Never say never
I am working on a major sewing project. I told my daughter years ago, “Just never ask me to make your wedding dress.” Yeah… well… never say never! You guessed it… that is exactly what I am in the...
View ArticleThey shoot preachers, don’t they?
In his book Don’t Shoot, criminologist David Kennedy identifies a disconnect between a criminal justice system built on the notion of personal responsibility and the fact that gang bangers think and...
View ArticleA zeal he does not own
There is a wonderful, thought-provoking text by the hymn writer Frederick W. Faber (1814-1863) titled “There’s A Wideness In God’s Mercy. It speaks to this generation perhaps even more powerfully than...
View ArticleThey are your brothers
The news of late has been enough to depress just about anyone who longs for and fights for justice, fairness, and equality. We have seen states trying to limit a woman’s access to healthcare and limit...
View ArticleStill marching
The 40 in the room sit entranced. Most of them are children, and they unusually are silent. The young adults are rapt. Our Freedom School site has always channeled the energy and inspiration of the...
View ArticlePresumed guilty
Not long ago, my wife Helms and I were having one of those mornings where nothing is going quite right. We were late for everything, we weren’t getting things done, and to top it off, we had forgotten...
View ArticleIs America a culture or an idea?
Is America an idea about “liberty and justice for all” that can be embraced by an endless assortment of people from a wild array of cultures; or is America a uniquely White Western cultural phenomenon...
View ArticleUnexpected Prophet
Most youth ministers know that if trouble is going to find you at youth camp, it will likely be on either the first night or the last night. At other times, the kids will be either too tired to bother...
View ArticleRisk list
http://hyaets.org/about.html I live in a hospitality house. Living in a hospitality house has become a more frequent choice for Christians lately, sort of in the way that kale has experienced a...
View Article“Can’t we just play nice?”
“Look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can.” That was the advice of Glenn Beck to his radio show listeners on March 2,...
View ArticleReckoning with the children on our doorstep
By Alan Bean What do we do with the unaccompanied children, some say as many as 100,000, who have surrendered to American border officials in the last few months? Barack Obama speaks of a humanitarian...
View ArticleLet justice roll
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24 NIV During our recent vacation Bible school I observed our students standing attentively as they belted out ,...
View ArticleI don’t think you know what that means
A popular misconception about professional Christianity is that most of us with business cards reading “pastor” love talking about church. I can’t tell you how many breathless conversations I’ve had...
View ArticleJesus and brain science agree: money kills empathy
Although you would never know it from listening to American preaching, Jesus linked poverty with the kingdom of God and affluence with sin. The text of the first sermon Jesus preached was taken from...
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