How should I respond if my young children take the stories of the Bible literally when I don’t believe in a literal reading?

Since the dawning of creation, God continues to be the great conundrum, the great mystery, the great unknown, the great challenge of human existence.  This God is not only the God of Christianity, but also the God of Judaism and Islam and other world religions who call on God’s name.

Shortly after I met the Satanists, I told a Christian friend about their social advocacy.“How do you know it’s not a trap, though?” Her brow furrowed. “Maybe they just act progressive to lure people in, then trick you into worshipping the Devil.”

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.

Most congregational leaders find it difficult to resist the dominant cultural expectation that different cultural and ethnic groups should stick to themselves–especially when it comes to church.

Black Lives Matter. It’s a vibrant, grassroots movement in the United States that grew out of the unspeakable killings of black men, women, children, genderqueer folk, by state and government sanctioned police officers. Black people—and people of colour—gathering to say, “Enough! Don’t kill us. We matter too.”

So let’s start with listing the reasons why LGBTQ+ individuals might not want to go to church at all.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s recent comments to Notre Dame law students Law are spot on. But in raising concerns about the “forces of secularization,” he and other religious conservatives need self-reflection. They have done more to secularize America than the combined efforts of liberals, atheists, and card-carrying members of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

. So much attention is paid in churches and in Christian organizations to catechisms and creeds that faith is often equated with a set of religious beliefs. Many Christian organizations define themselves by what they believe and only accept those who sign up to their set of beliefs. In the creeds there’s no mention of love, of feelings of hope or of joy, or of actually doing anything, and very little attention given to any of these in most lists of beliefs.

Have you ever paused to consider that dialogue between people of different Christian and non-Christian religious traditions is actually a way to respect life itself?

Facing the truth about who we are as Lutherans means facing up to the reality of the history of anti-Semitism. The truth about who and what I am is far from the ideal image of the person I long to be.

Jacqueline Bussie knows that too many Christians live according to unspoken “laws” that govern the Christian life: #1: Never get angry at God; #2: Never doubt; #3: Never question; #4: Never tell your real story; #5: Always speak in clichés about evil and suffering; and #6: Always believe hope comes easy for those who truly love God.

Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber on how she experienced a divine intervention that changed her view of God from being one she feared to one that symbolizes grace.

Watch 2 videos of J.J. Warren on the General Conference of the United Methodist Church’s decision on homosexuality.

Sociologist and Critical Race Theorist, Nikki Blak & Cultural Anthropologist and Theologian, EbonyJanice have joined forces, once again, to bring to you all the blackity black woman truth and perspective on the divine.

Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder and Rev. Deshna Charron Shine discuss what makes a healthy and thriving church community, how to continually feel nourished by the teachings of Jesus, and how our beliefs inform our actions.

In “ZeroTheology”, John Tucker argues that not only can one be a Christian without holding any traditional beliefs but that one can only be a Christian by getting out of religious belief altogether.

Beginning in the 1970s evangelical Christians decided to become involved in our nation’s political life by becoming Republican partisans. Today they are widely considered the Republican Party’s most reliable constituency. In the process American politics has become more bitter, chaotic, divisive, and now dysfunctional.