If ministries that are expected to be self-sustaining through sales of curriculum and books are no longer sustainable, what does that say about our buying habits? As Matthew 6:21 reminds us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When was the last time you attended a wedding service where cultures and languages were honored equally? When was the last time you attended a wedding service where all were invited to partake at Jesus’ communion table in two languages? My God reminds me that officiating such a blessed wedding is possible, even if we are surrounded by global racial polarization.
In a culture that demands conformity, and where conformity is often equaled with Christianity, what remains the price of acceptance?
Stewardship is not simply about raising money for ministry. It includes helping people see all they have as a gift from God.
Me encantaría poder decir que después de la tormenta viene la calma, pero no siempre es así. A veces, después de la tormenta, hace falta que denunciemos las estructuras y los sistemas que nos oprimen a tal grado que detienen u obstaculizan la recuperación.
I would love to be able to say that after the storm comes calm, but that is not always the case. Sometimes, after the storm, we need to denounce the structures and systems that oppress us to the point that they stop or hinder recovery.
What we really need is faith. Faith in that arc and its bending, faith that what we do counts for something, faith that we can be the friends that God needs now.
Planet Fitness, the real-life Average Joe’s, come-as-you-are establishment, beat every church sign I knew with its slogan, The World Judges, We Don’t.
In this moment, all eyes rest on this moment in our history. It’s my hope that we are both worthy of that weight and can show the rest of the country that we can hold all this in tension for the sake of something better.
The witness of Dorothy Day is furthered by a new graphic novel retelling of her life and work. The graphic novel provides a thoughtful and informative introduction to Day’s life and development of her staunchly faith-driven way of serving neighbors in need and questioning the inequities of social and economic systems.
I have been imagining this Advent as a time during which I will hold my breath for a season. But I do not want to just hold my breath. I’d prefer to breathe. So I’m investing some time now asking myself a very basic question: how do I want to live while the unknown is coming? I cannot control the weather, but I can weather it.
What is a “natural” death in our time? With modern medicine, it has become increasingly difficult to avoid life-prolonging treatments. Is it natural to undergo surgery after surgery, or endure multiple rounds of treatments? Is it natural to be kept on life support?
Anger is dangerous to your health, to your spirit, and to the quality of your life – not to mention the impact it has on others. It eats the container that holds it.
Voting is an action we ultimately take as individuals, but we do so surrounded by community. And it requires our belief that our system will work. Belief that our values will prevail. Belief that our country and our world can be better.
Gather the books that are feeding your soul, the ones that make you think or laugh or cry. Share them with friends, online or in person. Reading is a communal activity as much as it is a solitary one, and there’s so much joy to be found in the shared love of a good story.
We must do more than lament, we must act. We must shore up the courage to not look away when our sisters, mothers, aunties, cousins, friends experience domestic violence.
Christian Citizen editor Curtis Ramsey-Lucas speaks with Tim Shriver, founder and CEO of Unite and host of “Need a Lift?” about his efforts to encourage dignity in politics and provide an alternative for people who are hungry for belonging, purpose, and the belief that we can all somehow work together.
Many of Kris Kristofferson’s lesser-known compositions depict the intent of God and Christ in prophetic ways. The country music legend lamented that Christ’s endowment of grace, love, compassion, and justice was rejected, certainly by those in power, and to some degree by us all.
Can a robot be a saint? Put another way, as we enter the AI age, can the intelligence we create achieve holiness?
“All things are connected, and whatever man does to the web of life, he does to himself.” These are haunting words as we consider the human causes of climate change and wonder what are we doing to ourselves and to our own web?
Both baseball and the Church are more extensive than any one moment, season, or location. They are about people, tradition, and a shared sense of purpose. They call us into their stories of hope, heartbreak, resilience, and renewal.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.” (Matthew 19:14) If Jesus has truly freed us, if he is the head of the Body, then Christian individuals and churches must live as if every single child matters. The Jewish child. The American child. The Christian child. The Israeli child. The Muslim child. The Palestinian child.
In today’s world, revenge is killing us. It is killing some much more quickly than others. It kills us, thousands of miles away from a conflict spiritually, making us unwilling collaborators in a genocidal scheme that robs children of their parents, their lives, and a future.
As we observe World Communion Sunday, may we remember with due humility, the circle is always open. The Church is bigger than we think. The table of the Lord is open to all who call upon the name of Jesus and follow his gospel.
For the Latino community of faith, offering others the sense of belonging “not for what I can do but for who I am” is one of the greatest principles we can have, not only because it comes from our culture, but also from our faith.
Give thanks more. Find ways to appreciate your givers. For pastors and stewardship leaders, giving thanks will make the work easier and more joyful for you and for givers.
