But how is up to us. It’s summer in Silicon Valley, and I’m out for a jog in my neighborhood. It’s the most beautiful time of year: blossoming orange trees, beds thick with poppies, palm-sized roses in fuchsia and lemon. There’s a trickle of water in the creek, temperatures are cooler than previous summers, and…

Neutrality doesn’t work in church. But we can recover the heart of our faith. I’m a textbook middle child. I’ve spent a lifetime perfecting the art of placation, walking fine lines and threading needles. For years as a pastor, I relied on such diplomatic instincts to shepherd a politically and theologically diverse congregation. In our…

3 tools to help us develop empathy. Eight years ago, my younger brother, Timothy D. Kim, was murdered. Tim and I didn’t always get along or agree on everything; we were very different. But Tim had so many good qualities. We shared lots of laughs and love. My heart grieves whenever I hear that siblings…

The theologian set aside his nearly finished magnum opus while in prison, investing instead in creative writing. “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” “A Christian’s secular vocation receives new recognition from the gospel only to the extent that it is carried on while following Jesus.” You may have heard these…

Our ideological opponents are not the enemy. Someone who grew up in a more liberal religious tradition than mine once told me the sermons in his church were always boring, especially on Easter Sunday. “That was the day the pastor had to deal with the Resurrection,” a doctrine about which he was at best squeamish…

Theologian Michelle Lee-Barnewall reflects on her ethnic identity and her identity in Christ. We live in a world where race relations receive near-constant attention. Conversations about race permeate our politics, schools, universities, sporting events, concerts, health services—and our churches as well. And yet in public discourse, complex and wide-reaching issues of race are often reduced…

Despite their crucial role in congregational life, 83 percent of women’s ministry leaders remain unpaid. I want to tell you about a church leader I know. He heads up a ministry at his local church that provides spiritual formation for more than half its adult population—imagine him leading a Korean American ministry in a majority…

The late Jimmy Buffett’s songs and the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien both long for a home just beyond reach. This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here. One cannot imagine Jimmy Buffett and J. R. R. Tolkien in a room together, sharing a “cheeseburger in paradise” at The Eagle and Child. Tolkien was…