Dear friends,

I’m delighted to share that my video course “Neighbor-Love” is now fully available for free on YouTube.

This seven-lecture course dives deep into the history, spirituality, and contemporary practice of neighbor-love. It’s core message? We’re all fundamentally connected, equally precious in value, and invited by God to make love the very center of our lives.

Each lecture unfolds through several short videos – typically between two and five minutes long. This bite-sized pacing keeps the feast light and lets you sample what looks interesting to you.

Neighbor-love is such a beautiful, hopeful, transformative way of being human. It plots a thought-provoking story of spiritual and cultural revolution, leading to historic innovations like public hospitals and human rights. Jesus promised, “Love God and your neighbor, and you will flourish” (Luke 10:28). I hope this course energizes your faith and flourishing as we write together today’s chapter of neighbor-love.

In the course, I delve into many of our most inspiring teachers and practitioners – from Jesus to St... Read More

Dear friends,

A woman named Suzen recently reached out and told me a bit of her story. She describes herself as a “Mexican mama” with a love for storytelling. I was so inspired, and Suzen generously agreed to let me share her experience with you.

This summer, Suzen and her husband Chris heard about my book Flourishing on the Edge of Faith while listening to a podcast. They were preparing for a road trip, and they decided to read it together as they traveled.

Unsettling Us-vs-Them 

The first chapter stuck with Suzen. It’s all about how Jesus teaches us to call God “Our Father.” Suzen grew up praying the “Our Father” and experienced it as a dusty “man-made ritual.” But Jesus’s invitation was surprising and life-changing, in his context and ours still today.

The first people Jesus invited to call God “our Father” came from wildly different backgrounds. Many of them looked at one another with deep suspicion, frustration, and even hatred... Read More

Dear friends,

Not long ago, I received a text message unlike any I’ve ever received before. To my knowledge, it was literally the first time in my life. What was so unprecedented?

The text‘s sentences were grammatically perfect. There were no spelling errors. The vocabulary was colorful and rich. The meaning of the message was warm and full of gratitude.

But none of this was totally new. The novelty of the message was that I knew it was generated by ChatGPT.

The person who sent it to me is a dear friend for whom English is their second language. They are very capable and expressive in English; we’ve been communicating for many years. But I knew they couldn’t write this “perfectly” in English.

Receiving this unprecedented text was an interesting experience. On the one hand, it was the most technically advanced, colorfully expressive text message I’ve ever received from this friend. It was “perfect” and would seem like their “best.” But on the other hand, it was probably the most meaningless text that I’ve ever received from them... Read More

Dear friends,

How do you celebrate the Fourth of July or a similar patriotic holiday in your national context?

One of my habits is to read Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” I consider this one of the most powerful and profound speeches in American history.

I also see it as an enduring paradigm for faithful Christian patriotism today. It shows us how people of faith can wisely commemorate political holidays and relate to their countries. Below, I’ll summarize Douglass’s faithful patriotism as appreciation, confrontation, and aspiration.

This week, I invite you to spend some time reading or listening to Douglass’s speech. Sadly, both links only offer brief excerpts. The full speech is available in this new collection of Douglass’s writings, which I’ll quote from below: Douglass: Speeches and Writings (New York, NY: Library of America, 2022), edited by David Blight.

In what follows, I offer a brief introduction to Douglass’s life leading up to his historic speech and then unpack it as a paradigm of faithful patriotism... Read More

Dear friends,

Happy news! My publisher BitterSweet Collective is now offering a buy-one-get-one-FREE deal on Flourishing on the Edge of Faith. The sale is only available at bittersweetcollective.com and lasts until 11:59pm on July 4th.

If you’ve been meaning to dive in or get a copy for a friend, this is a perfect opportunity. The book is also conveniently designed for group reading and comes with a study guide at the back. Consider gathering some friends and enriching your summer. Please visit bittersweetcollective.com. 

Thanks to everyone who listened to the BEMA Podcast episode on Flourishing on the Edge of Faith. Your feedback has been so encouraging, and I’m delighted the conversation was life-giving to you. The hosts shared that the episode has been downloaded over 20,000 times already!

As a writer, there’s a special joy when a complete stranger discovers and engages my work. This week, I was delighted to learn that Ric Hudgens – a Chicago-based pastor, professor, and poet – published a review of Flourishing in The Englewood Review of Books... Read More