Opinion
Segregation Is Back and America Is Back to Where It Started
The Trump administration is known for its bans on abortion, paper straws, gender-affirming care, words, and books. It’s all piling up, so it’s hard for many Americans to see their way clear. Some are asking, “How did we get here?”
Making Golden Calves Great Again
Could it be that Trump and his promises are simply a new Golden Calf, worshipped in a sense, followed by many American Christians impatient for some new future, believing God is “making America great again?”
Third Sunday of Lent | Humility in the Face of God’s Glory
Do you hear voices? There are voices out there proclaiming the glory of God if you’ll pay attention. Can you hear them? The Psalmist heard them, and so will we if we still ourselves enough. In Psalm 19, the psalmist describes two ways in which he heard God's glory...
It’s Hard to Wash Away the Red
The 39th Annual Red Earth Festival begins this weekend in Oklahoma City, OK. The festival celebrates Native American art, dance and culture, creating an immersive experience for anyone interested in learning more about the Indigenous peoples living in North America before the European invasion.
Leslie Jordan Releases ‘Elegy,’ Third Single from Upcoming Concept Album ‘The Agonist’
Sonically, “Elegy” departs from the acoustic vibes of the rest of the album, taking a more cinematic, movie-score tone. Thematically, it draws on the ancient literary motif of the struggles and blessings of brotherhood to paint a picture of a lonely man taking stock of his life.
Victory Gardens Nurture Spirituality and Reaffirm Democratic Ideals
Our strongest spiritual practices always intersect with the call to liberation, love and the ways of God in the world. An act of faithful endurance, tending my garden bridges the gap between the material and spiritual worlds, echoing the history of gardening as both resistance and abundance.
Home is Where and the Power of a Good Scream
Since 2017, Home is Where has been making cathartic, eclectic and intense music. The emo band from Palm Coast, Florida pulls from a variety of influences, including post-hardcore, Midwest emo and country.
‘Are You Qualified to Date?’ : New App Highlights Unhealthy Evangelical Relationship Culture
We need a radical cultural shift in the evangelical world that allows young people to try and try again when it comes to their love lives. Dating is not a sin, but if we continue to teach young Christians it is, there will be lasting effects on their ability to form healthy relationships–both romantic and platonic.
‘I Have Decided to Follow Jesus’: A Bold Political Declaration
Last Sunday, we sang a familiar hymn. It followed the sermon, as it typically does in Baptist churches. But this time, the hymn felt radically different. I suddenly realized that “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” is a political declaration.
Because of Bananas: Manifest Destiny for the 21st-Century
During the twentieth century, as the U.S. expanded toward Latin America, they became less concerned with acquiring new territory. Those lands contained what was considered an inferior Brown race that could eventually dilute U.S. white purity if they were annexed. Hence, Manifest Destiny morphed into Gunboat Diplomacy, the means of acquiring economies, not territories.
Belief Behind the Book | Anne Kinsey’s “Mosaic Hearts”
Belief Behind the Book is a new feature that gives readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the beliefs—or what I call “the Why”—behind books written by progressive spiritual leaders.
Washington D.C.’s Black Lives Matter Mural Demolished but the Ground Still Speaks
Still, George Floyd remains larger than life. The government could remove every mural and monument, but the ground would still speak, beckoning us to say his name: George Perry Floyd Jr.
Americans: Please Take my Name Off Your Money: A (Hypothetical) Letter from the Lord of Hosts
I don’t want to be on your money. I want your connection with me to radically alter your behavior. You keep saying, “In God we Trust,” and that you want the United States to be a Christian country. I’d rather not be associated with that gut rot. It has the stench of human waste in my nose.
Lent Week 2 | “Heart Songs”
Psalm 27 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Why do you pray? I’m not talking about prayers said in church, your Bible study class or any other setting where we pray as a...
Good Faith Media Attends South by Southwest
Good Faith Media attended the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference in Austin, Texas this week. The conference brings together innovators, creatives, and change-makers for networking and collaboration. GFM attended various interviews and panel discussions on topics ranging from politics to artificial intelligence.
‘Beloved’ Before All Else
We are called to move from baptism into purposeful action, grounded in our core identity: before any action, achievement or belief, we are beloved.
