Last night I was talking to a group of people about the last year and a half and the toll it’s taken on all of us. They inventoried the familiar

I used to think I loved America. I used to fully believe in its greatness. Growing up, I bought into its songs and its anthems and its stirring mythology of

I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South. I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings

As an affirming student pastor, I have been given a profound gift. For decades, hundreds of people (many of them in their teens and early twenties) have entrusted me with

For months I’ve been hearing about pursuing a bipartisan America; about this nation needing to forge a new spirit of political collaboration if we ever hope to bridge the massive

I used to think I was a Christian. I’ve been a pastor in the local church for twenty-five years and a believer for most of my life. I’ve spent decades

Yesterday, someone said to me, “Will you please say something about the violence happening right now between Israel and Palestine?” “At least tell people what side you’re on” she added.

I was talking to a coworker today. (OK, well, technically I was arguing with an anonymous Twitter troll—but hey, work is work, right?) As Patriot45FreedomGuy launched a fierce barrage of

Every day I see Christians lamenting the “Cancel Culture;” claiming whenever they face accountability for their words or their conduct, or for the policies or politicians they support—that they are

Today, I received a text from our local pharmacy here in North Carolina, asking us to contact two friends or family members and tell them to get vaccinated.  That this

The politics of fear is nothing new. We’ve seen it throughout history. It’s a well-worn playbook. When you lack actual ideas, you need an enemy. When you have nothing redemptive

Seven years ago my parents went on a cruise to celebrate my father’s 70th birthday. My family and I happened to call them just as they were sailing away.  We

Today, my daughter told me she was a working on a bucket list, which surprised me because she’s only 11. She soon clarified that it was a Summer 2021 bucket

Dear Friends, If you don’t suffer from a mental illness, there’s something you need to know about those of us who do, because it may be impossible for us to

We saw two Americas in a single day. As Officer Derek Chauvin’s fate was being decided by a jury in a Minneapolis courtroom, Columbus, Ohio Police were deciding 16-year-old Ma’Khia

A friend recently said to me, “John, I’m so tired of hearing about white privilege. I get, enough already.” Not surprisingly, she was not a person of color. Being tired

Sunday is coming. Soon, millions of Americans will find themselves in the houses of worship that dot nearly every corner of this country; disparate buildings where they’ll gather under the

Dear Church Leaders, Over the past two decades I’ve been a pastor to students. It has been the greatest joy of my life to be allowed into the trenches of

Racism is a prolific and creative killer. It is entrepreneurial in its malice and it will use whatever means necessary to eliminate those it is threatened by and fearful of.

Some days I wonder if this nation can be saved. I know what I’m supposed to believe: that America is still in its infancy, that it is a beautiful idea;

I am a person of profound privilege. As a white, cisgender, heterosexual Christian man raised in America, I have had nearly every benefit and buffer afforded human beings, and this

In the book of Exodus, when Moses and Aaron demand Pharaoh’s release of the Israelites, they are reminding him that humanity was designed to be free; that every single human

I am a collector of stories. I watch people, I listen closely to them, I eavesdrop on their conversations in person and on social media, and I look for the

Dear Friend, I don’t know your story. I cannot imagine how you feel. I can’t fathom how difficult this road has been for you: the swirling storm of the questions