What the metaphor of Job’s brother offers us is the responsibility to use our position to recognize that all human life is sacred. Our distance from Job’s pain comes with an obligation to continue to hold our communities to account while working separately in broader movements to end the war and achieve justice in Israel/Palestine.
In conceiving of going outside as a way of going home, friluftsliv invites us back to our most basic and essential way of being on this planet, as belonging here.
Work expands to fill the time allotted. I recommend that the clergy I coach set an ending time for their working day. If you always working longer than you plan, you will wear yourself out.
Mass-marketed prosperity and nationalistic forms of Christianity are anything but genuine. Anything but real and authentic. Anything but a radical Gospel for all. This revelation hit me like a shot of poteen.
In this season of constant divisiveness, I wonder how we recognize divine light in hearts of all nations to guide us all towards intentional co-creation for peace. Are the paths to freedom which were formed by faith by so many footprints still trusted paths in current strained national and global relationships?
Therapists, chaplains, but also clergy serving in congregational ministry are uniquely positioned to reduce stigma around suicide. Through preaching explicitly compassionate messages and being open about their own mental health struggles, clergy can authoritatively dispel myths around suicide that stem from toxic theologies.
From their diverse backgrounds, the early church discovered inclusion in Christ that led them to equitably share everything that they had among them. Nothing wrong with DEI at Pentecost!
When we say, “Never forget,” we must ask: Who are we remembering? Who gets counted as American enough to deserve justice? Until we, as a country, live up to the values of love, unity, and equality that are supposed to bind us together, justice will remain an unfulfilled promise.
You and I are survivor trees, too. To whom are we giving shade and rest? Where are we planting our roots? To what stars are we stretching out our branches?
Jesus had no barriers, but churches certainly do, and that fact is well-known in our society. So well-known that it can be played for laughs.
For that dedicated, regular time away to be respected and honored, we must develop grace-filled, compassionate cultures within our churches that destigmatizes mental health and emphasize self-care for both congregants and clergy.
The parables of Jesus are embedded in the life of the hearers, even as they are at the ready to lift up the Reign of God as the work of God, not humanity, in breaking into the mundane and sin-fractured world we know all too well.
Jesus took time to sit, to breathe, to eat, to grieve, to lament, to pray, to be silent. Why is it so hard for us all to follow the model set before us?
Clearly the massacre in Elaine, Arkansas in 1919 had a racial component, one for which all of us should repent and work for reparations. But Elaine, and Memphis, and so many other moments in our history, are also and just as much about the violent repression of workers as they are about race.
It falls upon the listener to be able to discern truth from lies – to listen as a critical thinker.
While the glacier’s till looks like the dirty snow piles a snowplow leaves behind in suburban parking lots or along the berms of interstate highways, the till may become a moraine, a rich soil with potential for new growth. This is also part of glacial faith — when what has been pushed aside becomes fertilizer for whatever new thing God may be doing in the world.
So much of our personal flourishing—a sense of connection and belonging, feeling seen and heard, having genuine opportunity in life—is a function of our shared project called community. We need each other to pursue a more just, inclusive, and hopeful society.
When the world has increasingly become digital and isolated from human communities, planning a family reunion can lead to deeper family life—and truth be told, potentially family conflicts too. But the benefits and rewards of a more meaningful and engaged family life are all worth it.
When we had to cooperate on a VBS with other denominations, we were reminded that we were not the only Christians in the community, an illness to which Christians are prone. Underlying suspicions would begin to melt, as we worked side by side on a common goal.
The psychological, technological, moral and spiritual capacities associated with the imago Dei – the image and likeness of God in humanity — and the original and permanent centrality of our particular role as God´s gardeners and caretakers (Genesis 1:26-30) should not move us to pride and assertions of privilege.
Jesus affirmed the imago Dei in all people, even and especially those discarded or ostracized; Christ even ignited the Pharisees’ anger by healing on the Sabbath. Our embodied Savior noticed and ministered to physical needs, while acknowledging that spiritual needs — the ones we all hold in common — remain eternally important.
Harris meets the conversation around abortion where it is most fertile — at the intersection of differing religious communities. It is only through interfaith dialogues that the limiting binary thinking around abortion and faith is interrogated.
I was delighted to see a clear representation of just what it looks like to meditate in a kids’ movie. Meditation is hard work, and it is rare to be successful the first time one practices it. But, if like me and like Po in the Kung Fu Panda series, you’re seeking a way to find inner peace, you should probably give it a try.
What we can learn from Nightcrawler is how to identify the gifts of all people around us, regardless of their background, as necessary for the greater community, and how we might also minister among others.