Christian Worship Music: Dr. Adam Perez Reflects on Challenges and Opportunities
Despite its essential role in our church and spiritual lives, worship music is often critically overlooked and taken for granted as a tradition. While it is ubiquitous in the lives of many Christians, that was not always the case. In its current form, worship music is a relatively recent invention—a carefully crafted and very profitable invention.
What Are We For?
If we are driven by the desire to harm and reduce ourselves to name-calling and the dehumanization of others, no matter how deplorable they may be, we sabotage our efforts and our credibility. Even if we are on the side of the good, we risk being distorted by our hate and gollumed by our fear instead of buoyed by our hope. Motives matter.
Five Years Later: COVID-19 and the Failure of Formation
With each new directive came new doubts. Many wondered, “Do these people even know what they are talking about?” This was a failure of formation. Without the constant reminder that scientific information is conditional and that new information requires new guidance, large segments of the population were left unmoored. Nefarious actors and systems took advantage of this.
The Box-cutter and the Clergywoman
After reviewing the history of Christianity, I knew its violent history. Those who were called “heretics” were imprisoned and often tortured to death. In the fifteenth century, Joan of Arc was burned to death. One of her “crimes” was wearing what authorities called “men’s garments” after leading her army to victory.
Humpty Dumpty Has Fallen Off The Wall
Humpty Dumpty is an apt metaphor for environmental regulation. The government puts it on the wall, only to see a succeeding government cause the fall, knocking Humpty Dumpty to the ground. Once shattered, all subsequent efforts for rehabilitation are futile. It’s just too late.
By the Way | Those Liberal Evangelicals
Charles Grandison Finney, by any measure the most important and influential evangelical of the nineteenth century, excoriated greed and free-market capitalism. He suggested that “Christian businessman” was an oxymoron because capitalism elevated avarice over altruism. That’s hardly a conservative view, yet Finney was arguably the most effective evangelist of the antebellum period.
Women’s History Month| Remembering Alice Walker and ‘The Color Purple’
This was likely my first introduction to somebodiness, the self-assertion of dignity and worth. To witness Celie’s self-actualization and the expansiveness of her speech points to the shortsightedness of patriarchy and the significant reduction of a woman’s worth to her appearance and ability to labor for the comfort of a man.
Notes on Neurodivergence | “Becoming” in Christ
Being neurodivergent has given me a new definition of “sin.” My revised belief allows me to accept my entire identity and conditioned behaviors in society to survive. It’s complicated and not easy. For me, it means enduring the mystery, knowing God can and will show up anyway.
First Sunday of Lent | “Saying No in Order to Say Yes”
Luke 4:1-13 “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil…” A few years ago, two friends who were priests serving at our neighborhood Catholic Church decided they would...
Vision Quest: What the Coyote and Fox Have to Say about Climate Action
Global warming, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity are the challenges of our lifetime. Are we cunning? Can we be swift in our decision-making? Are we willing to adjust and adapt? I pray that we will say yes!
When the Pulpit Empties: Preaching, Depression, and the God Who Remains
We stand in the pulpit filled with the Spirit, but when we step down, many of us descend into silence—into loneliness and exhaustion so deep it feels like falling into the abyss.
‘I Don’t Need Permission to Do Good Deeds’: A Justice-Loving Ukrainian Pastor Speaks Truth to Power
Gennadiy Mokhnenko is not a perfect man. He’s rough around the edges, a product of decades of geopolitical strife, cultural formation, and an internal disposition incapable of suffering fools lightly. But he is also a disciple of a justice-loving God who holds us all accountable–not for what we believe about Jesus or the ways we pray but for our actions when we are confronted with suffering and oppression.
Indigenous Wine: Dislodging Eurocentric Models That Lead to ‘Latinos for Trump’
When Latines seeking a liberative methodology rest upon Eurocentric philosophical and theological paradigms, they construct resistance on shifting sand, contributing to and continuing their own disenfranchisement.
Women’s History Month | Women are Central Characters, Not Footnotes in the Story of the Church
When we embrace the gifts and leadership of women, we are a step closer to realizing that vision—a church where all are valued, empowered and free to live out their God-given calling.