We have to really think like human beings. And, just accept the reality of now.

Although we don’t often think about it, the Lord’s Prayer is a takedown of Roman economics and politics. Jesus teaches his followers to leave behind the whole system of indebtedness that obligates people to Caesar.

“We all strive for purpose and understanding, to hear and to be heard, to see and to be seen, to leave this world a better place than we found it.”  – Jon Linton

I have come to realize how different Jesus was and that his life before his baptism was the foundation for what became Christianity. Although his mission began suddenly when he was about 30, his previous experience must have provided the motivation for what he said and did.

The inaugural poem of Amanda Gorman - at 22, the youngest inaugural poet laureate in U.S. history - lifted our spirits as it dazzled our imagination.  Indeed, as her lofty words filled the air at our nation's capitol, hope was given a new face. 

Don’t be distracted my friends. Take a deep breath and remember your inherent goodness.

"When someone tells me that they believe the Bible is the literal and inerrant word of God, I always ask, "Have you ever read it?" ~ Bishop John Shelby Spong

Everybody wants to be happy. It is a fundamental right. What if I tell you that the more you value your happiness the less likely you are to feel happy? This is what two studies from the University of Denver have evidenced. Feeling happy seems not to be in relation to your own happiness, but to others’ happiness. What a catch-22!

On April 16, 1963, while sitting inside a jail cell after being arrested for protesting and demonstrating peacefully in Birmingham Alabama, King wrote a response  to eight white Alabama clergymen. The eight clergymen wrote a letter criticizing his presence in Birmingham and the aggressive approach to securing civil rights for black people in the state of Alabama.

Now we are physically separated from one another in a time of a pandemic crisis, and now more than we knew at the time we must grow together even more closely to meet our current crises. The rapid global spread of COVID–19 forces us to recognize how interconnected we are in the physical world. It invokes in us the need to find new ways to bring comfort to one another, to cooperate with one another, and to overcome the ravages of disease and death. 

In an article I posted to Facebook shortly after reading, that tells us the oceans are heating up at a rate equal to five Hiroshima bombs being dropped into them every second. No. I did not want to learn that this week, but I did.

We need your support to continue sharing with the world a compassionate, informed, vital, and world changing Christianity. 

When you give to ProgressiveChristianity.org, you help us provide resources to a growing global community of pastors and neighbors who no longer fit into the modern box of ‘Christianity.’ With just 3 weeks left to give, here’s another reason why your gift matters:

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  (Paul, Ephesians 6:12, NRSV)

These are crucial times for the planet we call home. The toxic and institutionalized systems of racism, tribalism, colonialism, culture appropriation, sexism, and the general oppression of marginalized people have been thrust to the surface of our society. While this is scary and disturbing, it is also a necessary step toward the eradication of white privilege, white fragility, and an empiric worldview.

We have a very difficult time admitting it. But in order to be healthy and whole and to become the people we want to be (and think we are), it is necessary to come to terms with this. The truth will set us free.

Autumn Peltier already has years of advocacy behind her. She’s met the prime minister, she’s attended the Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly and she’s marched on the highway in the name of water protection. At just 13 years old, Peltier is now a nominee for the International Children’s Peace Prize.

If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you’ve probably gone through the struggle of whether or not you should commit yourself to a life of ministry. Everyone goes through the question sooner or later. Should you quit your day job and become a pastor? What about a full-time missionary? Perhaps closing yourself in your room to pray from morning to night is the answer.

Dorian Gray was above it all, privileged and pampered and proud, without good promise or purpose. Wilde’s implication is that conscience is necessary for the soul to survive.“What does it profit a person if, in gaining the whole world, loses the soul?”

The psychologist and genius Otto Rank, author of the classic work Art and Artist, said that if you want to know the soul of a nation go to its architecture first.  Notre Dame de Paris and the entire gothic revolution of the 12th century Renaissance that it encapsules (along with Chartres Cathedral 30 miles beyond Paris), tells us much about the soul of France.  And our own souls.

For decades there has been an ongoing struggle in the United Methodist Church (UMC) to adopt a policy of full inclusion of its LGBTQ parishioners and clergy and all the spiritual gifts we bring to the church. However, UMC voted at General Conference last month to uphold - 53% to 47% - its Traditionalist Plan, which is to oppose same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy. Now the church has the potential for a schism with its global delegation outweighing the U.S

So, how am I going to approach this task that is assigned to me to do? Am I going to approach the “work” ahead as something that I have to do, or am I going to approach it as something I get to do? All the tasks before me, when I look at them with the right set of lenses, are meditative, inner practices.

Monday, December 10th marks the 50th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s death—which has now been confirmed as a martyr’s death by the recent solid and important investigative study, The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton by Hugh Turley and David Marin (as well as by my own encounters over the years with three CIA agents who were in Southeast Asia at the time).

Activism is at the heart of progressive theology. The way of Jesus is both personal and social. Jesus’ embodiment of prophetic spirituality was reflected in his welcome of the marginalized, affirmation of women, expansion of the scope of salvation and ethical concern to include foreigners and the disinherited, and challenge to narrow purity codes which promoted exclusion. Jesus proclaimed that the “spirit of the Lord” was upon him, and this meant the healing of the social order as well as people’s religious lives.

  A Christian IS an asylum-seeker. All of us. Each of us. By definition. As refugees, don't we need to flee from the

A number of years ago, I did a consultation for a progressive congregation in which the relationship between contemplation and social action was a source of friendly debate. On one side, several congregational leaders asserted that the task of the church is to change the world.  The way of Jesus compels us to be activists, they contended, challenging anything that threatens human and nonhuman well-being. We must provide meals for the soup kitchen and volunteer in the local schools, but we must also challenge our leaders to “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). 

Imagine a person praying at bedtime. He is confused. Unsure of what to do in life. What are his next steps, he wonders? He prays fervently to God for direction. Amazingly enough, God answers! Love God Love one another

Bless the hands that vote. Ask people you meet: "With which hand will you be voting in November?" Grasp that hand, look the person in the eyes, and bless them, saying: "May love guide your hand to vote for the common good." Voting is a ritual. By putting even more ritual into it, by getting people implicitly committing to vote, we engage them in the ritual and increase the likelihood that they'll show up and do it.

How will you celebrate the UN International Day of Peace 2018? Let us know so we can be sure to include you in our featured news.

  I usually like to have things all figured out before I do something. I don't support charities without researching them nor vote