On September 2, my next book comes out, with Orbis press. Job in Exile: A Guide for Spiritual Refugees (Orbis Books) is a treatment of the majestic, complicated, wonderful Book of Job. I have been fascinated with Job since my high school days. It struck me then as wildly, dangerously out of step with the rest of […]
The Book of Job as Breakthrough Text for Post-Evangelicals and Other Spiritual Refugees
Note: On Friday, May 22, I enjoyed the distinct honor of being awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity at Franklin College in Indiana. I also gave this baccalaureate address. It foreshadows themes that will appear in my future book with Bloomsbury on Christian humanism. I. GREETINGS President Prather, distinguished faculty, proud families and friends, and
Toward a New Religious Humanism
André Trocmé, Le Chambon, and the refusal to surrender moral judgment There are basically three kinds of people who know what happened in the small French village of Le Chambon during World War II. The first group is Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, and their descendants, who remember with gratitude and awe the fact that
“I Was Simply Trying to Be a Good Christian”
It is both a blessing and a curse to be an American in Amsterdam tonight. On the one hand, it is a blessed escape. On the other hand, people look at you with worry and pity. On the one hand, being in a context where politics is more or less normal is comforting. On the
An American Ponders the Meaning of “A Whole Civilization Will Die Tonight.”
My Devotional and Prayer in Atlanta, March 9, 2026 Today, I had the rare privilege of serving as Chaplain of the Day for the Georgia House of Representatives, an invitation initiated by Rep. Sam Park, who introduced me very kindly. It was truly an honor to serve in this role, and an eye-opening experience to
A Word to the Georgia House of Representatives
Note: This statement was released today in the US. I was one of the 300+ original signatories. Check it out at: https://acalltochristians.org/ A Call to Christians in a Crisis of Faith and Democracy. Why We Write There are moments that call for repentance and resistance, courage and conviction, faith and fortitude. This is one of
A Clarion Call to US Christians
Note: I have been giving versions of my talk on democracy since 2022. Call this one version 5.0. It was presented on October 6 at the gorgeous Sacred Heart Cultural Arts Center in Augusta, Georgia. My host was the Progressive Religious Coalition of Augusta, a fine group of public-minded folks in that grand old city. The
Note: I preached this sermon today at Towne View Baptist Church, Kennesaw, Georgia. Text (NRSVue) 15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with
Note: A slightly longer version of this talk was presented on Friday night, 19 September, at a conference in Hamburg, Germany called the Entscheidungschristentum (“Decision Christianity”) Conference. The title in the German program was: “Believers Churches als Auslaufmodell ? – Eine amerikanische Perspektive,” which translates as “Believers Churches as an Obsolete Model? An American Perspective.” INTRODUCTION Greetings
Don’t bury the lede, they say, and so I won’t. Now 63 years old, I write this personal update from the north Cotswolds in England, where we now live part of the year, where I have joined the Church of England, and where I am apprenticing with diocesan leaders on a path toward (non-stipended, very