When Death Is So Near: A Spoken Word Poem

Yesterday I did something impulsively, something I had never done before. Let me back up and offer some context… My friend Ruthie Johnson wrote a poem yesterday. She is a person of color and lives 5 miles from where Philando Castile was shot. She wrote …

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Wendell Berry, “To a Siberian Woodsman”

Today was a day full of activity…meetings, emails, and phone conversations. The work of a pastor is not a weekend gig and neither is it a 9-5, clock-in/clock-out kind of vocation. I love serving the church, but it requires us to wear a lot of …

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Pope Francis before Congress [FULL TEXT]

Like many people around the country I watched and listened with eager anticipation to Pope Francis’ address to a joint session of congress yesterday. I have followed some of the reaction to his address in the last 24 hours and as with anything touching on …

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My New Book: Through the Eyes of N.T. Wright is Here

I am proud to announce the release of my new book: Through the Eyes of N.T. Wright: A Reader’s Guide to Paul and the Faithfulness of God. It is now available in paperback and on Kindle. Everyone has heroes. When I was growing up, mine …

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Radical Authenticity, Sexuality, And Spiritual Transformation

(One of the reasons I haven’t blogged here very often is because I have been blogging once a month for Missio Alliance. The following blog was first posted on the Missio Alliance blog on November 14, 2014. I thought it would good to post it again …

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Buffalo River Trail Hike (Boxley to Kyles Landing): May 22-24, 2015

The Buffalo River Trail (BRT) is a 36.5 mile hiking trail in Northern Arkansas about an hour or so East of Springdale. The Buffalo River is a National River running 135 miles through Arkansas. It is a popular destination for float trips. There are a lot …

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Berryman Trail Hike: April 9-10, 2015

The Berryman Trail (BT) is a 27-mile trail in between Steelville and Potosi about an hour south of St. Louis, Missouri. The BT is a loop, making it possible to hike the trail over 2 days without needing a shuttle. I hiked the trail with Ben, …

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