Jesus’ birthplace: An act of radical hospitality
God’s invitation and welcome do not cost us our seat at the table but beg us to make room for others as well. This is the heart of Christmas; when there was no room, God still made a way.
An angelic Christmas Eve
Over the years, I learned more fully that people need to connect with worship emotionally. That means leaders must include words, rituals, and practices people recognize – on Christmas Eve and all year long.
John the Baptist’s message for then and now: Think differently
That was the key message of John the Baptist and of Jesus of Nazareth: to encourage people to think differently about their relationship with and their love for God. To think differently about what you put first and seek first.
This Advent, repent
By avoiding or denying our need to repent, we continue ways leading to sadness and despair, no matter how we might tell ourselves otherwise. To repent is to turn things around, to let your life find balance, to welcome grace into your life.
Waiting amid the magic
I have come to see the rituals I have in my life as doors. They can be open and invite me to pass through and, in turn, be closed and left to mark the passing of the former as I move into the future.
In ‘Moana 2,’ the stories make us
We do not make the stories; the stories make us. We are products of stories of longing, finding, losing, and things made whole that have no reason to be.
Through a door or down a hole
However chaotic the current global situation becomes, make a habit of encountering the sacred every day. View life through spiritual lenses and allow that to transform how you see things.
Welcoming the stranger: How are we doing?
As people of God, we must continually ask ourselves, “How am I doing welcoming the stranger? What steps can I take as an individual, community member, church member, and person of God to help those who are desiring a better life, running from the ‘Herods’ of many forms?”
Carroñeros
Es importante que como iglesia identifiquemos si estas acciones ocurren en nuestras comunidades y nos unamos a los esfuerzos de hacer justicia en favor de los más vulnerables. A eso fuimos llamados y llamadas.
Scavengers
It is important that we, as a church, identify whether exploitation of those affected by catastrophes happens in our communities and join in efforts to do justice for the most vulnerable. That is what we are called to do.
Stand up
May we find our rest, our sitting with community in the lamenting. We have waded in the waters, we have parted seas, our North Stars have journeyed to freedom. We have stood up to many Goliaths in this world.
In ‘A Real Pain,’ everybody suffers
“A Real Pain” isn’t an in-depth analysis of the Holocaust. Rather, it is a character study that points to a central fact that we all know – to be human is to suffer, and that suffering can be great or small.
Hand-me-down robes and the Kingdom of God
While today there are debates of the accessibility and efficacy of Christian vestments, to me they show the magnitude and imperative of the message we offer. They also are a great equalizer by which we see that God’s kingdom is not a meritocracy.
Remembering Dr. Anthony Campolo
Dr. Campolo forced you to think about what Jesus would do. He showed that simple ideas don’t always apply in every situation or solve every problem, but they change things. Simple choices can change your life.
Advent is the pregnancy of Christmas
God is working in disruption to bring about surprising transformation. Like pregnancy, the process can be painful, but it births new life.
This is who I am
In early adulthood, I was struck with an epiphany about my identity and heritage. If I believed God to be an intentional God, who has a hand in my very creation and being knit together, then God has an intention in making me who I am in my Chinese Americanness.
Against serving alcohol at church events: Beyond pietism and toward best practice
As we consider how to best serve those around us, going alcohol-free may well be one of the most profound gestures of hospitality we can make. Rather than asking people to fit themselves around established norms, we build events that are genuinely welcoming for all.
Do we value Christian publishing?
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.”
Faith and love
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.
On the anniversary of the Pittsburgh Platform, let us reflect on the cost of assimilation
In a culture that demands conformity, and where conformity is often equaled with Christianity, what remains the price of acceptance?
Why pastors should know how much people give
Stewardship is not simply about raising money for ministry. It includes helping people see all they have as a gift from God.
Después de la tormenta
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.
After the storm
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.
Today I ask you to choose faith
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.
Our church signs need work
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.
