In a story often cited by Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass once addressed an antislavery meeting at the very moment when the abolitionist movement had come under unusual strain. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 had emboldened slave catchers, returned many...
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to...
Over the past year, I’ve somewhat frequently returned to Ted Gioia’s “The Crisis of Seriousness.” Gioia laments, “Lifestyles are increasingly about pretending. Your real self stays in hiding, while your fake self gets presented in the most spectacular way on social media and other digital...
As we rise to meet this new day, let us do so with a living hope – not the frail optimism that depends on human efforts and ingenuity – but rather the living hope God has graciously granted us through the resurrection of Jesus. As we...
To preach about politics or not to preach about politics—that is a question many pastors are now asking with urgency. Those who say we should preach about politics often reference 20th c. German theologian Karl Barth, who said that preachers should hold a Bible in one...
A couple of weeks ago, a young adult in my church returned from vacation to find her career-related institution being dismantled. She was disheartened, saying, “I never wanted to be a freedom fighter.” While she advocated for students with disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds,...
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he...
When all the ways forward feel like lose-lose scenarios, choose depth instead. “The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must endure; the deeper our hope, the more prone we are to despair; the deeper our love, the more pain its loss will bring: these...
Isaiah 29:13–16 (NRSV) The Lord said: “Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote; so I will again do amazing things with this people, shocking and amazing. The...