We were wealthy and Southern and had everything that went along with both: a close-knit community, punctilious social obligations, and money to stay afloat. In the world in which I grew up, everyone surely kne ...

Less than one percent of the federal budget goes to foreign aid. Our spending on development and foreign assistance is not -- by any stretch of the facts or imagination -- our national debt. ...

A reporter recently asked me, "As a Christian leader, does your faith have anything to say about Wall Street?" I said, "How much time do you have?" The Christian message has a lot to say ...

The idea behind my new book BELIEBER!: Fame, Faith and The Heart of Justin Bieber was to peel back the veneer of celebrity and take a closer look at Justin as a person and as a cultural phenomenon ...

In case you missed it, National Public Radio's Goddess of Conversation, Terry Gross, had a simply outstanding, incredibly moving interview with the author Maurice Sendak on Tuesday's Fresh Air. ...

I think I was about nine or ten years old when I first heard the passage read. Or first really listened to it, anyway. I sat in church, likely running the crease of the bulletin under my fingernails, trying ...

<p><a href="/sites/default/files/images/1100609-sungchoi.jpg"></a>Have you heard the story of Sung-Bong Choi? I absolutely love these kinds of stories. And it's not that I just ...

In Tucson, Arizona, President Obama spoke to the state of the nation's soul. Next Tuesday, January 25, he will speak to the state of the union. In Tucson, Arizona, President ...

Like many others who are currently unemployed or partially employed, this seminary graduate finds herself with unexpected time on her hands. Like many others who are currently une ...

<p><a href="/sites/default/files/images/100809-haiti-partners-updat.jpg"></a>Driving today through Port-au-Prince in the glaring summer sun, there is still plenty of rubble being re ...

From what I hear, if you are taking a trip to the Holy Land you can visit the actual road from Jerusalem to modern-day Jericho, and local tour guides are happy, for the right price, to show you the ...

A few weeks ago <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2010/05/21/ignoramus-racial-moments-and-interracial-adoption/">I traveled to Ethiopia to pick up our adopted son, Isaac.</a> Isaac was abando ...

Psalm 94 is not my psalm, and perhaps it's not yours either. Psalm 8; Psalm 23; Psalm 100. They get a lot of air time because they really speak to us. Psalm 94 is not my ps ...

One month later rain pours into the streets of Port-au-Prince. One month later rain pours into the streets of Port-au-Prince. Some call it "fresh misery." I think, h ...

<p>I was at the supermarket at my home in Florida with my two young daughters when my sister-in-law called to ask if I'd heard that there had been an earthquake in Haiti. I was a bit stunned. " ...

"Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:17</p> "Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead fo ...

I've long been interested in archaeology, particularly <a href="http://www.bib-arch.org/">biblical archaeology</a>. I've long been interested in ar ...

<p>Earlier this month, the nice folks over at The Washington Post's Outlook section asked me to write an essay about what I thought the worst religious idea of the past decade was. I ended up giving ...

<p><a href="http://www.ryanrodrickbeiler.com/Protests-and-Rallies/May-Day-Immigration-Rally/8116193_7PzaR#530383196_HMehM"></a>"We believe the scriptures are God's revelat ...

Here's a post from one of my favorite blogs titled, <em><a href="http://dritta.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/stand-up-for-christmas/" target="_blank">'Stand Up for Christma ...

A popular argument amongst political conservatives goes like this: while they grant that Scripture requires concern and care for the poor and marginalized, that concern is one to be addressed by in ...

<strong> </strong></p> The media coverage of Afghanistan focuses, on the one hand, on the evils of the Taliban and, on the other hand, on the necessi ...

During the last few days, Psalm 109:8, a Bible verse in the form of a "prayer for Obama," has topped the Google trends chart: "May his days be few; may another take his office." Evidently ...

<blockquote><p style="text-align: left;">"I do the work of justice not out of a disdain for the privileged but out of a love for Life." - <em>Womanist Theologian Dr. Kelly ...