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.
From CSA
New Copernicans are those who embrace a new and emerging social imaginary that is post-Enlightenment and post-secular in its ethos. Carried predominately by millennials, the New Copernican perspective is both the hope for the American evangelical church and the emerging soul of American culture.
By Norman Wirzba
Sometimes when I ask people what it is they are looking forward to in heaven, they have surprisingly little to say. “It’s gonna be great!” and “I’m not going to be in pain anymore” are about as specific as it gets.
By Kristyn Komarnicki
The history of our planet is one of abundance and beauty, of life and goodness. While there is also war and disease, pollution and decay, God’s dream for us is clearly the former.
By Darren Calhoun
A team from Christians for Social Action recently visited the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC on Twitter) in Washington, DC. Our purpose was the development of a one-day racial justice immersion experience for a variety of audiences—including students at our home base of Eastern University, church groups, and others in the CSA community.
By Elli Atchison and Molly Lorden
“When the righteous cry out the Lord hears them and delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:17-18
Jesus was no stranger to death and sorrow.
By Elrena Evans
My family recently took a road trip to Florida, because we thought logging over two thousand miles in a car with five kids would be fun. It was fun, actually—not without hiccups, as all road trips are, but even the hiccups were fodder for many family memories.
By Elli Atchison and Molly Lorden
“Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And then, love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:29
Jesus was no stranger to obedience. The King of Kings came quietly at his Father’s request.
By David P. Leong
Throughout high school, I worked in our family photo lab in Vancouver Mall, and on breaks I would walk around to see other store displays nearby. In the early to mid-’90s, there was a particular trend in a lot of the poster and gift shops, which would display large, patterned images with a “hidden 3D picture” out in front of the store.
By Sharon Watkins and Richard H. Lowery
Read Isaiah 50:4–9a.
“The Lord God helps me… / I know that I shall not be put to shame.”
Today’s reading is from the third of the so-called “servant songs” in the portion of the book scholars call “Second Isaiah.” The songs are reflections on the experiences of a “servant,” often clearly identified as Israel as a whole, but sometimes apparently referring to some sub-group or individual among the exiles in Babylonia.
By R. Maurice Boyd
O Thou who art as the shadow of a mighty rock in a weary land,
Comfort our distraught, distracted, and bewildered Nation.
Enable us to discern Thy judgements and Thy grace in the distress, confusion, and anxiety of our time.
By Fred Clark
You probably haven’t heard many sermons about Joshebbasshebeth the Tahchemonite. His story is tucked away in 10 verses at the end of 2 Samuel and besides, not many preachers want to pronounce names like Joshebbasshebeth from the pulpit.
By Jenny Rae Armstrong
I was nine years old when it happened, peering out the window of our second-story apartment in Monrovia, Liberia. The multiplex we lived in was in a good area, popular with internationals; the families on the top story were from India, the Peace Corps volunteers across the hall were American like us, and Mrs.
By Jan Johnson
Imagine three women standing in a town square, facing each other and reflecting on the current Middle East situation. These three women have just come from their respective places of worship. The oldest woman is Sarah, a Hebrew woman, the wife of Abraham, and matriarch to Isaac and Jacob.
By Sharon Watkins and Richard H. Lowery
Read Luke 7:1–10.
“A centurion there had a slave…”
People of the United States* reading this passage need to stutter at the word slave, a reminder of our own horrific national history.
By Lyndsay Mathews
Scrolling through Facebook these days can be a dangerous venture. And let’s not even talk about reading the actual news. With all the disheartening stories in the cycle, one would think the news about Madonna’s recent adoption of twin girls from Malawi would be uplifting, not discouraging.
By Laura Coulter
Every Saturday, by the highway near Wal-Mart,
you see him standing there alone.
Not much to notice about him,
nothing leaps to the eye.
Wiry hair gray as storm clouds.