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CSA’s free weekly publication, a carefully curated collection of original articles at the intersection of spiritual formation and social action.
By Kristyn Komarnicki
Love in the midst of discomfort
Love your God, love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets rest on these two commands…
Leap of Faith is a full-length documentary from Nicholas Ma and Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) featuring pastors who commit to meeting for a year to look for a path to unity in the midst of polarized times.
From CSA
…Because this is not a time for ambiguity, we reject the idol of white supremacy, of neo-nazism, and of a nationalism that places country before God. We affirm that every person is made in the image of God.
By Mark Phifer-Houseman
I don’t really believe in prayer.
I’m not talking about mindfulness or centering or yoga-breath-prayer or contemplation in nature—all of which have immediate, easily measurable embodied benefits. I am talking about intercessory prayer the way Jesus, Paul, and your grandma talk about and practice.
By Jon Carlson
Where do you locate evil?
In the aftermath of the deadly white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, it’s easy to point to places where evil was active: evil was marching down the streets, under Confederate flags and Nazi swastikas.
By John Backman
Who in their right mind wants to be a prophet?
No one who’s read the Old Testament, that’s for sure. God kept asking prophets to do weird things, like go naked for three years as a warning (Isaiah 20:1-6), or marry a prostitute just to make a point (Hosea 1:2), or incur the wrath of people in power and end up left to die (Jeremiah 38:1-13).
By Amy Knorr
Recently, my family stayed with dear friends who have two darling little girls. One night, during bath time, screams erupted from the second floor. Leaving my own girls to work on the clean-up project we were in the middle of, I climbed the stairs to see if I could help.
By Nikki Toyama-Szeto
It is tempting to say the rally in Charlottesville to “Unite the Right” was ignorant. Or to call it bigotry. It’s easy to call this “divisions between people” or something else that analyzes, holds the situation at arm’s-length, and allows us to return to our plate of penne.
By Brett McCracken
God doesn’t love us because we are lovable, or because we first loved him. He loves us even while we rebelliously undermine his rule and flee his righteousness.
Nor did God love and choose Israel because they added something valuable to his existence or because they were irresistible.
By Russell Jeung
“I used to bus from work to UCLA and it would take two hours each way. That’s the whole day on the bus. And late at night, I’d be scared waiting at the bus stop alone.”
By Victor M. Parachin
When masses of people in Northern Ireland gathered to demand equal rights from the British, they rallied together singing a song of hope.
After the Cold War era came to an end, people in Eastern European countries protested communism by organizing huge demonstrations and singing a song to inspire courage.
By John Seel, PhD
I taught Kris in high school. His grade sheets are still on my computer. I cheered him in soccer, where he excelled. I wrote his college recommendations. I also attended his full military honors funeral.
Interview By Kristyn Komarnicki
Krista Tippett brings faith to public radio
Krista Tippett has been hosting the public radio show “On Being” (formerly “Speaking of Faith”) since 2003. Every week she gently but passionately probes the heart and mind of a new guest—pastor, scientist, poet, philosopher, practitioner—identifying and gathering treasures along the way.
By Sarah Withrow King
A year and a half ago, I wrote about my experience of standing under a beautiful tree, a tree that stretched its branches to the heavens in praise of its Creator, a tree that had been co-opted into the lynching of four black men.
By Melanie Springer Mock
From the very first pages of her memoir, Assimilate or Go Home, I felt an affinity with D.L. Mayfield. Perhaps I recognized my students in Mayfield’s idealism and innocence, a missionary fervor that burns brightly in many undergraduates who attend Christian universities like the one where I teach.
By Shadia Qubti
Growing up in the 90’s as an Evangelical kid who is part of the indigenous church in the Holy Land, we did not have Christian bookstores. Christian music resources were scarce. Those who had them, cherished them.
By Lauren Plummer
Earlier this month, neighbors and people of faith in Nashville, TN, celebrated the 4th of July a little differently. Rather than celebrating a traditional Independence Day, we gathered to consider and celebrate our interdependence with a cookout, fundraiser, and pledge to one another.
By Tyler Watson
Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan is a brilliant gut-punch. At least, it was to its original audience. It could be a gut-punch for us again, if we can set aside our familiarity with the story.
CSA is a group of Christian scholar-activists, stirring the imagination for a fuller expression of Christian faithfulness and a more just society.
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