Singing in the Dark
Johnny Dark At some point each day, having listened to the same song most of the day, Johnny Dark takes out his phone, points it toward a mirror in his...
CRT: Enough Already!
I can predict when it will happen. During the past twelve months, I’ve been invited to more online Q & A sessions than I can remember with groups around the...
Who gets to determine the ideal?
Earlier this week I posted the following reflection on social media. It provoked enough responses there that I thought it might be worth sharing here as...
Lamenting and Praising
Like most of you, I was paying close attention earlier this week to the verdict in the trial for the man who murdered George Floyd. Also like many of you, I...
The God Who Sees
In this week’s newsletter I’m sharing a lightly edited version of my sermon today from Genesis 16. There’s something powerful about being seen. This is...
Leaving the White Church for What?
Last week I listened to a powerful episode of one of my favorite podcasts, Pass the Mic, hosted by Jemar Tisby and Tyler Burns. In it, Tisby describes his...
Worship → Justice → Worship
Last week I shared ten characteristics of biblical justice. (If you're interested, I expanded the the list into an article for Missio Alliance.) Of those...
10 Characteristics of Biblical Justice
This week I spoke (online) at a church in California. They had assigned me the topic of biblical justice which ended up being a good excuse to think about...
Unexceptional in Exile
One of the things about being in a wilderness or exile situation is that you really want to believe you’re not. Maybe this is what made the recently...
Manifest Destiny and Black Faith
Not long ago I noticed how often over the past few years I’ve been returning to the biblical themes of wilderness and exile. There’s a lot to say about these...
Terror, Trauma, and Better Questions
Last week Ed Stetzer, director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, was interviewed by NPR about the white evangelical presence at the U.S. Capitol...
My Year With Books
Happy New Year everyone! Click here for a version of this newsletter with links to each of the books I mention below. I wish I could remember what I was...
Christianity ≠ White Supremacy
Earlier this week I finished Vince L. Bantu’s new book about the global nature of early Christianity, A Multitude of All Peoples. It’s a fascinating look at...
Diplomacy Doesn't Work
During our ministry staff devotions this week we ended up talking about what our Christian responsibility is to those in positions of power whose attitudes...
Hoping in Herod: An Election Day Lament
On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a...
Loving Opposition
On Wednesday, two weeks prior to the election, our church began two weeks of prayer and fasting. For a template we are using a list of 10 commitments that...
Your vote matters less than you think. But also, way more.
No matter who wins the election, God is still sovereign! How many versions of this sentiment have you heard expressed during an election cycle? In my...
Local Countercultures of Reconciliation and Justice
I’ve recently been listening to “Motive”, a podcast produced by our local NPR station about the rise of of neo-Nazi skinheads in Chicago and beyond in the...
The Truth of the Protest
Why is it that you can know how terribly something will turn out and still be devastated when it does? This is what I was wondering on Wednesday afternoon...
Acknowledgment is better than ignorance. Confession is even better.
A quick appeal before getting to the rest of the newsletter: One of the hats I wear is that of CEO of New Community Outreach, a nonprofit launched by our...
