More than five years ago, I helped conduct an exercise with a large, diverse group of public transportation drivers. Each participant was given the same set of cards with one word typed clearly on each. They read: Asian, Middle Eastern, African-American, Hispanic, – etc. The group was instructed to listen to a
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In 2010, the Reformed Church in America General Synod adopted the Belhar Confession as one of its doctrinal standards. This was a monumental decision for the denomination, as the most recent standard before Belhar was adopted hundreds of years ago. The adoption of the Belhar Confession was one of the deciding
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“But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”– Amos 5:24 The true test of Christian faith is how it is lived out in the context of social realities. Each weekend, millions of believers gather in places of worship throughout North America for inspiration, fellowship and
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I am a Mid-Westerner at heart, but I have lived in New York for the past 3-1/2 years. In my first few weeks in New York, I remember trying to navigate this urban jungle and its mass transit system. Every time I would meet a friend for lunch or dinner
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Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to
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Even before I began to follow Jesus, I viewed radical material simplicity as a mark of holiness. For many years, when I thought about what my ideal life would be, I imagined an existence almost entirely detached from our world’s economic system. I dreamed of shedding all my possessions, living
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“For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” -Luke 12:34 “Unfortunately, that is the cost of doing business in our world.” -A clergy colleague’s response to the church divesting from Wall Street In all my years in the Reformed church, I have been fascinated by our unexamined
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“For 50 or 60 years, we have let ourselves believe that as long as we have money we will have food. This is a mistake. If we continue our offenses against the land and the labor by which we are fed, the food supply will decline, and we will have
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Playing Church Sometimes it feels like we’re just playing church the same way you play house as a kid. You put on a costume, set things up just right, and then go through the motions of what all-too-often feels like nothing more than a religious country club with eternal benefits.
More“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your might and love your neighbor as yourself.” This is Jesus’ answer to the lawyer who asks, “How shall I inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds with the words of the Shemah. The Shemah is offered as
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