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.
Some Recommendations
Racial justice in Oregon, literary farm life in Illinois, fly fishing in Washington, and sabbath-keeping... everywhere.
Du Bois on (Mostly) Ignoring the Racists
Limiting the time spent defending the truth from those committed to ignorance.
Learning Where We Are
On learning to know where we are so that we might love God and neighbor.
The Solution to Simplistic Solutions
“The farther you are from the problem, the simpler the solution seems.”
Ecosystems of Jubilee
A manifesto for the church to join Jesus's Jubilee campaign and bring God's economy to the neighborhood.
Feeling Forsaken
Christ's cry of rejection becomes our anthem of resurrection.
Becoming People Who Won't Look Away
Rejecting apathy and cynicism in the face of predictable tragedies
Naming Places and Placing Names
Choosing to remember the people behind the names.
On Not Walking Away
Earlier this week I read a critique of critical race theory (CRT) which provoked a couple of observations which I posted to social media. Today I read a...
My Year With Books
The authors who helped me attend affectionately in 2022.
The State of the Multiethnic Church Movement
Glimpses of the future from Dallas and Indianapolis
Inheriting the Land
"Blessed are the meek; they will inherit the land."
I'm writing another book!
A few weeks ago I signed a contract with InterVarsity Press to write the book I've been thinking about for the past decade, tentatively titled Communities of...
Rethinking Reconciled Relationships
Relationship doesn't distract from material injustice; it makes dealing with it unavoidable.
"Great good is done while we're asleep."
The author of a book I recently finished grew up on a Midwestern farm. He wrote lovingly of his father, a man whose difficult work didn't keep him from...
The Cost of Justice
Here are two anecdotes to illustrate what's been on my mind this week. First, earlier this week I was on a video call with a church from the east cost...
Moral Weirdos
Earlier this summer I joined about 60 other Chicago-area faith leaders for a die-in at a gun shop a few miles outside city limits. We were compelled to...
Where Was the White Church?
This week I got to speak at a conference focused on justice hosted by Progressive Baptist Church here in Chicago. Here is a lightly edited version of what I...
Telling the Truth Like Someone's Life Depends on It
Last week, following the terrible massacre in Uvalde, Texas Governor Greg Abbott used Chicago as an example of why stricter gun laws wouldn't have prevented...
Where Hope Can Have Its Way
Driving to the church office earlier this week, I listened to the latest report from Uvalde, Texas. The reporter was interviewing residents of that...
The Language and Culture of Shalom
Marcus Briggs-Cloud is a linguist and the co-director of Ekvn-Yefolecv, "an Indigenous ecovillage community in Weogufka, Alabama comprised of Maskoke persons...
What Sort of Cultural Engagement?
Next month I'm running the Race Against Gun Violence in support of New Community Outreach, our church's nonprofit organization which engages young people in...
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...
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...