One of the key figures behind Martin Luther King, Jr., was a man by the name of Bayard Rustin.  Rustin not only served as one of King’s several ghost-writers, but his influence upon King and other key figures of the civil rights movement was significant. Rustin was a strategist. According to David Chapell’s absolutely fascinating and moving work A […]

Read More The church as a weeping witness

With the holidays drawing near, it’s not too hard to imagine the following scenario. Two empty-nesters have managed to convince their two sons, both in their 20’s, to come home for the Thanksgiving holiday. The older son, now in his late 20’s, got a great job with JP Morgan in Manhattan just out of an Ivy […]

Read More How pride is essential for true Christian community

Let’s face it:  the Christian God can be truly embarrassing. For at least two reasons: First, the Christian God doesn’t make sense.  He is unfathomable.  We can’t figure him out.  The Christian Scriptures even admit to this: In Egypt a very frustrated Moses says, “Ever since I went to the pharaoh to speak in your name, he […]

Read More Why the Christian God is embarrassing

While reading through Matthew, Mark, and Luke lately I’ve been struck by how lonely Jesus was. By “lonely” I don’t mean primarily that Jesus was alone, though at times he was:  he did have a pattern of withdrawing to pray–“he would slip away to uninhabited [NIV:  lonely] places and pray” (Luke 5.16; Luke especially emphasizes […]

Read More Jesus, loneliness, and love

I recently re-watched Christopher Nolan’s brilliant film Memento.  Guy Pearce simply kills it.  And the storyline and story-telling are to-die-for.  There’s just so much going on at so many levels in this movie, all at the same time–and (if you haven’t seen it) half the film happens in reverse (chronologically). At the risk of spoiling it, I […]

Read More Memento, Memory, and Community

My wife Sarah and I recently had an amazing weekend away.  In our 15+ years of marriage we have never lived close to family, so getting away without the kids has been rare.  We love our kids as much as the next couple, but it was really, really great to get away…from the kids. I […]

Read More The cult of authenticity

All good teachers know that, if they want to impress something upon their students, telling them only once is not enough.  In order to drive home important ideas, teachers (and parents!) not only repeat themselves, but find different ways of communicating the same ideas. Rather frequently Jesus was called a teacher, both by follower and foe […]

Read More What was the central message of Jesus of Nazareth?

Sarah and I were on a road trip recently, and we had one of those really great conversations in the car.  (For some reason some of our best and worst conversations have happened in the car.  Does anyone know why?) We were having a frank conversation about Christianity–what we liked and didn’t like about following […]

Read More The good news of God’s wrath

Recently, my mom sent my family a large package in the email.  Inside was a gift for our kids, a gift that keeps on giving.  When I opened the box, I was overcome by memories from my childhood.  My mom had sent all the Legos I had accumulated as a boy. I can remember the […]

Read More How do “grace” and “law” relate?

Parenting is rarely straightforward–at least not for my wife and me. Talking to my 10-year-old (twin) daughters about the Charleston shooting was no exception.  I myself continue to reel from it all.  I myself don’t begin to begin to understand it all. But parental honesty–including saying, “That’s a good question, and I don’t know the answer […]

Read More Talking with my kids about the Charleston shooting