Posts

Save Your Safety Pins, White Friends. You Could Have Voted Safety.
Save your safety pins. If you’re a white person and you voted for Donald Trump, it’s a little too late to pretend you’re a safe space for people of color,

Sunday Mornings After You’ve Lost Your Religion
Sunday is almost here again and millions of Christians are getting ready to go to church. I am one of them. People will make this weekly pilgrimage for many reasons: Some

America Needs Unity, but it Needs Something Else First
I keep hearing calls for unity in my country right now, though these aren’t spoken as the desperate prayers of hearts desiring peace between two hurting sides, they’re spoken as chastisements

Dear President-Elect Trump, Prove Me Wrong.
Dear President-Elect Trump, You’ve always fancied yourself as a straight-shooter so I’ll shoot straight with you: I’m not your biggest fan. For the past year I’ve made my concerns about

White Christians Who Voted for Donald Trump: Fix This. Now.
We Christians like to talk about Hell a lot, so let’s talk about Hell a little. In the very first few daylight hours after Donald Trump’s election victory it began:

Here’s Why We Grieve Today
I don’t think you understand us right now. I think you think this is about politics. I think you believe this is all just sour grapes; the crocodile tears of

This is Why I Voted
This week I voted. For the LGBTQ community. For people of color. For people of every faith. For men. For women. For civility. For decency. For equality. For unity. For

My Fellow Exhausted Americans
Today I realized how tired I am. I think we all are. We’ve all spent the lion’s share of the last few years up to our necks in a swirling storm

An Election Postmortem for American Christianity
It’s all over. At this point, it doesn’t matter who won this election. Yes, the results have determined the residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the next four years, but a different outcome wouldn’t

If You’re Afraid of Election Day
Most people I know have pretty strong feelings about this Tuesday; some internal cocktail of apprehension, excitement, and curiosity. And yet though they may have deeply held convictions about the candidates and the

Things Christians Are Giving Up By Still Supporting Donald Trump
Donald Trump was the Presidential candidate of choice for a vast majority for Evangelical Christians, and his support in the American Bible Belt was invaluable in getting him elected. The impact on American Christianity in the

Dear Jesus, This Christianity Thing isn’t Working
Dear Jesus, I’m not sure how to say this, but looking around I don’t think this Christianity thing is working. I think we’ve lost the plot here. It feels like

Why I’m a Proud Bleeding Heart Christian
I was 18 years old when my heart first began to bleed. For the previous 17 years I had been the boy in the bubble; raised in suburban Central New York and extremely well-loved

Why Using the Bible Against LGBTQ People is Irresponsible
Christians will go to great lengths to get God to consent to their prejudices. It’s actually quite astounding and equally sad. Every day I watch and read fellow followers of Jesus attempting to

Jen Hatmaker, Lifeway, and Christians Who Eat Their Own
Hell hath no fury like Christians destroying other Christians. This week best-selling author and church planter Jen Hatmaker came out in full support of the LGBTQ community and of same-sex marriage, eloquently

5 Things I Remembered While Waiting to Vote Today
Some days serve as reminders, allowing you to remember what you used to know but may have forgotten. Today was such a day. Early voting has opened here in North Carolina, and

The Gentlemanifesto
Ever since Donald Trump was recorded saying vile, sickening things about women, his supporters have tried to tell the world what we men are; the way we think about women, the

The Kind of Christian I Refuse to Be
I am a Christian. Actually, it’s more accurate lately to say that I am still a Christian. I now say this with much trepidation. I say it with great fatigue. I say it

The Brain Surgeon and the Carnival Barker
You find out your child has a brain tumor and needs life-saving surgery. You have a decision to make. You could go with a well-known brain surgeon. She is educated, experienced,

Respect for a Persevering Marriage
A friend sent me this picture and it reminded me of something: 41 years is a long time to be married. Anyone’s who’s been married will testify to this. (On some

America, Sexual Assault Survivors are Listening. What are We Saying?
One of the blessings of the work I do is that people turn to me when they don’t believe they can turn to anyone else. They allow me close proximity

GOP, I Wish You Really Were Pro-Life
You tell me that you voted for Donald Trump for one reason: because you’re pro-life. Despite everything you’ve seen and know about this man (much of which you openly lament),

Praying When You Don’t Know How to Pray Anymore
I really miss my childhood faith. When I was younger I never questioned my prayers. The idea that God heard me, that God would intervene in a difficult situation, that

The Evangelical Hypocrisy On Display in This Election
If Donald Trump isn’t elected in November, I wonder if the Evangelical preachers, pastors, and evangelists who are still so vocally supportive will hire him for their churches, missionary organizations,