Our forefathers, foremothers, and ancestors in the faith called for full soul liberty for all people, both in thought and in deed. New laws in the Republic of Georgia threaten these liberties. I invite you to join me, ABC-WI, and other people of goodwill in prayer and advocacy for our Georgian siblings in Christ and in the human race.
Outrage is just wasted energy and misplaced emotion. Instead of getting riled up, let’s get down to the serious work of the Gospel – love and inclusion.
Palestinian Christians have reached out to the international Church, calling us to join them in their quest to be treated with human dignity. Their voices echo the larger Palestinian call to the international community to help them in their quest for freedom, justice, and equality—deeply Biblical goals.
Mary Dyer stood fast for religious freedom to exist. She stood for women to speak God’s word. She stood for the state not interfering in the freedom of religious expression. On June 1, 1660, she was led to the gallows for the beliefs she stood for, and this Quaker woman was hung to her death.
Amongst all the Minions and the flashy action scenes, Despicable Me 4 offers a touching reflection on what it means to be a parent. We raise children to make good choices, and then we have no control over what they do with that moral formation. That is also a good way to think about salvation and God’s unstoppable love for us – no matter the decisions that we make.
Could we experience Holy Spirit moments, when human connections are made where we feel deep transformation occurring? How do we get to those deep Holy Spirit moments?
The “priesthood of all believers” is aspirational, but it rarely happens in practice.
It hurts me to know this text that I weekly thank God for has been misused and continues to be misused to cause pain and trauma in people. In a sad irony, the Bible was written by the outcast and the marginalized and is misused to create outcasts and to marginalize.
While my time as youth minister is over, maybe I’m not done ministering to youth after all. Because they are certainly not done ministering to me.
When I try to follow it as long as I can downstream, my schooling in river beauty and river wisdom leads me to this hope and prayer: let us then, like the salmon leaping against the current and over the ledge, leap finally beyond the metaphor and the simile when it comes to our embodied consciousness of nature.
We must have imagination, and that includes in our spiritual life. Without it, the world lacks magic and wonder. Imagination doesn’t mean that it’s fake – it means that it exceeds reality. Surely that is a decent definition of God as well – the One Who Exceeds Reality.
Seeing Judaism as rooted in love is a choice. When we inherit a tradition, we make choices about which values to center and which to set aside. When I think about my grandfather, I remember someone for whom Judaism nourished his ability to care for others in a loving, heartfelt way.
Part of my struggle with pastoral care is a desire to be perfect. After some time as a pastor and some work on myself, I am learning to trust that there is always grace.
Perhaps it is human nature to be attracted to charisma, even to the point of not thinking but simply feeling. Jesus once again led us back to a life of the mind when he asked us to discern, to evaluate critically, and to judge – not by the sizzle but by the fruits. You will know them by their fruits.
As we enjoy July 4, 2024, it should be noted that there are a great many freedoms that most Americans, Black, white, male, and female want that are being denied or withheld.
Douglass’s speech was prophetic. In 2024, as millions in the United States prepare to celebrate Independence Day, Black Americans, Native Americans, religious minorities, immigrants and LGBTQ+ folks are still surviving an unequal, exploitative legal, social and economic system.
Ideally, coercion-free membership should be a way to align one’s beliefs, ideas, and causes with a collective body. At its best, becoming a congregant of a local church, one should feel confident in saying, “Yes, I’m on board with the vision and ministries of this church.”
The tenor of our conflict in the public sphere needs to improve dramatically. If we find ourselves in disagreement, conflict, or challenge, here are three things we can learn from how Jesus approaches conflict.
Today, as a community of Baptist LGBTQ+ people and allies, may we remember that our work for equality, equity, and justice is not in vain. Because of the patience and faithfulness of others before us, our Pride marches are more than just events.
Like many stories in the gospels, the disciples serve as a “stand in” for the reader, asking questions and showing what sort of responses people can have to the gospel’s events. Their challenge is our challenge. Do we believe or do we doubt? What do we believe in more: the way the world tends to be, or the way the world could be, if the gospel is made known?
Graduation speeches are aspirational, but they also help us lift our heads and they provide simple answers that move us forward.
What if we took this season of political and social uncertainty to bear witness to Christ while living in a pluralistic society? What would it look like to elevate our Baptist principles, demonstrating what a life with God looks like when held in healthy tension?
We still have far to go. Juneteenth is a chance to remember our country’s practice trailing its aspirations far too slowly.
As people of faith who care about justice, we may be required to embrace both faith, hope, and hard reality at the same time. May we confront the brutal facts of reality, but maintain an unwavering faith and hope that good will prevail.
Whenever Scripture speaks to my heart in a unique way, I like to read it in various translations. At times, I may find myself deciding to read it in another language I am fluent in. As a global citizen, with lived experiences in several cross-cultural settings, God’s good news beckons me to hear and read Scripture through a cross-cultural lens.
