CCblogs Network
You are not powerless
We have all the power we need for daily acts of resistance and hope.
On social media arguments in the Trump era
Is it worth the time to engage with people who are convinced their version of reality is right?
Whited sepulchers or living stones?
Many churches have signs declaring that all are welcome. But are their buildings really inviting to the community around them?
Betsy DeVos and the kingdom
I share Dutch Calvinist heritage with Trump's pick for education secretary. I wonder if we see God's kingdom the same way.
Moonlight, MLK, and the damage we do to each other
Moonlight is hard to watch—but also essential viewing—because of what it reveals about us as humans.
Dylann Roof, the unrepentant
I despise the murderer of the Emanuel Nine, and all he stands for. But I can't embrace his death.
Addicted to hating Trump
It's one thing to oppose harmful actions. It's another to need to be right.
After the journey
As I think about the Magi, I've remembered lessons about hatred and fear that I learned by traveling to Israel myself.
When the lectionary gives you Matthew
Matthew is not my favorite Gospel. But where would we be without it?
God gets particular
The incarnation doesn't only mean that God is with us. It means that God is with us as Jesus.
The news that matters
While the Romans were broadcasting fake news about the emperor as savior, God was at work elsewhere.
Inshallah
When one of the young Syrian women lit a memorial candle during worship, it represented a great deal of loss.
Christmas hope beyond our fears
I suspect the police officer who shot Walter Scott, and the jurors at his trial, were shaped similarly to how I was as a child in North Carolina.
The cry of Advent
Even popular holiday movies echo the message of the season: repent!
Accumulated longings
Like everything else in human experience, sometimes our longings need to be reoriented and redeemed.
Repentance makes a comeback
Repentance—getting in touch with our roots—is the ultimate retro.
But what does God think?
Part of being a pastor is dealing with impossible expectations for worship.
The homecoming
There are no questions about where I have been, as he flings chubby toddler arms around my neck.
More than a social service program
Through sharing the Eucharist in a public park, homeless people and those with houses become one body.
No rest for weary, but for some, overtime pay (maybe)
Department of Labor regulations taking effect on December 1 exposed a dirty little secret of the nonprofit sector.