Living Peaceably With Creation
The following is a sermon I preached last Sunday about Jesus' invitation to live peaceably with God's creation. And please don't miss the invitation below...
Universal Communion
In Marilynne Robinson's novel, Gilead, an elderly clergyman writes to his much younger son, "This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you...
The Barrier of Status
Today I'm featuring an excerpt from Amy Julia Becker's new book, To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Hope. I got to read a early...
Accepting Our Creatureliness
Is watching, scrolling, and sharing the best we can do in response to yet another televised war? I want the act of watching a war unfold on the other side of...
Cynicism is not Inevitable
A sermon about the truth which abides, even in our cynical age. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my...
Compassion Isn't Enough
Thinking with James Cone about the fickle nature of white compassion and about a deeper and stronger alternative. In an article published twenty-two years...
Grieving a Demographic Decrease
Can we give white people the space to grieve? Should we? On Friday I got to facilitate a conversation between six ministry colleagues from around the country...
Insurrection, Idolatry, and an Invitation to Risky Discipleship
A call for the church to respond courageously to insurrection and idolatry. In the days following the January 6 insurrection, a lot of us tried to make sense...
My Year With Books
Making it through a long year with the help of some good books. How long is a year? A few days ago our oldest son counted off the few remaining days until...
The Radicals
On rejecting the radical life for one of harmony. In Richard Powers' beautiful novel The Overstory we are introduced to a group of very different people...
Life Below the Surface
We need good pastors who will show us the way to the abundant, non-utilitarian way of life. Once or twice each year our family makes the eight-hour drive...
Having Better Conversations About Race
A climate scientist prepares us for hard conversations about racial justice... just in time for those awkward holiday gatherings. The best book about racial...
Can you lead where you've not been? I sure hope so!
It's officially fall here in Chicago. I know this because a couple of days ago I roasted and blended a bunch of pumpkins for pies and soups - pumpkin and...
Know Your Divisions
Yesterday afternoon I was talking with a couple of friends who both serve churches in small Midwestern towns. They are thoughtful and humble leaders in their...
Deliver Me From Fear of Their Fear
Today I'm wrestling with a tension common to racial justice work: it is possible to tell the truth to white people? But first.. Next week I'll run the Race...
Do you know your trees?
I finished reading a new book about trees on a day this week when the news around the world was once again overwhelming and terrible. In Afghanistan people...
Leveraging Privilege to Create Systemic Change
This week's newsletter features an excerpt from my friend Dominique Gilliard's new book. But first... Earlier this summer I got to spend some time in NYC...
"...a reproach before God and the world."
There is a strange warning being passed around these days and I expect, with Independence Day coming up, its urgency will be heightened. It comes in...
There is Freedom: A Sermon for Juneteenth
Today, June 19th, is Juneteenth, a holiday our church has incorporated into our Sunday worship for the past few years. This is a lightly edited version of my...
When the Colonizer is One of Your Own
In this week’s newsletter I’m delighted to feature the following reflection by Dr. Suzie Sang. Dr. Sang responded to my recent social media post - “Beware...
