Posts
Hell Yes, Joy is a Strategy
The New York Times recently ran an op-ed entitled Joy is Not a Strategy. They could not be more wrong. Joy is dangerous. It’s wild. It’s subversive. And it’s contagious.
Gus Walz Deserves Better Than MAGA Cruelty. All Our Sons Do.
As Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was pausing in a moment of rapturous applause during his Vice Presidential acceptance speech at the DNC, the camera panned to his family, whose effusive
White Christian, It’s Time to Embrace Jesus’ Love and Reject Donald Trump’s Hatred Once and For All
Dear White Christian, it’s time. It’s time to admit that this was all a horrible mistake: that whether you were misled by a pastor, deceived by a politician, manipulated by
I Went to a PRIDE Event. I Found the Groomers. They were Evangelical Christians.
Today, I attended a PRIDE event at a small town here in North Carolina known to be decidedly conservative and extremely slow to embrace LGBTQ equality. (Such an area is
Donald Trump is Guilty (of Being Exactly Who He Said He Was)
The verdict is in. Donald Trump (the unhinged decade-long cult leader of the current Republican Party and its likely presidential candidate in a few months) is a convicted felon, found
Not Voting For Joe Biden Isn’t Penalizing Joe Biden
We all have a story we tell ourselves, a narrative about who we are and what matters to us. It is the carefully curated working mythology of our daily lives
In Between Israel and Gaza: Can We Grieve All Innocent Life?
Yesterday I came across a video on a widely-followed Instagram page. It was a small section of a full Joe Rogan interview with author Coleman Hughes. In the clip, Hughes was accurately
7 Things All Online Creators Want You To Know
This week, a dear friend of mine who makes a living publishing original content on social media and who has a large, vibrant following, messaged me to catch up on
There’s a Conservative War on Women—and Decent Men Should Care
They’re no longer saying the quiet part quietly. It’s all out in the open now. The extreme Christian Right (which is now essentially the de facto Republican Party) has declared
Nex Benedict Was Killed By a Republican Culture War. We Cannot Stand for It.
Nex Benedict will never see their seventeenth birthday. The beautiful, healthy, vibrant nonbinary teenager died at the hands of peers who bullied them incessantly and who violently beat them in
Stop Saying Love Wins.
Recently, I asked my social media followers what gives them hope right now. A myriad of reasonable and predictable replies came back: children, grandchildren, spouses, partners, meaningful work, food, sex,
Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and the MAGA Hatred of Joy
The Conservative response to Taylor Swift’s relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce reminds us what grievance culture does to those who find their home in it: they
Destroying The Golden Idol of Christian Nationalism
I’ve seen this movie before. It doesn’t end well. As a Christian for most of my life and a pastor for nearly three decades, I’m quite familiar with the Old
Let People Know What You’re Against
“You should let people know what you’re for, not what you’re against.” I hear these sentiments from time to time. The implication, is that declaring your opposition to people or laws
I Don’t Grieve Trump’s Hatred, I Grieve His Supporters’ Hatred
This was never about him. My Trump-supporting neighbors, family members, and former friends think it has been but my sadness really has nothing to do with him. From the very
LGBTQ People Don’t Need The Pope’s (or Anyone Else’s) Blessing
This week the Pope formally gave Catholic priests the authority to bless same-sex relationships. Though this declaration does not include performing marriages or even civil unions, it is a massive shift
An American Lost in America
I confess that I’m a little lost presently. I’ve become a restless, reluctant nomad moving through familiar places with a hovering emotional dissonance. I am a lifelong American who is
The Pandemic We Wasted
What do you remember about the first days of the pandemic? I remember going to three grocery stores with a rising sense of dread as the shelves became more and
Republicans’ Jesus-less Christianity
Have you ever noticed that nearly all Republican politicians claim to be Christians—but they never mention Jesus or his teachings? I have. Pay attention the next time you see a Conservative member
Five Ways to Carry Trauma Well
These are heavy days. Our bodies and brains aren’t equipped to carry the kind of elevated urgency we’re immersed in and to hold the scale of pain that we’re exposed
The One Place to Stand in The Israel-Palestine Violence
A dear friend recently posted the words I Stand With Israel on her social media account. I was honestly curious, so I asked her to clarify what she meant by
The Christian Right is Defunding The Least of These (and Jesus)
They say a budget is a moral document. I agree. The proposed Republican budget seeks to drastically reduce or eliminate funding for programs and services that tend to the essential
9/11 Reminds Us of the Power of Radical Extremism
Hatred is a terribly powerful thing. It has a way of infiltrating the heart like a cancer; hardening it, darkening it, destroying it. When someone submits to rage completely, when
Make American Christians Good Again
From the moment his initial presidential campaign began, Donald Trump promised to “Make America Great Again”. White Evangelicals passionately embraced both him and that message—and the Church has suffered because
Hell Yes, Joy is a Strategy
The New York Times recently ran an op-ed entitled Joy is Not a Strategy. They could not be more wrong. Joy is dangerous. It’s wild. It’s subversive. And it’s contagious.
