The “Our Father,” 

The “Lord’s Prayer,” 

“The words that Jesus taught us to pray.”

They have been prayed

Millions,

And millions,

And millions of times.

My hope is that anyone interested in immigration might pick up this book in order to learn a little about some of the people who are primarily affected by our nation’s broken asylum system.

By denying ourselves access to the halls of grief we also deny ourselves access to what is sacred, healing, and vital.

…I saw bitter fruit in all its forms of pain and hurt. How contempt for those unable to pull themselves up by their bootstraps leads to making decisions based on interpretations of efficiency rather than care.

As Christians, health around the world matters to us because it matters to God. […] God calls us to love our neighbors, serve the “least of these,” and address injustices.

I love the liturgy.

I recent years and months,

I have forgotten just how much I love the liturgy.

Those pushing for these cuts often speak of Christian values while advocating for policies that would abandon the vulnerable. But true Christian values call us to a more expansive vision of community and care. As Luther reminded us, faith is active in love, and love knows no borders.

How to live a faithful life requires acknowledging that the role of the church is not only saving souls but equally important is the task of liberating the poor.

As a lay theologian who works at the intersection of money, God, and institutions, I am often asked what is the difference between fundraising, as an element of stewardship, and manipulation.

What if your church was positioned to meet the deepest needs of your community? […] what if a small change in the way you communicate could help motivate more and more people to engage with your church?

But really, it means a revealing, the revelation of Jesus. So ultimately, this book shows us who Jesus was in ancient times against the Roman Empire and might invite us into something about what the world is now.

It is only when our eyes see the fullness of suffering and sin do we see the ways in which God moves on our behalf.

Together, their stories paint a portrait of a religiously and culturally diverse corner of the Middle East disappearing, and the people saving it with their stories. Each voice puts us in front of an essential question: What is the deepest part of ourselves, the one thing that can never be taken from us?

Hope, in [Advent], is located in the sense of seeing with greater clarity God’s interaction with creation both now and in the days to come.

Revelation was intended to give hope to a people going through impossible chaos. And God’s vision at the end of Revelation, the last word, so to speak, is incredibly hopeful. We need that now.

I've become convinced that if Luke had chosen a picture of the gospel instead of 24 chapters of writing... [he] would have drawn for us a big table, wooden and worn and homey.

I found in [these letters] stories of men working hard to be countercultural to our training. We wished to leave behind the more arid and shallow masculinity of traditional male friendships.

What were they waiting to see? [...] Biblical mandates bring us to life, full life. In full life, we can’t not work for the collective good through the giving of tangible and intangible gifts.

In the midst of declines in attendance and donations, many congregations find themselves at a crossroad: How do they live out God's mission in this time and place when they seem to have less and less assets to do so?

Righteousness, holiness or right living in Leviticus 19 was determined by the sharing of resources as a community, or collective identity.