Recent Articles
Lenten Lectionary | What Really Happened?
The Christmas narratives in the Bible are unique, but not conflicted like the resurrection narratives. The Gospel accounts leave the attentive reader wondering, ‘What really happened that day?’ Yet, they agree on two key elements.
What if Crucifixion Is Not Salvific?
We have so embraced a theology of substitution that to question its authenticity feels as if we are on the verge of heresy. And yet, this theology of substitution is but an interpretation.
How People of Good Faith Can Help Make #HealthForAll a Reality
The 75th anniversaries of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the establishment of the World Health Organization are observed this year. People of good faith must be a part of making #HealthForAll a reality.
Echoes of a Jesus Worldview
“Christianity goes astray when it does not look and talk like Jesus of Nazareth.” That statement was delivered recently by Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Michael B. Curry to an ecumenical gathering.
World Health Day: A Brief History
This year’s World Health Day, April 7, marks the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organization. The WHO’s story begins in the early 1800’s with the establishment of effective trade routes all over the globe.
Noose to Needle Project Launches with a Discussion of Capital Punishment’s Connection to Lynching
The Noose to Needle Project hosted a virtual panel discussion titled “Noose to Needle: How Slavery, Lynching, and Racial Terror Birthed the Modern-Day Death Penalty” as part of its official launch on March 29. The new project seeks to demonstrate the historical connections between lynching and the current administration of the death penalty.
April 4, 2023
How Jimmy Carter Lived His Faith as President; I’m a Student in a Catholic School. It Isn’t a Safe Place for my LGBTQ+ Classmates; A Sacred Sculpture Sees the Light of Day in Northwest Washington D.C. (and more)
Churches Must Offer Creative Encounters for a Younger Generation of Seekers
Younger seekers don’t need coffee bars and stage lights during Sunday morning services. Church leaders must offer creative encounters if they want Generation Z to believe what they are saying.
Peacemaking Is a Call to Repent of Creating the ‘Repugnant Cultural Other’
Are you tired of culture wars? Do you feel weary of conflicted opinions fueled by endless anger, contested worldviews excluding each other, and confrontational ideologies as the default of public discourse? The Bible offers a better way.
Islamic Giving Enables UN Refugee Agency to Assist Millions Worldwide
Donations from Muslims around the world have enabled the United Nations to assist around six million forcibly displaced persons in recent years, according to a report from UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency.
April 3, 2023
Christian Faithful Mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem; Louisiana’s ‘Father of the Baptist Religion’ was Enslaved, Revolutionary War Soldier; Pro-Nazi ‘White Lives Matter’ Member Arrested for Firebombing Church Over Drag Show (and more)
Fruit Chews, Ramadan and Respectful Dialogue
On the first day of school this year, I met a student who was very friendly and outgoing toward me. The next day, he was extremely cool toward me and avoided eye contact. This led to a conversation that changed everything.
Which Way Forward?
How might we find and choose our way on the path to the future? Two images from a recent Saturday night prompted some reflection on this question. It shouldn’t be hard for most to see which lens is the better one.
Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies as Pastoral Care
I’ve constantly struggled throughout my life at having to do something a particular way because folks told me there was only one way I could do it. Recently, I tried a new approach to pastoral care: baking cookies.
The Idolatry of Second Amendment Worship
The U.S. endured another mass shooting this week – this time at a private elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee. The U.S. Congress needs to send sensible gun legislation to the president to be signed if this epidemic of gun violence will ever cease.
Give It Up
A parishioner’s question about what I gave up for Lent caught me off guard. I didn’t give up anything this year because I forgot. This prompted reflection on priorities.
Oklahomans for Grace, EJUSA Reimagine Accountability for Violent Offenders
Oklahomans for Grace and the EJUSA Evangelical Network co- sponsored a panel discussion on Oklahoma’s death penalty at Saint John’s Episcopal Church located in Oklahoma City on March 25. The audience was invited to reimagine accountability when harm happens.
Transforming Prayer into Productivity: A Desperate Plea for Gun Safety
Do you ever talk to God while your oven preheats? It is as good a time as any, especially if your oven takes a long time to reach 400-degrees Fahrenheit. Prayer doesn’t come easy for me, but on Monday night, I started talking to God.
Lenten Lectionary | Kenosis as the Self-Giving Love of God in Christ
Why would “he who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” make himself nothing and take the form of a servant? Unless we ask this question, we haven’t grasped what Paul is asserting in Philippians 2:5-11.
Don’t Judge Too Quickly
The Israeli Antiquities Authority announced with some fanfare that an inscription from the time of the Persian king Darius I had been found at Lachish, once a major city in southern Israel. Soon after, the IAA had to retract the announcement. Here is why.
Putting Out Our Own Fires
There is a growing need to pay close attention to the destructive fires that reside within much of Americanized Christianity. They harm both vulnerable people and the integrity and witness of those who seem to live so merrily among the flames.
Losing a Loved One to Suicide
The New York Times columnist David Brooks recently wrote about a lifelong friend who died by suicide. Here is what Brooks, and experts, noted that we should, and shouldn’t do, for people dealing with depression and suicidal ideations.
Report: Half of LGBTQI Americans Are Religiously Unaffiliated
LGBTQI Americans are far more likely to be religiously unaffiliated than the general populous, according to a Public Religion Research Institute report. The report is an analysis of data from PRRI’s 2022 American Values Survey.
Churches Need to Create an Ecclesiology That Satisfies the Soul
Put away from me your segregated worship services, conferences, workshops and annual gatherings. We need an ecclesiology that satisfies the soul’s hunger for deeper connection.
How Any Biblical Text Can Be a “Text of Terror”
The Presbyterian Church USA recently assigned a text for an ordination exam that created an uproar. While some texts seem obviously offensive, we should not forget that seemingly innocuous texts may not be as innocent as they seem.
U.S. Protestant Church Finances Improved Slightly Over Past Six Years
The financial reserves of U.S. Protestant churches have improved slightly since 2016, according to a LifeWay Research report. More congregations have at least 16 weeks of reserve funds in 2022 than in 2016.
Three Events that Clarify the SBC’s Trajectory
Three somewhat recent events clarify the trajectory of the Southern Baptist Convention. Each demonstrates how fundamentalism is a creaking, old, withering ship in a sea of change.
Confidence, Contentment Plummets Among U.S. Protestant Pastors
The number of U.S. Protestant pastors who feel confident about their calling and satisfied with their vocation has plummeted, according to a Barna Group report.
Look Back | Jesus Embraced Vulnerability to Unite with the Vulnerable
Jesus lived a very vulnerable life. He was not immune to or protected from the challenges that the people of his time confronted every day, especially those persons at the bottom of the embedded social and religious structures of Palestine.
The Bell Tolls on Climate Change
The bell is about to toll on climate change, as the United Nations warned the world that we have less than a decade to meet an essential goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. With climate catastrophe less than a decade away, leaders must implement strategic actions alongside their hopeful rhetoric.