Gus Walz Deserves Better Than MAGA Cruelty. All Our Sons Do.
As Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was pausing in a moment of rapturous applause during his Vice Presidential acceptance speech at the DNC, the camera panned to his family, whose effusive
White Christian, It’s Time to Embrace Jesus’ Love and Reject Donald Trump’s Hatred Once and For All
Dear White Christian, it’s time. It’s time to admit that this was all a horrible mistake: that whether you were misled by a pastor, deceived by a politician, manipulated by
I Went to a PRIDE Event. I Found the Groomers. They were Evangelical Christians.
Today, I attended a PRIDE event at a small town here in North Carolina known to be decidedly conservative and extremely slow to embrace LGBTQ equality. (Such an area is
Donald Trump is Guilty (of Being Exactly Who He Said He Was)
The verdict is in. Donald Trump (the unhinged decade-long cult leader of the current Republican Party and its likely presidential candidate in a few months) is a convicted felon, found
Not Voting For Joe Biden Isn’t Penalizing Joe Biden
We all have a story we tell ourselves, a narrative about who we are and what matters to us. It is the carefully curated working mythology of our daily lives
In Between Israel and Gaza: Can We Grieve All Innocent Life?
Yesterday I came across a video on a widely-followed Instagram page. It was a small section of a full Joe Rogan interview with author Coleman Hughes. In the clip, Hughes was accurately
7 Things All Online Creators Want You To Know
This week, a dear friend of mine who makes a living publishing original content on social media and who has a large, vibrant following, messaged me to catch up on
There’s a Conservative War on Women—and Decent Men Should Care
They’re no longer saying the quiet part quietly. It’s all out in the open now. The extreme Christian Right (which is now essentially the de facto Republican Party) has declared
Nex Benedict Was Killed By a Republican Culture War. We Cannot Stand for It.
Nex Benedict will never see their seventeenth birthday. The beautiful, healthy, vibrant nonbinary teenager died at the hands of peers who bullied them incessantly and who violently beat them in
Stop Saying Love Wins.
Recently, I asked my social media followers what gives them hope right now. A myriad of reasonable and predictable replies came back: children, grandchildren, spouses, partners, meaningful work, food, sex,
Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and the MAGA Hatred of Joy
The Conservative response to Taylor Swift’s relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce reminds us what grievance culture does to those who find their home in it: they
Destroying The Golden Idol of Christian Nationalism
I’ve seen this movie before. It doesn’t end well. As a Christian for most of my life and a pastor for nearly three decades, I’m quite familiar with the Old
Let People Know What You’re Against
“You should let people know what you’re for, not what you’re against.” I hear these sentiments from time to time. The implication, is that declaring your opposition to people or laws
I Don’t Grieve Trump’s Hatred, I Grieve His Supporters’ Hatred
This was never about him. My Trump-supporting neighbors, family members, and former friends think it has been but my sadness really has nothing to do with him. From the very
LGBTQ People Don’t Need The Pope’s (or Anyone Else’s) Blessing
This week the Pope formally gave Catholic priests the authority to bless same-sex relationships. Though this declaration does not include performing marriages or even civil unions, it is a massive shift
An American Lost in America
I confess that I’m a little lost presently. I’ve become a restless, reluctant nomad moving through familiar places with a hovering emotional dissonance. I am a lifelong American who is
The Pandemic We Wasted
What do you remember about the first days of the pandemic? I remember going to three grocery stores with a rising sense of dread as the shelves became more and
Republicans’ Jesus-less Christianity
Have you ever noticed that nearly all Republican politicians claim to be Christians—but they never mention Jesus or his teachings? I have. Pay attention the next time you see a Conservative member
Five Ways to Carry Trauma Well
These are heavy days. Our bodies and brains aren’t equipped to carry the kind of elevated urgency we’re immersed in and to hold the scale of pain that we’re exposed
The One Place to Stand in The Israel-Palestine Violence
A dear friend recently posted the words I Stand With Israel on her social media account. I was honestly curious, so I asked her to clarify what she meant by
The Christian Right is Defunding The Least of These (and Jesus)
They say a budget is a moral document. I agree. The proposed Republican budget seeks to drastically reduce or eliminate funding for programs and services that tend to the essential
9/11 Reminds Us of the Power of Radical Extremism
Hatred is a terribly powerful thing. It has a way of infiltrating the heart like a cancer; hardening it, darkening it, destroying it. When someone submits to rage completely, when
Make American Christians Good Again
From the moment his initial presidential campaign began, Donald Trump promised to “Make America Great Again”. White Evangelicals passionately embraced both him and that message—and the Church has suffered because