Category Archives: Missional Living

On Racism, the Shooting of Black Men, Religious Liberty, and the Better Way of Jesus

On Racism, the Shooting of Black Men, Religious Liberty, and the Better Way of Jesus

Philando Castille. Alton Sterling. Gregory Gunn. Tamir Rice. Freddie Gray. Eric Garner. Walter Scott. Eric Harris. John Crawford III. All shot dead or killed in the past two to three years. I might not know all that happened, but I know that someone should not die in response to selling CD’s or reaching for their… Continue Reading

“River” by Leon Bridges: A Song of Redemption for Troubled Times

“River” by Leon Bridges: A Song of Redemption for Troubled Times

“River” by Leon Bridges is my favorite Christian/Gospel song right now. I keep listening to it over and over. The fact that Bridges is not a “Christian” artist, per se in the exclusive sense, only means that he has moved this song and its message into the mainstream and it is affecting people deeply. From… Continue Reading

Russell Moore on Ministering to the Refugee and Immigrant

Russell Moore on Ministering to the Refugee and Immigrant

[Excuse the grainy picture taken with my iPhone from a distance in the dark]   Over the past two days, I have attended the Move Conference at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marrietta, Georgia. This has been one of the best church-based missions conferences that I have ever been too and I highly recommend attending… Continue Reading

Racism Is A Symptom of a Deeper Issue That We Don’t Want to Address

Christian groups like the ERLC and the Kainos Movement are moving toward hosting discussions on racism in America and in the church in the 21st century, which is a good thing. But, if we are not careful, we will miss the deeper issues that animate the entire problem. I sought to explore those deeper issues… Continue Reading

Poor Blacks Should “Go Back to Mississippi”?

I have been saying that what we are seeing in the conflict fault lines in America involves more than just Race. It involves economics, class, education levels, political affiliations, ideology, cultural differences, “way of life” issues, and other demographic divisons. Really interesting comments at the end of Rod Dreher’s post on Eric Garner related to… Continue Reading

Growing Modernization Resulting in Religious Decline Proved Spectacularly Wrong?

I was doing some research a while back and I ran across this perspective by Bill Bishop in The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart. Social scientists have been predicting for the past three centuries that religion would soon run its course and disappear. Sociologist Rodney Stark found he… Continue Reading

The Counterfeit of Privilege/Noblisse Oblige, Evangelicals, and Reality of Sacrificial Love

We have been discussing the concept of Noblisse Oblige recently at our church. I cover this idea in chapter 4 of my book, When Heaven and Earth Collide. Noblisse Oblige means, “nobility obliges.” It is the idea that was very prevalent in the Old South that noble people act benevolently toward their inferiors because that… Continue Reading

God At the Border? Children, the Immigration Crisis, and the Church

America is facing a crisis at the border. Tens of thousands of children have come from Central America looking for asylum, protection, and a chance at a future that they will not find in their home countries. Drug Wars have ravaged their nations. Also, confusion from Washington and our politicians on what the immigration situation… Continue Reading