So you know about social networking evangelism through facebook, twitter, instagram, and even snapchat, but have you considered gaming evangelism through Pokemon GO? On Sunday I walked out of church after guest preaching and across the street.  I saw a group of high school age kids hanging out under at tree at a high school.  Did I mention it was Sunday?  Maybe you have noticed the same sudden and odd behavior in young people over the last few days.  Have... Read more

They said not in our city—our police don’t have this problem, our troubles aren’t this bad, this isn’t the same here. After moving from Chicago to Saint Paul, I said that too. It couldn’t happen here. We just aren’t like that. But that’s what we all say, until it happens. Philando Castile was killed within miles of the church I serve, in the community where some of my students live. He graduated from the high school some attend. And yet,... Read more

I was the guest preacher at a small church yesterday morning, invited to preach and lead a Q&A session on evangelism. I chose to stray from the lectionary because the story of Paul on Mars Hill in Athens (Acts 17:16-34) is the biblical story that most strongly anchors my understanding of what evangelism needs to look like in our current contexts. However, the tragic events of last week drew me back to the lectionary’s uncannily timely gospel reading, Jesus’ parable of the... Read more

This week has been a difficult time for our nation and we pray that God’s peace and love may shed light in the midst of all this pain. Graphic videos of the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling and Philandro Castille stirred anger. As our nation processed these tragedies we did what we do best: we gathered, we mourned, we debated, and we protested. At a #BlackLivesMatter protest in Dallas, a shooter killed five police officers and injured seven others. The raw emotions of these events... Read more

On May 20th, 2014, my home state of Pennsylvania legalized same-sex marriage.  A hometown girl at heart, I was thrilled that, when I was ready to get married, we’d be able to do it in the place I’d grown up.  I thanked God for that day and couldn’t wait for my wedding day. On June 19th, 2014, the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted for a language change to their Book of Order declaring that marriage happens “between two people.”  A lifelong... Read more

Since Sunday I feel like I have just been going through the motions of my daily life most of the time.  When my emotions aren’t numbed, they explode with feelings of pain, anger, sorrow, and uncertainty.  I have shed many tears for lives lost, hope shattered, for sanctuary violated as a result of the mass killing at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. I am grieved that hate crimes against the LGBTQI community are politicized. I am angered that weapons designed... Read more

As we continue to process the hate-fueled massacre in Orlando this week, news shows and social media feeds make it clear that people tend to approach this shocking event through narrow sets of perspectives and agendas. For some people, this is an LGBTQI issue. For others, it’s about guns. Some people are focused on this as an act of religiously motivated terrorism. Others are talking about mental health. Politicians across the spectrum are spinning it to their (perceived) advantage while... Read more

On my way to church yesterday I received the news that 50 people were presumed dead or severally injured after a night club shooting in Orlando, Florida. As of now we know that 49 people were killed and at least 53 were injured in what officials are saying is the worst mass shooting in US history and the deadliest attack on US soil since the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. I was numb when I arrived at church. The loss of people, and the... Read more

A few months ago I was invited to preach at a fairly large church in New Jersey. Two of the church’s worship services overlapped—a contemporary service and a traditional one—so I had to leave one service early, right after my sermon, to come in half-way through the other service, just in time to preach again. This meant that my first time entering the worship space was after the church service was already well underway and with only minutes before it... Read more

On the night before PYM16 kicked off back in February, I was surprised to see my friend Trey Pearson sitting in the hotel lobby. Based in Columbus, OH, Trey is the lead singer and heart of the very successful Christian rock band Everyday Sunday. I met him at the first PYM conference in 2014 when he joined us at the invitation of Tripp Fuller. I ran into him again at the Wild Goose Festival that summer. I later invited him to play... Read more