I was watching a stand-up comedian the other day when he quipped, “I’m an atheist – you know, because I’m  reasonable.” The audience hooted with laughter and applauded. Of course, I was initially offended. I like to think of myself as a reasonable guy, and most Christians I know are...

What kind of flame are you? There are some Christians who are like cheap tea lights. They drop into worship when it’s convenient for them and might drop a few bucks in the offering plate if they’re feeling generous. It’s the only time they are exposed to scripture, since they...

It was the return trip from hell. For 10 days, my wife and I had enjoyed a picture-perfect vacation in Scotland and her inner isles. We were flying home from Edinburgh to Newark, where we would catch our connecting flight home. At least, that was the plan. Roiling thunderstorms in...

“You know, I used to believe in the essential goodness of man,” a friend recently told me during a fundraising banquet. “Not so much, anymore.” He didn’t go into details, but he was still reeling from a few situations involving mean, dysfunctional people. I simply replied, “Yeah, sin is a...

I learned some Latvian words on Sunday. The reason? A church where my wife and I visited is hosting members of their sister congregation in Latvia. The guest preacher delivered a potent sermon on Pentecost, reminding us that the Holy Spirit can come with a convicting whisper or the force...

Rachel Held Evans, who gave voice to a burgeoning community of progressive Christians, died this past Saturday in Nashville. She was 37. Evans abandoned the evangelical church in 2004, describing herself as a “doubt-filled believer” on her Twitter profile. She was a master of using social media platforms to champion...

John Earnest was an earnest anti-Semite. Before opening fire in the Chabad Synagogue near San Diego during a Passover service on April 28, he published a rambling online manifesto that praised Adolf Hitler and condemned Jews to hell. In addition, Earnest expressed hatred of Islam, posting invectives against Muslims and...

The bowl rested on a small table near the altar. Inside, coiled like little snakes, were white rubber bracelets imprinted with blue letters: WWJU The “U” threw me for a loop. It was supposed to end with a “D,” as in “What Would Jesus Do?” The question was the second...

The other day, in the wee hours of the morning, a spring storm blew in with the fury of a toddler whose favorite toy had been taken away. We woke up to an eerily dark and quiet house – and it remained that way for over 15 hours as crews worked...

My dad grew up in a Texas sharecropper’s shack during the Great Depression. He was barely a teenager when the “Grasshopper Wars” began. The winged insects darkened the sky like storm clouds, swooping down on crops and stripping them to stubble. Driving turned dangerous as the roads became slick with...