Online Articles

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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CSA’s free weekly publication, a carefully curated collection of original articles at the intersection of spiritual formation and social action.

Building Futures from the Ground Up: How Zion’s Closet Is Transforming Title I Schools

By Terence Lester, PhD

(Editor’s note: This is Part 3 of a 4-part series on economic injustice. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. In this post, Dr. Terence Lester shows how compassion can grow into systemic change.)

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In 2016, with the support of my family and board of directors, I launched a campaign called MAP16 (March Against Poverty) to walk from Atlanta, GA, to the White House to raise awareness about homelessness in the U.S.

Some Voices are Still Voiceless

By Matt Curcio
If you haven’t heard yet, Donald Trump will take office in January 2017. Some of those reading this voted for him, some of you are still reeling from his win. I am not here to stretch out those discussions any further.

A Parking Lot Apology

By Richard Bauman
Driving through the supermarket parking lot I almost ran over a woman hurrying from the store to her car. I had made a mistake: I was looking to the left and turning right when she charged out of the store, pushing an overflowing shopping cart almost directly in front of my car.

Bringing Christ’s Hope to Families: The Institute for Family Vitality

By Melissa Helmbrecht

’Tis the season for giving—toy donations, coat drives, food closets. Salvation Army bells are ringing all across America. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, almost a quarter of all charitable donations in a given year are made between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

The Dangers of White Evangelical Nostalgia

By Todd Lake

What is it about white evangelicals that makes us long for an earlier Golden Age? The problem is not new. Over two millennia ago, the author of Ecclesiastes had to admonish, “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’”

A dangerous nostalgia is washing over much of the white evangelical world, and the election of Donald Trump as 45th president of the United States is one of the consequences.

Naked at Church?

By Derek Kaser

Can people get naked at your church? Can they bare everything and still be accepted without hesitation?

Fear not—I’m not suggesting we should make room for streakers at church. I’m talking about emotional nakedness.

When All You Can Do Is Laugh

By Drew Jackson
God made a covenant with Abram, promising him a land and innumerable descendants. The problem, however, was that he and his wife Sarai were old, well beyond the age of humanly being able to conceive.

Building a Family Around Dialogue

By Kristyn Komarnicki
A couple weeks ago I met up with six Oriented to Love (OTL) dialogue alums who had agreed to model loving dialogue for a group of Eastern University students. We’d been invited by the university’s director of student life, as part of their “Perspectives” series, which features presentations on divisive topics.

Teaching our Children to Love in a Divisive Culture

By Nicole T. Walters

The day before my daughter started kindergarten we drove as a family to a silent school, where nearly one thousand students would enter the next day. We walked around the playgrounds and the bus loading zones as we prayed for the students that would spend much of the next year of their lives there.

Light Shines in Darkness

By Churches for Middle East Peace

In him was life, and that life was the light of the people.
The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ~ John 1:4-5

Advent is a season of waiting.

Chasing a Star

By Sarah Are
God of yesterday, and God of the here and now.
My neighbors say they are hungry. And you say, Love your neighbor as yourself.
My neighbors say they are tired.

Advent Revolutions

By Elrena Evans

“What’s your Christmas revolution?” My 10-year-old called from the back seat on the way to school.

“What?” I said.

“You know, revolutions,” he said. “Like New Year’s revolutions.

The Kingdom Family

By Tim Otto

Jesus’ own life and teachings underscore that marriage and family now take a back seat to the universal proclamation of God’s salvation and the formation of a new “first family”—a world-wide kingdom-building company, in which membership depends not at all on bloodlines, but on faith in the Messiah.

Repair, Reconciliation, Restoration

By Amy Knorr
Each year, my maple tree burns achingly bright in the backyard. A few weeks ago, that maple shone in the grey drizzle of the morning after. I needed that bright light in the midst of grey.