Disasters Often Bring Revelation Rather than Punishment

An 18th-century earthquake and a 21st-century pandemic can teach us about enlightenment and judgment. November 1, 1755, was a sunny day in Lisbon. One of the busiest trading ports in Europe, the Portuguese city was both fabulously wealthy and extremely religious. It was a center for trading goods and, abhorrently, slaves. The city and those who did business there profited greatly from that industry. Lisbon also had 40 parish churches, 90 convents, and 150 associated brotherhoods and... Read More

Learning to Love Our Neighbor’s Fears

We aren’t all equally afraid of the same things. But Scripture’s wisdom can apply to all of us. The 10-minute commute from home to my office at church has always had risks. Driving carries its own inherent danger. Then I have to find parking (sometimes in the dark, and often as the first car there); navigate the security alarm; and if a male coworker arrives, consider the risk of being a woman alone in a building with a man. Twenty years ago, I found driving somewhat scary and walking... Read More

Why Juneteenth Should Matter to the Church

Exploring the historical, cultural, and theological significance of Juneteenth. On June 19, 1865, the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved Black Americans that the Civil War was over and slavery had been abolished. They were free. President Abraham Lincoln had actually announced his Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, on January 1, 1863. But for a variety of reasons, the more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas did not receive the news of their freedom until... Read More

‘Canceled’ John Crist Has a New Book, Tour, and Comedy Special

The Christian comic brings his downfall into his new releases, while victims say they’re still waiting for repentance. The aftermath of the scandal that shook John Crist’s career has become part of his comedy, turning his lessons learned into new material and his experience with “cancel culture” into a punch line. This month, the popular Christian comedian released a full-length special on YouTube and announced a book due out in October. His debut Netflix special and his... Read More

After Annual Meeting, Southern Baptists Begin the Hard Work of Abuse Reform

Survivors sensed a godly shift as messengers approved plans and their new president put sexual predators “on notice.” Southern Baptists sang slow and low, “Lord, have mercy on me,” in the cavernous meeting hall where they apologized for their failure to care for survivors and approved long-awaited measures designed to keep predatory pastors and irresponsible churches out of the convention. Tiffany Thigpen attended the annual meeting in Anaheim, California, with fellow abuse... Read More

Summer Solstice Reminds Us of God’s Grace to All

Why it matters that the Lord lets the sun rise on both the evil and on the good. This Tuesday, the sun will hang in the sky over the Northern Hemisphere for what is colloquially known as the “longest day of the year.” In reality, the sun’s position will be no different than usual, but our perception of it will be different owing to the earth’s tilt on its axis as it orbits the sun. Where I live in the mid-Atlantic, we’ll enjoy over fourteen hours of sunlight,... Read More

The Last Gift My Father Gave Me

A surprising encounter with my dad, Jesus, and Jerry Seinfeld opened a door to long-awaited healing. Last April, I found myself sobbing unexpectedly and uncontrollably while sitting in a barbershop for a haircut. It was the first time I’d really wept since my father passed away a month earlier. I’ve had a complicated relationship with grief. Six years before, I left vocational church ministry. I resigned from a church I’d helped plant 15 years earlier, a church I thought... Read More

Synod Votes to Simplify, Clarify Cross-Borders Relationship of the Christian Reformed Church

Task force proposal promises to help US and Canadian congregations work together more easily. What’s the relationship between the Christian Reformed Church in North America in Canada and the Christian Reformed Church in North America in the United States? It’s complicated. The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) is single denomination. But legally it exists as two separate entities—one incorporated in Michigan, the other north of the border. Bound together by... Read More

Juneteenth is a Chance to Rethink Our Gun Culture

Christians should work together to address our nation’s hate-motivated gun violence. On May 14, I joined a group of pastors from Brooklyn leading a march through Chinatown, Manhattan. I’m a member of the 67th Precinct Clergy Council—also known as the “GodSquad”—which has long worked to prevent gun violence in our neighborhood of East Flatbush through street engagement, education, leadership training, neighborhood organizing, targeted interventions, victim... Read More

Evangelicals Can Agree: We’re Women, not ‘Bodies with Vaginas’

To verbally dismember women is denigration, not inclusion. When the Supreme Court’s draft decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization leaked in early May, a tweeted response from the American Civil Liberties Union had a curious omission: It listed groups the ACLU said would be disproportionately harmed by the end of Roe v. Wade (1973), but it didn’t mention women. And this wasn’t the ACLU’s first foray into treating women as... Read More