program to the local zoo. Most of our group had been…
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The Growing Impossibility of Interfaith Dialogue
By Tony CampoloI just returned from the 2011 meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. It is an amazing gathering that brings together heads of state, some of the richest people in the…
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Why Do People In Your Country Think I'm a Terrorist?
By Jon HuckinsAlthough we had only met each other a few days before, my friend looked at me with tears welling up in his eyes and said, “I am a Christian. I…
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Listening to the Dead
In the fall of 1980, when I was 12 years old, I went with my dad into downtown New Orleans to his office on Magazine Street. Driving down Canal Street,…
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Steve Jobs, God’s Vision & Here I Stand: #OccupyWallStreet NOT Afghanistan
This week marks ten years since the occupation of Afghanistan started. I’ve just sat down to throw some thoughts on paper in between speaking engagements in New Zealand. The news…
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Whose Side Does God Take?
I have a problem that perhaps you can relate to. I’m very good at taking sides according to the lines that the world draws for me rather than taking Jesus’…
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Researching My Sundown Town: What white people can do about racism…
By Chris LahrThe next step on the path towards reconciliation is an important one. It is at this point that we reach a critical juncture of either rejection or repentance. Racial justice…
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Trolls, Avatars and the Convertible Effect
I remember when I first learned about the atrocities of the Holocaust in school. I could not imagine the type of person who could do such things to another person.…
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St. Francis, Pray for Us
Today (October 4) Christians around the world celebrate the life of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the bright lights of the Church and one of the most venerated religious…
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The History & Modern Manifestation of Christian Zionism
By Jon HuckinsSeries Note: This post is the first in a three part series on the topic of Christian Zionism and its implications in Israel and Palestine. There are few topics more…
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I Believe in the “Here and Now” But Live Like I Trust in Escapism
By Kurt WillemsI’ve noticed a trend in my life. When it comes to my worldview, the way I see reality, the way I see the Scriptures… I believe in a faith that…
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Of Politics, Religion, and Gynecological Rockers (Ode to Ted Nugent)
Quickly now, name the first three things that come to your mind when you hear the name Ted Nugent. Wait – make that the first three things that come to…
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Becoming a Fool for Gabriela
“Motion pictures aren’t called that simply because they are pictures in motion, but because they have the power to profoundly move people.” Last week I had breakfast with 14 year-old Gabriela.…
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Constructing an Identity of Lacking to Find God
By Noah EcholsJesus presented a message that is largely ignored today: the more one lacks, the more likely he/she is to seek God. Jacques Lacan, a French theorist, proposed the idea of…
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Creating a Culture of Life Against Ideology and Capital
I heard a sermon recently on the need to create a “culture of life” instead of the “culture of death” that we currently have in our society. Not only do…
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Southern Baptists, Women and the NIV Bible: This, Too, Shall Pass
The Southern Baptist Convention‘s (SBC) resolution in opposition to the most recent New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible is not surprising to many. By a more than a…
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Simplicity: Relationships Work
By Greg DillSimplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimal means. In the digital and information age we live, things are to be more simple. And, practically speaking perhaps they are.…
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I Am Lawrence Brewer
By Sarah HowellTwo nights ago, the state of Georgia executed Troy Davis, a man widely believed to be innocent. A last-minute delay went to the Supreme Court, where a stay of execution…
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Troy Davis and the Biblical Case(s) for Violence
By Matt RindgeAs I write this article, it appears that Troy Davis will be executed within a few hours. He will join countless others, including Osama bin Laden, who have been killed…
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Judgment's Triumph: The Unjust Death of Troy Davis
By Joe PerdueOn W reading teacher ednesday, September 21 the US Supreme Court chose to deny Troy Davis’ final appeal for a stay of execution. In spite of his claim of innocence,…
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Choose Life for Troy Davis
Despite 650, 000 signatures, a letter from over 50 members of the US Congress, and a personal plea from former Georgia governor and US President Jimmy Carter, the Georgia State…
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End the Silence of the Good People – What White People Can Do About Racism
By Chris Lahr“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of bad people, but the appalling silence of the good…
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Is Postmodern Christianity Dead?
Some people find great pleasure in being the first to claim the death of the latest thing to capture our collective imagination. You can see it everywhere in the worlds…
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God's Middle Finger – When the Divine Says "Up Yours"
By Kurt WillemsWhen we cling to the sword, we flip the cross upside down to use it as our tool of death instead of God’s tool for bringing life. And so the…
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Celebrating the Interruption of Death
Editor’s Update: Duane’s story is one of redemption – he has devoted himself to God since his arrival on death row, and he’s even called “Preacher Buck” because he ministers…
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Bible Translation Debates: The Challenge of Changing Language
By Mimi HaddadHave you ever noticed how every day language is used to manipulate and shape rather than describe reality? Here is one example. I used to swim several mornings a week,…
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Oh Crap I'm White. . .What White People Can Do About Racism
By Chris LahrOne of the privileges of being white is that you do not have to think about race. On TV if a black person does something illegal you often hear about…
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Requisite Reading for the Squeamish Lightweight
If you don’t know me, or my reading habits, you have no reason to be surprised by the two newest titles on my nightstand. The requisite info is simply that…
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How 9/11 has Shaped our Collective Struggle
The events of 9/11 retain a powerful grip on our collective consciousness. Nearly every American adult can answer “what were you doing during the attacks?” Personally and collectively, we’ve been…