What then shall we say? A Christian response to election anxiety
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.
Remembering saints still witnessing
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.
Weathering Advent
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.
Life and death in a time of secularism: What faith communities can learn from secularism about euthanasia, agency, and “natural death”
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 eats the container that holds it
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.
Through faith: guiding communities through the 2024 election
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.
The joy of book stacks: curating stories and wisdom for the soul
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.
Being a woman should not be a death sentence
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.
Building a movement for dignity: A conversation with Tim Shriver
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.
‘Nothing Half as Lonesome as the Sound’: The theology of Kris Kristofferson
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? A review of ‘The Wild Robot’
Can a robot be a saint? Put another way, as we enter the AI age, can the intelligence we create achieve holiness?
Everything is connected
“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?
End of an era: the Oakland A’s and church closings
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.
How many dead children does it take?
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.
Revenge is killing us
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.
Greatness with a grain of salt
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.
Being loved in a strange land
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.
Giving thanks is an essential part of stewardship
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.
Living intentionally as Job’s brother
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.
Friluftsliv: On going outside as a spiritual practice of homecoming
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 needs boundaries
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.
A moonshine faith
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.
Is it a trusted path?
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?
September is National Suicide Prevention Month
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.
Nothing wrong with DEI
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!
Remembering 9/11: A Muslim perspective
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.
Living and listening amid a spiritual crisis
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?
In “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” church’s proclamations of “all are welcome” are played for laughs
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.
We must make better worlds
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.
What are parables about? A review of Proclaiming the Parables: Preaching and Teaching the Kingdom of God
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.
Take a breath
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?
Labor Day and the Elaine Massacre
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.
The demon is a liar
It falls upon the listener to be able to discern truth from lies – to listen as a critical thinker.
Glacial faith
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.
Communal redemption is calling us
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.
Happier family reunions
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.
An ode to Vacation Bible School
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.
Baptists confronting the climate crisis
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.
Maybe people living with disabilities don’t need help
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’ faith is a game-changer for abortion rights
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.
Finding inner peace in Kung Fu Panda 4
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.
Lessons from X-Men ’97 on the priesthood of all believers
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.
Gospel anxiety for the people of Georgia – a call to prayer and action
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 over the art performance during the opening of the Paris Olympics is misplaced
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.
“Will you help us get our freedom back?”
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: Religious diversity worth dying for
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.
Despicable Me 4 is a movie about parenting. I think it could be about God’s love too.
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.
Holy connections
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?
Pastors, give yourself a gold star
The “priesthood of all believers” is aspirational, but it rarely happens in practice.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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.
When I knew that my time as youth minister was over
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.
Fly fishing as spiritual practice
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.
What if God is an imaginary friend?
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.
Love is a religious value, but only if we make it one
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.
Pastoral care, perfectionism, and grace
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.
Charisma: Can we be misled? How can we know who to follow?
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.
“Freedom is a Mighty Fine Thing”
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.
Frederick Douglass’ 1852 Independence Day speech is still relevant for America today
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.
Is membership everything or nothing at all?
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.”
Three ways to make your words change the world
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.
Marching with Pride
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.
Who rules the world?
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 wasted on the young
Graduation speeches are aspirational, but they also help us lift our heads and they provide simple answers that move us forward.
Unity through diversity
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?
What home repairs taught me about Juneteenth
We still have far to go. Juneteenth is a chance to remember our country’s practice trailing its aspirations far too slowly.
The faith and social justice paradox
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.
Sacred seeds of love
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.
Summer reading: A selection
Whatever people say you should read, this summer I hope you read for pleasure.
Foundation pillar of social justice: Empathy
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?
Remembering Jürgen Moltmann
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 is an expression of radical humility
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.
Artificial intelligence and the Catechism
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.
Send food, not bombs
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.
What if you have faith in God but not in people?
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.
Lessons of faith from “Casablanca”
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.