Whatever people say you should read, this summer I hope you read for pleasure.
Can wondering about other people lead me to walk a mile in their shoes, to see with their eyes, to listen with their ears, and to feel with their heart?
We are called to seek justice when there is injustice. We are to build peace when some are seduced by war and violence. We are to be a comfort, an advocate, and a sign of grace.
Pride isn’t an expression of the arrogance of queer people. It’s an expression of our humility. Being who we are is not a rebellion against God; it’s an end to rebellion, and an expression of who we were made to be.
It’s helpful to think of AI as a mirror. Although human beings are not entirely like AI, AI is modeled on us. So when we observe AI and how it functions, rather than othering AI, it can be fruitful to accept such observations as existential challenges to our own way of being. Observing AI at work offers an opportunity for self-reflection.
Getting arrested isn’t my preferred way to preach the gospel. I’d much rather be preaching from the pulpit or talking to the children on the church steps. But after months of ongoing bombardment, bearing witness to starvation’s effects on Gazan bodies, marching in the streets, and offering prayers, this seemed the next logical step.
Civic faith in no way replaces or supplants our faith in God. It surely doesn’t for me. But it is essential for our lives together. After all, if we aim to make a difference in the world, people must be at the center of what we do.
If we could learn to live our lives with deep empathy for “the other” and truly love our neighbor as we love ourselves, it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
It does not sound like much, to sit and talk with somebody, yet if somebody had not stopped and answered your questions, or been willing to sit down and talk with you about faith, would you be here today?
Rather than making one little change in the past in the hopes of changing the present, what if we resolve to make a change today so that we might change the future our children inherit?
Watching the “alien” character in Star Trek series often helps viewers connect with the greater principles that the episode writers and series creators aspire to impart. Spock, Saru, and other “aliens” show us that the stranger or outsider in our midst is usually the one who helps us understand how to be better humans along the way.
Acts teaches us that when the people of God lose the plot, God will raise up those who still know the story—people like Stephen and Philip. The other bit of good news is that if you’ve lost the plot, it isn’t too late to get back in the story.
In sharing his scars with others, Jesus convinces the disciples, even Thomas, that the season of Eastertide is one of emergency, but it is ultimately one of hope. Our raw wounds do turn into healed scars. Life does overcome death. Depression does end. Love does conquer all.
Mitri Raheb’s latest book forces me to re-appraise my own Christian assumptions from the ground up, not just about Palestine and the most recent escalation of a longstanding practice of settler colonialism, but about my own complicity in settler colonialism here at home, and the ways all of that complicity and blindness is intrinsically related to how I’ve read the Bible and believed as a Christian.
The world has tried to bring an end to war and establish peace on earth. However, as the evil of war continues in Gaza, each of us at the community Passover Seder I attended, and those gathered in encampments on college campuses across the country, are keenly aware that peace is elusive and evil is persistent.
I inherited some vulnerabilities from my mother. But I also inherited some strengths. Here are some qualities that I learned from my mother that helped me as a pastor.
I believe we will all celebrate together, one day. We will all see a renewed world where we can feast side by side. I believe we will receive our final wages and be glad for what we are given. But until that day comes, there is still soul work to be done, and wages to be paid on this side of heaven. Because the work of redemption is the work of reparation.
We embraced this sacred time to live the Scripture in the gospel of John 4:14 (NIV) “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Tens of thousands of Marshallese live in diaspora in the United States. Our own church has discovered that sharing space with our Marshallese neighbors has helped us grow spiritually while providing safe space for a displaced people.
What matters is if I can be a good neighbor. What matters is if I can love my neighbor. If I go into someone else’s home or someone else’s place of worship, then as a Christian I believe that it is my duty to show Christ through respect and awareness of what others see as holy.
“The Middle Eastern Christians have been always open and diverse, and culturally engaged, both with the West and with the East and with the local people. They can be bridges and communicate things from different perspectives, besides sharing their own perspective.”
Maybe evangelism doesn’t need to begin at ground zero with proof and evidence, but rather at the point of belief in God that one finds in the other.
In 2024, we are not electing religious leaders but political leaders. And yet, the Proverbs propose age-old wisdom about what is good and what is not. When you enter the polling booth, favor what is good.
Often, the smallest things, like a mustard seed, can cause one to see the bigger picture. For me, that small thing was a tomato. That is why I implore you to consider the tomato for Earth Day this year.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries differ widely on many policy issues, but they are both Baptists, the kind that actually go to church. With that common ground, how could they end up so far apart on the issues? I suppose it’s kind of a Baptist thing.