Recent Articles
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.
Pope Urges Identifying, Welcoming and Integrating Vulnerable Migrants
Pope Francis met with refugees and asylum seekers on March 18. He offered praise for humanitarian corridors created by ecumenical Christian organizations and emphasized the importance of governments and non-governmental organizations identifying and welcoming vulnerable people.
U.S. Remains Divided Along Political Lines on Immigration Policy
A plurality of U.S. adults want a reduction in immigration to the nation, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research report. Republicans generally support deterrent policies, while Democrats tend to support pathways to citizenship.
Lenten Lectionary | We Are Collaborators
The season of Lent is a paradox in many ways. We wait and we work. We examine ourselves and we journey together. Ultimately, we remind ourselves that God is here. Yes, even here.
Ron DeSantis, God’s Protector (According to the DeSantis Bible)
South of the Georgia border one weekend early last year in Florida, evil made a real appearance in the form of Neo-Nazis waving swastika flags and yelling “White Power!” Pressed to condemn the Nazis, Florida governor Ron DeSantis refused.
U.S. State Department Releases Annual Human Rights Reports
The U.S. State Department published the “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” on March 20. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered brief remarks about the report during a press conference.
March 22, 2023
‘Spiritual Exemplars’ Change the Narrative About Religion; ‘God Loves Trans Kids’: SC Billboard Sparks Conversations About Religion and Gender Identity; Science vs. Religion as Greek Priests Lead the Anti-vax Movement
The Exasperation of Talking Truth With Those Who Confuse It With Comfort
Many have become comfortable with the embrace of untruths, including a large number who profess to be Christians. How do we advance truth in a cultural setting in which truth is not highly valued?
Unhealthy Church Leadership Hurts
Churches are filled with the “walking wounded,” people whose lives are affected by life challenges and traumas. They put on a happy face and dress to look their best, but underneath they are hurting.
Religious Bias Incidents Third Most Frequent U.S. Hate Crime
Religious bias incidents were the third most frequent type of hate crime committed in the U.S. in 2021, with anti-Jewish bias the most common religious bias incident, according to new FBI data.
March 21, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Christian Preacher’s Challenge to University; Defending White Privilege, Christian School Demands Right to Discriminate Against Employees in the Name of Religious Freedom; Mormon Church Gives Water to Boost Imperiled Salt Lake (and more)
Why We Need a Mystical Spirituality of ‘Somebodiness’
We need a mystical spirituality of “somebodiness.” Not to be confused with celebrity status or self-righteousness, there is a need for a deep sense of knowing who we are as human beings.