Save Your Safety Pins, White Friends. You Could Have Voted Safety.
Save your safety pins. If you’re a white person and you voted for Donald Trump, it’s a little too late to pretend you’re a safe space for people of color,

Sunday Mornings After You’ve Lost Your Religion
Sunday is almost here again and millions of Christians are getting ready to go to church. I am one of them. People will make this weekly pilgrimage for many reasons: Some

America Needs Unity, but it Needs Something Else First
I keep hearing calls for unity in my country right now, though these aren’t spoken as the desperate prayers of hearts desiring peace between two hurting sides, they’re spoken as chastisements

Dear President-Elect Trump, Prove Me Wrong.
Dear President-Elect Trump, You’ve always fancied yourself as a straight-shooter so I’ll shoot straight with you: I’m not your biggest fan. For the past year I’ve made my concerns about

White Christians Who Voted for Donald Trump: Fix This. Now.
We Christians like to talk about Hell a lot, so let’s talk about Hell a little. In the very first few daylight hours after Donald Trump’s election victory it began:

Here’s Why We Grieve Today
I don’t think you understand us right now. I think you think this is about politics. I think you believe this is all just sour grapes; the crocodile tears of

This is Why I Voted
This week I voted. For the LGBTQ community. For people of color. For people of every faith. For men. For women. For civility. For decency. For equality. For unity. For

My Fellow Exhausted Americans
Today I realized how tired I am. I think we all are. We’ve all spent the lion’s share of the last few years up to our necks in a swirling storm

An Election Postmortem for American Christianity
It’s all over. At this point, it doesn’t matter who won this election. Yes, the results have determined the residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the next four years, but a different outcome wouldn’t

If You’re Afraid of Election Day
Most people I know have pretty strong feelings about this Tuesday; some internal cocktail of apprehension, excitement, and curiosity. And yet though they may have deeply held convictions about the candidates and the

Things Christians Are Giving Up By Still Supporting Donald Trump
Donald Trump was the Presidential candidate of choice for a vast majority for Evangelical Christians, and his support in the American Bible Belt was invaluable in getting him elected. The impact on American Christianity in the

Dear Jesus, This Christianity Thing isn’t Working
Dear Jesus, I’m not sure how to say this, but looking around I don’t think this Christianity thing is working. I think we’ve lost the plot here. It feels like

Why I’m a Proud Bleeding Heart Christian
I was 18 years old when my heart first began to bleed. For the previous 17 years I had been the boy in the bubble; raised in suburban Central New York and extremely well-loved

Why Using the Bible Against LGBTQ People is Irresponsible
Christians will go to great lengths to get God to consent to their prejudices. It’s actually quite astounding and equally sad. Every day I watch and read fellow followers of Jesus attempting to

Jen Hatmaker, Lifeway, and Christians Who Eat Their Own
Hell hath no fury like Christians destroying other Christians. This week best-selling author and church planter Jen Hatmaker came out in full support of the LGBTQ community and of same-sex marriage, eloquently

5 Things I Remembered While Waiting to Vote Today
Some days serve as reminders, allowing you to remember what you used to know but may have forgotten. Today was such a day. Early voting has opened here in North Carolina, and

The Gentlemanifesto
Ever since Donald Trump was recorded saying vile, sickening things about women, his supporters have tried to tell the world what we men are; the way we think about women, the

The Kind of Christian I Refuse to Be
I am a Christian. Actually, it’s more accurate lately to say that I am still a Christian. I now say this with much trepidation. I say it with great fatigue. I say it

The Brain Surgeon and the Carnival Barker
You find out your child has a brain tumor and needs life-saving surgery. You have a decision to make. You could go with a well-known brain surgeon. She is educated, experienced,

Respect for a Persevering Marriage
A friend sent me this picture and it reminded me of something: 41 years is a long time to be married. Anyone’s who’s been married will testify to this. (On some

America, Sexual Assault Survivors are Listening. What are We Saying?
One of the blessings of the work I do is that people turn to me when they don’t believe they can turn to anyone else. They allow me close proximity

GOP, I Wish You Really Were Pro-Life
You tell me that you voted for Donald Trump for one reason: because you’re pro-life. Despite everything you’ve seen and know about this man (much of which you openly lament),

Praying When You Don’t Know How to Pray Anymore
I really miss my childhood faith. When I was younger I never questioned my prayers. The idea that God heard me, that God would intervene in a difficult situation, that

The Evangelical Hypocrisy On Display in This Election
If Donald Trump isn’t elected in November, I wonder if the Evangelical preachers, pastors, and evangelists who are still so vocally supportive will hire him for their churches, missionary organizations,