Resisting the Single Story: What Advent Teaches About Power
By Laurie Nichols
Every powerful system has a way of telling its own story.
It tells us who matters, who gets to speak, and who should stay quiet. It rewards certainty and punishes nuance.
This Online Articles area (formerly our Library) gathers reflections, op-eds, and essays that engage the pressing questions of faith, justice, and public life. Here, you’ll find hundreds of thoughtful and engaging pieces from scholars, practitioners, and everyday Christians — leaders and writers who bring fresh insight and faithful imagination. These articles are meant to spark deeper discipleship, fuel courageous action, and equip the church to embody the gospel in a complex world. We invite you to explore, learn, and join the ongoing conversation toward a fuller expression of Christian faithfulness and a more just society.
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By Laurie Nichols
Every powerful system has a way of telling its own story.
It tells us who matters, who gets to speak, and who should stay quiet. It rewards certainty and punishes nuance.
By Liz Cooledge Jenkins
Over the past few months, many relatively-privileged people in the U.S. have experienced the terror and overwhelm of empire’s destructive violence in a highly personal way for the first time.
But others have been processing the horrors of living under the thumb of empire for a long time already.
Interview By CSA Staff
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant possibility—it’s here, transforming our daily lives in ways both subtle and sweeping. From predictive algorithms to real-time translation, AI is shaping how we work, connect, and even imagine what it means to be human.
By Beth Malena
Do you ever have a book on your “to-read” pile that suddenly skips to the top of your list?
This year, I was struggling with what to preach to the queer-centric church I co-pastor in Vancouver, BC, as we collectively witnessed rising authoritarianism (not just south of us, but also in Canada), the world’s failure to stop a genocide, and the scapegoating of immigrants and trans people.
By AnaYelsi Velasco Sánchez
Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry, reminds us: “Rest is a form of resistance, because it disrupts and pushes back against capitalism and white supremacy.” But that’s only true when rest is paired with resistance.
By Christine Sine
Why is it so difficult to put God’s priorities first? We talk about Sabbath but find it hard to practice. Could it be that we’ve misunderstood its purpose? The busyness and consumerism of our culture not only steal our time but also shape our focus.
By Amy Knorr
On that first solo-driving day, as my daughter backed out of the garage and onto the road with a smile and a little wave, I swear I saw the gossamer shape of a 5-year-old, hands clenched on the handlebars of a tiny bike, pedaling shakily down the street with that familiar left-right wobble of a new rider.
Interviewed By CSA Staff
Justice-seeking Christians often find themselves running on empty—exhausted, reactive, and spiritually disoriented in the face of unrelenting need. In his new book, Beauty and Resistance, author and spiritual leader Jonathan P.
By Melanie Springer Mock
Textbook orders for the spring semester were due in a few days, the 2024 presidential election still a month away. In January, I’d begin teaching International Women’s Literature for the first time in 20 years, and to freshen up my reading list, I added several books from “best of” lists—authors I’d not read before, but whose work seemed appropriate for the course’s objectives.
Reviewed By Bill White
A compelling and compassionate invitation to read the Bible with honesty, integrity, and the healing lens of Jesus.
Better Ways to Read the Bible (Baker Book House, 2025) is a dangerous book.
By Rohadi Nagassar
The words of the Apostle Thomas, uttered days after the resurrection, have lived on in infamy. His disbelief that Jesus had truly conquered death made him understandably skeptical:
“Unless I see in his hands the holes from the nails, and put my finger into those holes, and put my hand on his side, I’ll never believe.”
Later, Jesus appears again.
By Amanda Martinez Beck
When Jesus appears to the disciples while they are hiding behind locked doors after the crucifixion, his first words are, “Peace be with you!” (Luke 24:36-49). Luke tells us the disciples are “startled and frightened,” and to calm them—to give them the peace he just offered—Jesus shows them his hands and feet.
By Kenji Kuramitsu
“As surely as sparks fly upwards, so too are human beings born to trouble.” —Job 5:7
Our short sojourn on this side of eternity is inevitably marked by pain and loss.
By CSA Staff
CSA is thrilled to welcome Laurie Nichols as our new Director of Communications. A lifelong storyteller and strategic communicator, Laurie brings more than two decades of experience helping people and organizations tell the truth—about God, the world, and themselves.
By AnaYelsi Velasco Sánchez
“The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture.” —Walter Brueggemann
Liberation Starts in the Imagination
For me, justice begins with radical imagination.
By Mark Glanville
Justice work isn’t just about policy and protest, it’s also about creating beauty. To pursue justice effectively it should include knowing and making with an artistic intuition. There is a woven kinship of artists who are Christ followers: we are they who seek to hear and see clearly.
By CSA Staff
What does it look like when faith goes beyond the pulpit?
In this episode of 20 Minute Takes, CSA Executive Director Nikki Toyama-Szeto sits down with Eugene Cho, president of Bread for the World and longtime pastor, to talk about the intersection of faith, justice, and hunger.