Earlier this year I wrote a piece on why Christians might want to abstain from reciting the pledge of allegiance which generated some good conversation, but also received a bit of push-back as well. My arguments against saying the pledge of allegiance are essentially two-fold: Jesus taught his disciples to not take any oaths but instead said to “let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no.” In addition, Jesus invites us to follow him and reminds us that... Read more
It’s almost Christmas! With that, comes Christmas music– music is one of those things for me that can make or break my holiday spirit. This year I was determined to have a good holiday season, so I started listening to Christmas music a bit earlier than most years. Of course, when it comes to Christmas music there’s all the traditional songs that tend to make the holiday special and remind us of timeless tradition. But then, there’s some lesser known... Read more
I’m not supporting either party for president next year, and for the most part want to stay out of the debate, but some stuff you just can’t ignore. Last night on Fox News, Col. Oliver North admitted that right-wingers such as himself believe that Jesus followers are “not just naive and utopian” but “irrational,” and that espousing the teachings of Jesus would cause one to “write off” any chance at becoming the US President. How did this admission take place?... Read more
Between John Crawford, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and a host of other people of color (including children such as Tamir) gunned down at the hands of America’s police forces, we’ve been having a national discussion on race. It’s been a good discussion, a worthy discussion, and a discussion that must continue. However, the reason why a growing number of people are being gunned down in the streets by those who are supposed to serve and protect, is something... Read more
The events in Ferguson, Missouri that led to the death of Michael Brown have now become about so much more than just what happened (or didn’t happen) in Ferguson– they’ve sparked a national discussion on racism and race relations in America. For whatever evil has occurred, there are now many good things flowing from this tragic and unjust situation. For this we should be tremendously thankful– and must continue the movements and the discussions that were born out of Ferguson.... Read more
10.2 million people sit in prison cells today around the world– and almost half of them are right here, in the United States. While in the US we like to boast about being “#1” we forget that we’re actually #1 at a lot of things that we probably shouldn’t be proud of– and having the highest incarceration rate in the world is one of them. And, it’s not just our incarceration numbers that should be a shock to our system,... Read more
For those who have read my friend Frank Schaeffer’s book, Why I’m An Atheist Who Believes In God, or for those interested in knowing someone else who wrestles with matters of faith and belief the way you might, here’s a great video to check out. Frank recently gave an author talk as part of his book tour, and it’s a really great dialogue on a variety of issues– I hope you’ll take a listen! I think you’ll find Frank to... Read more
Every year Americans kick off the Christmas season by heading out to the stores to score some deals on what has come to be known as “Black Friday,” and this year will be no different. Before that day hits us at the end of the week, however, there are a few things I hope that we as Christians will consider and take to heart: … 1. The timing of “Black Friday” couldn’t be more ironic if we wanted it to... Read more
They say “Don’t mess with Texas,” but if God still smites places, they sure are about to tempt him. Now, truth be told, I don’t believe God smites places– I believe Jesus is God, and Jesus obviously doesn’t smite places, but I don’t think that means we should just go around asking for it. Texas however, is asking for it. While the United States likes to sit in judgement over places like Iran and China over human rights violations, we don’t... Read more
Like it or not, the Christian stage is changing. The era of Christendom that has existed since the time of Constantine is quickly crumbling and a new, somewhat undefined chapter, is sweeping across Christianity– one that many are beginning to call the “Post-Christian” era. This Christian “climate change” is one that begs a lot of questions– some that are encouraging, and some that might seem frightening to today’s power holders. Recently I had the chance to sit down with my... Read more
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