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...
