Nationalism & the Tribal God It Creates
(WW) — Nationalism always leaves us more enslaved, not more free. This is true because tribalism always shrinks us — a smaller world, more selfish goals, deeper fears and more distrust of the other.
As Fostering Reaches Crisis Point, Activists Make It a Pro-Life Issue
(RNS) — More than 100,000 kids are currently waiting for foster homes in this country, while another 20,000 will age out of the system this year. What awaits those who age out is very often not a happy situation.
Let’s Not Ask Botham Jean’s Family to Choose Forgiveness Over Justice
(RNS) — Sometimes it can feel like you are better off being white and guilty in America than black and innocent. We live in a world where black lives are too easily extinguished and white lives are too easily excused.
Of Trees & Thornbushes
There’s a fascinating, oft - overlooked parable in Judges 9. It might be one of the most profound teachings about political power and who we trust to rule found in the scriptures.
Let Zacchaeus Find Redemption
When Zacchaeus met Jesus and recognized his sins, he did more than say a prayer. And a critical part of that story is the financial payments. But are we unwilling to let a Zacchaeus walk such a path of redemption?
How We Can Use the Current Crisis in Politics and Christianity to Reclaim Jesus
(RNS) — Christians, in other historical moments, have often remembered, rediscovered, returned and gone back to their obedient discipleship to Jesus Christ — both personal and public — in times of crisis. It’s called coming home.
A Prophet at the U.N.
We saw a prophetic example earlier this week at the United Nations. And like many of the Old Testament prophets, this modern one did not come from a prominent position of power. But God doesn’t usually speak through the powerful.
Religious Americans Are Overly Pessimistic About the Family, Study Finds
Divorce numbers, down. Teen pregnancies, down. Rate of out-of-wedlock births, about the same. So, why are religious Americans more likely to believe social ills are on the rise?
Even with a Compass, We Still Have to Traverse Deserts and Ditches
"A compass will point to true north from where you’re standing," says Abraham Lincoln's character in the Steven Spielberg film. "But it’s got no advice about the swamps and the deserts and chasms that you’ll encounter along the way."
What Netflix Got Wrong: The Fellowship’s Mission Is Love, Not Power
(RNS) — Netflix's docudrama "The Family" puts forward a false thesis based on a brief anecdotal experience of one of the filmmakers, shares communicator A. Larry Ross, spinning conspiracy theories about political power and international intrigue to fit a biased and pejorative agenda.