I’ve gotten way behind in sharing my Wild Goose interviews on the Crackers and Grape Juice podcast. If you haven’t heard of Brandan Robertson, you need to hear this interview and get his new book Nomad. Brandan grew up in very difficult circumstances in a trailer park with an abusive alcoholic father. He got saved by a fundamentalist church at age 12. He was street preaching at the Baltimore inner harbor by age 13. His exposure to Mark Driscoll saved... Read more
We’re living through what seems like the most toxic presidential campaign in American history. It’s partly due to having extremely unpopular candidates. It’s partly due to the particularities of our historical moment when white Christian America has lost its political majority for the first time. It’s partly due to the addictive, toxic nature of social media. Can Christians who are passionate and outspoken about our political views voice these views without destroying our witness? How do we balance our vocation... Read more
In Chicago last night, I had the privilege of sitting in a panel discussion with three incredible Christian leaders: Deborah Jian Lee, the author of Rescuing Jesus: How People of Color, Women, and Queer Christians are Reclaiming Evangelicalism; Alicia Crosby, the co-director of the Center for Inclusivity; and Jarell Wilson, a queer United Methodist pastor who is a church plant intern at Chicago’s Urban Village Church. Our conversation was moderated by Pierre Keys, the social justice director at CityPoint Community Church.... Read more
Law and order. A three word phrase Donald Trump used dozens of times in his presidential nomination speech. This phrase has been the backbone of conservative politics for many years. But not since the days of segregation has it been so explicitly racialized. Many conservative evangelical leaders are horrified by Donald Trump, but the same vision of law and order that he so clumsily espouses is the cornerstone of white evangelical theology. In Donald Trump’s nomination process, he had more... Read more
If you’re a super nerdy Methodist and you know about the production Chuck Knows Church, you might be familiar with a series they did called “The Committee.” It’s a story about a dying church that puts together a committee to try to revitalize the church. It’s corny in the adorable way that all official United Methodist Church productions are. They put out a call throughout the country for churches to nominate a new pastor to revitalize the fictitious Park Grove Community Church in the... Read more
Good News magazine recently published an open letter to the United Methodist Council of Bishops complaining that Bishop Karen Oliveto’s election “seriously undermines the ministries of thousands of clergy colleagues and the work of thousands of local churches” because “pastors and lay leaders have spent precious time and talent trying to carefully explain to new and old members why our church’s leaders have failed to uphold the Discipline” and it’s caused “the departure of faithful members and clergy colleagues dismayed by... Read more
I’m used to treating political speeches like fluff. I don’t expect them to actually be inspiring or teach moral values that are worth emulating. But as I’ve been looking at lines that Melania Trump’s speech-writer plagiarized from Michelle Obama, I’ve grown interested in meditating on the values that these words are promoting. What’s really interesting is the way that these values resonate differently depending upon the social location of the speaker. It’s very different for a black middle class family... Read more
There is not a more critical time in the spiritual journey of Christians today than when they go off to college. This is especially true in a day when many good Christians are ambivalent about their faith because of the ugly toxicity of our nation’s culture wars. Our campus ministry NOLA Wesley is a place where Christian students can discover a rich, authentic faith amidst vulnerable, safe community. We believe that the real gospel of God’s grace has never been more... Read more
Since it’s Donald Trump’s big week and he’s an excellent bellwether of the toxicity of white Christian America, I figured I would look at six things that have made the white church toxic. I’m not trying to say that other races’ churches aren’t toxic; I just don’t have any experience in their culture. Some of these are directly related to Trump; some aren’t. But I figured his photo was good for the click-bait anyhow. And if you’re new here, this toxic... Read more
The following prayer at the Republican National Convention is the clearest example I’ve yet seen of what the Bible refers to as taking the Lord’s name in vain. Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
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