Resurrection and Re-creation
"For the sun turned back and the earth shook and the mountains were rent, and all were awed."
An Invitation to Silence
Good Friday and the limits of our humanity
Reconciliation and Place
The patient work of making a home
Reconciliation and Joy
Potlucks, gardens, and joy in the Holy Ghost
Reconciliation and Politics
Racial reconciliation as "being political"
Reconciliation and Prophetic Witness
Let your light shine before others...
Preaching Through Chaos and Cruelty
This week I’m taking a break from reflecting on reconciliation in order to think about preaching during these chaotic, confusing, and, increasingly, cruel...
Reconciliation and Warfare
"It is an outrage upon the soul, a war upon the immortal spirit..."
Reconciliation and Repair
Multiracial churches that aren't (only) for white people
Reconciliation and the Preferential Option
Bearing witness to the hierarchy-upending kingdom of God
Reconciliation and New Creation
The possibility of reconciling what was never conciled
My Year With Books (and Burnout)
The books that held me up in 2024
We Will Set Our Hope
I hope you each have some rest and rejoicing ahead of you during the next few days. Our family is looking forward to visiting Maggie’s side of the family and...
Equipment for Dying
We recently hosted a small gathering to celebrate my dad’s retirement from full-time ministry. While planning the party, I remembered an essay I wrote a...
Advent Shadows
Facing reality, finding Christ
Finding Justice in Evil Days
A sermon about the God who enters our troubles with us
Lanes and Lines
Recognizing the times and what they might require of us
A Record of God's Experience
History from a perspective far wider than our own
Ten Convictions After the Election
Here's what I keep coming back to
Vulnerable Non-Partisanship
Speaking truth and seeking justice outside the bifurcating boundaries
Reconciling to Place
Well, Plundered is out in the world and it’s been a full fun stretch of travel, workshops, preaching, and podcasts. As you might imagine, my margin has been...
Plundered is Available Tomorrow!
Can you help spread the word?
For the Activist
A vision of transformation big enough to include our own lives
Dispatch from a Lonely Beach in Michigan
The expected loneliness and surprising companionship on a dark and quiet beach
Another Cultivating Belonging Story
Get your tickets to the Plundered book launch today!
Experiences of Cultivating Belonging
Stories of learning to love and be loved by our places
Cultivating Belonging
A rootless people learning to befriend our places
Telling the Truth and Loving Our Neighbors
Contending for truth among complicated, broken, and beloved people
The Meanings of Truth
Bearing (strategic) witness to the truth
Drowning in Deceit
Persistent, purposeful deception is effective but Christians won't give up on the truth.
Hope in Troubling Times
A sermon about becoming people of hope on the Sunday before Juneteenth
The Religion of Whiteness
Today I’m sharing an interview with Dr. Glenn Bracey, co-author with Michael Emerson of the important new book, The Religion of Whiteness. I’ve benefited...
A Leviathan, Whiteness as Religion, and Brown Faces in White Places
Three timely books to help us understand systemic racism, Christian nationalism, and whiteness as a religion
Juneteenth and Worship
Why and how to include Juneteenth themes in corporate worship
Public and Humble Presence
Observations from a pro-Palestine encampment
Glory and Good
On living as Christ's free people in complicated times
Attention, Grief, and Love
On not looking away.
Living in the Aftermath of Theft
Learning to interpret a world organized by plunder.
Loving Opposition
Henri Nouwen, MLK's principles of nonviolence, and community-building confrontation.
Questioning the Brown v. Board Model of Reconciliation
When proximity to whiteness isn't the goal.
The Poet-Preacher
The latest issue of Comment includes an article by Walter Brueggemann adapted from his book about preaching, Finally Comes the Poet, first published in 1989....
Mustard Seeds and Yeast
At the conclusion of a recent ministry conference, I bumped into one of the organizers and was able to share how refreshing the experience had been. I'm not...
The Connection Between Racial and Environmental Injustice
The new book has a title.
How much to say in 2024? How loudly to say it?
Photo credit: Elena. How helpful is it to publicly oppose the MAGA-Trump movement in 2024? I've been wondering about this and am struggling to come up with...
God's Plans Are Better Than Ours
A Christmas Eve sermon.
Peacemaking Before the Parousia
I preached from 2 Peter 3:8-15 last Sunday. The passage ends, "Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at...
Maturity Matters
Yesterday I had two calls with people I've not met in person. The first was with a congregation out east, a mostly white church that has taken decisive steps...
Thankful
Leaf litter on a recent walk through a drizzly Jackson Park. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are a few things I'm thankful for. Beautiful architecture....
The Privilege of Uncomplicated Grief
The immature instinct to make complicated situations simple.
But do we love them?
Changing minds is more difficult than signaling self-righteousness.