Washington Post On Faith: The Tea Party is not a religious movement even though it does have religious elements within it. Continue Reading

9/10 Labor Day, for me, means the start of the new school year. The late summer days in September, with their slanting light and thin, spent warmth, still give me a sense of hope and anticipation for new areas of study and challenge. As I reflect, I am grateful for this week’s rise in hopeful […]

Washington Post On Faith: So what should have been done? "Do to others as you would have them do to you," says Jesus in Luke 6:31. Fear has trumped love in our society in the years since 9/11 and what we can and need to do now is recommit ourselves to the hard work of loving our neighbor. Continue Reading

9/3 Shame, like all feelings, is a prayer. Shame is a prayer that says, “I am bad in my innermost being; please, God, heal me.” I was reminded of this last Friday as I read the Redwoods Presbytery Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) decision in the disciplinary case against Rev. Dr. Janie Spahr for presiding at […]

Washington Post On Faith: I am blessed to claim President Barack Obama as my brother in the Christian Reformed faith. Because of this, when I hear that some are questioning and even claiming that President Obama is lying about his faith, I feel this on a very personal level. It feels as if my own faith is under attack. Continue Reading

Huffington Post: Christians have a responsibility to speak out in our own communities and congregations and remind one another every day what’s most important in marriage: the sacred covenant between two people that m… Continue reading

8/20 I head across country in a few days to be present at the church trial of my friend and colleague, Honorably Retired Rev. Janie Spahr, who is being tried for presiding at the weddings of same-gender couples in California in 2008. As I think back on Janie’s long ministry, I recall the recent news […]

8/13 I paused for a good while when I came to one of the comments on my answer to the On Faith question last week. In his response, Danny (PILOTER101) references Jesus’ farewell discourse to the disciples before his arrest: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). I agree completely that we […]

8/6 Like many of us, I was on pins and needles on Wednesday, knowing that federal district Judge Vaughn Walker planned to issue his verdict that day in the case challenging the constitutionality of the Prop 8 ban on marriage between two men or two women in California. I jumped up when CNN broke the […]

Washington Post On Faith: Can Anne Rice be spiritual without religion? Sure. When the church lost its purity under Rome, the ascetics went out into the desert to forge their relationships with God more or less alone. Jesus withdrew in order to pray. However, he did not stay there. And when the people of Jerusalem went astray, Jesus did not forsake the temple. He threw the moneychangers out. Continue Reading