When I first created the weekly “Dear Working Preacher” letter at workingpreacher.org, I realized almost immediately that there was something I could do for preachers each week that was as important as it was easy: say thank you. All I wanted to do in that last sentence or two was to offer simple recognition of the hard work and dedication that preachers bring to their calling and to let them know that someone noticed…and appreciated it. Interesting, of all the comments and emails I’ve received over the years about the value of that letter, the one thing folks commented on more than anything else were those closing words of...

We all probably have our short list of the great dangers our world faces. Indeed, since the development and use of the atomic bomb, psychologists have talked about the “free-floating” anxiety of our time, an unnamed but nearly all-pervasive concern about the fate of ourselves and the world. So what’s on your list? Environmental degradation? Diminishing fossil fuels and other natural resources? Overwhelming poverty? The chance of devastating war? Certainly those are all on my list, too. But above all of them is my concern that we are increasingly living fractured lives, disconnected from each other and all too-often...

I’m at a meeting of the Board of Lutheran World Relief. So I don’t have a lot of time to write, but I do have a plenty of time to be in awe; in fact, I find myself in awe almost all the time while I’m here. In awe of the faithfulness and effectiveness of this talented, dedicated, and diverse staff that has committed itself to Micah’s injunction to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (6:8); In awe of the reach of the organization as it makes a difference in the lives of people, literally, all over the world. In awe of the impact and responsiveness of LWR to emergency...

There’s a lot to like about this interview with Bill and Melinda Gates. There’s the joy they clearly have in working together. There’s the regular testimony of Melinda Gates to her faith, a faith that inspires her to action and to question some of the authorities in her faith tradition. There’s the clear sense of urgency, priority, and optimism that colors their work. But perhaps my favorite thing of the interview is the delighted admission that giving their wealth away has been the most satisfying thing they’ve ever done. Yes, that’s true when you have billions to give. And, yes, that’s equally true when it’s dollar bills....

What do you do when someone offends you, or tries to hurt you, or goes out of their way to slight you? As persons of faith, we  confess that we would try – huge emphasis on try – to return that hurt with compassion and forgiveness. This is what we see in Jesus’ life and, most acutely, in his death and resurrection: his refusal to return hate but instead to offer love, believing and trusting that love, ultimately, is more powerful than hate. While I find this message in Scripture regularly, however, it’s also nice to have it reaffirmed in the public square and, at times, in the commercial square. Honeymaid, the company who for years...