By: Kari on October 23, 2025
“How do you share your faith in a country where proselytizing is illegal?” This is a question I often receive when I return to the United States. My answer echoes the quote commonly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.”[1] I desire to live my life in…
By: Shela Sullivan on October 22, 2025
Current Understanding and Beliefs Growing up in a non-Christian family in Malaysia and coming to faith later in life, I approach the relationship between Christian faith and political engagement with caution and curiosity. I am not politically savvy, and I am wary of how political discourse can divide communities, including the church. I believe faith…
By: Debbie Owen on October 22, 2025
I. Introduction I was raised to believe that faith and politics should never mix. Yet as the public witness of Christianity in America has become increasingly defined by partisanship, I can no longer separate the two so neatly. Losing Our Religion, written by Russell Moore, exposes how the church’s pursuit of power has often displaced…
By: Graham English on October 22, 2025
Reflective Framework: Politics, Faith, and Ideological Discipleship Opening Question – Current Understanding and Beliefs I believe that Christians are called to be Kingdom-minded, Christ-centred, and missionally engaged. This means that Christians are to live out their faith in every realm of life To be Kingdom-minded means we live as God’s citizens first in our communities…
By: Jeff Styer on October 21, 2025
Having read books, the Bible, and other sources of media, I have seen that religious beliefs have influenced the politics of nations and empires for centuries, for example, the laws of Israel and during exile we read how King Darius was encouraged to pass a law preventing anyone from petitioning any man or god except…
By: Glyn Barrett on October 21, 2025
I am a Pentecostal, I am not Evangelical, whilst also serving for a time on the board of the Evangelical Alliance in the UK. I say that to say many of the challenges written in “Losing our Religion”[1] and “Jesus and the Powers”[2] are not unique to Evangelicalism in America. The globalisation of the world…
By: Adam Cheney on October 20, 2025
Current Understandings When I returned to the United States after living in Kenya for five years, I was asked what I believed was Christianity’s biggest threat here in the U.S. My answer then, as it remains now, is Christian nationalism. For years, I have argued that Christian nationalism is the greatest obstacle to the true…
By: Ryan Thorson on October 20, 2025
Opening Reflection – Allegiance and FormationWe stood to honor veterans, and I clapped. Then the congregation turned toward the large American flag in the corner of the sanctuary, placed their hands over their hearts, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. I remained standing, but I did not raise my hand or recite the pledge. I…
By: Noel Liemam on October 16, 2025
Introduction My current take on the Israel-Gaza conflict is more than just a conflict. It is a wicked problem that is rooted within their history and their faith/religion. The Jewish are firmly rooted in Judaism while the Gaza (or the Palestinian) are strong in their faith as Muslims. Most of my views are shaped by…
By: Diane Tuttle on October 16, 2025
What do you currently understand, and how have your assumptions and emotions been shaped? My initial thoughts about the Israel-Palestinian conflict turn to the absolute complexity of it. Fundamental questions such as who owns land, what are the power, security and economic needs of a country and its people, who has a right to be…
By: Elysse Burns on October 16, 2025
On the morning of October 7th, before hearing of Hamas’s attack on Israel, I was reading Lamentations. In my journal, I noted: “All our enemies open their mouths against us… my eyes flow with rivers of tears for the destruction of my people” (Lam. 3:46–48). When the news broke hours later, those ancient words felt…
By: Kari on October 16, 2025
As I reflect on the Israel–Gaza conflict, I see it as a complicated and wicked problem. It has so many layers that no one can truly identify where it began. We could focus on the current war unfolding since October 7, 2023. Still, the roots go much deeper, extending beyond colonialism and predating Christ, reaching…
By: Adam Cheney on October 16, 2025
Current Assumptions: When it comes to the topic of Israel/Palestine/Hamas/Gaza I only have one word that immediately comes to mind. It is a Scandinavian word we use often in Minnesota – oofda. This topic is so complex, so nuanced, and so deeply historically tangled it is very difficult to wrap my mind around. At the…
By: Shela Sullivan on October 15, 2025
What do you currently understand, and how have your assumptions and emotions been shaped? The Israel–Gaza conflict is deeply rooted in decades of displacement, occupation, and competing national aspirations. My understanding is shaped by historical records, current events, and diverse perspectives, but I do not hold personal beliefs or emotions. I very much feel for…
By: Debbie Owen on October 14, 2025
A Christian reflection on fear, displacement, and the hope of shalom in Israel and Gaza. 1. What do you currently understand, and how have your assumptions and emotions been shaped? I did not grow up in a part of the country—nor in a church environment—that had much to say or think about the twentieth-century nation…
By: Ryan Thorson on October 13, 2025
Walking down the Mount of Olives, overlooking the city of peace, my heart and mind tried to picture what Jesus would have seen riding in on a donkey—the crowds and palms, the temple mount rising above the city. He knew He was coming to be rejected, even as the people cried for a savior. Pulling…
By: Noel Liemam on October 9, 2025
Knowledge and Belief Before the Advance Meeting in Cape Town, I had a totally different perspective on the nature and legacy of colonialism, slavery, and religious empire. My thoughts about them are blurry and based on what I had learned before which was taken lightly as, just stories – no life to it. I envisioned…
By: Daren Jaime on October 9, 2025
Growing up, I don’t remember hearing the word Colonialism in school, although we were taught about the various occurrences in America and beyond. In my formative years, American colonialism was portrayed with words such as settlers, pioneers, and the like. The understanding I initially had centered around an exploration mission leading to the expansion…
By: Elysse Burns on October 9, 2025
My understanding of colonialism, slavery, and empire has been shaped by my education, my experiences in Africa, and my upbringing in the church. My earliest awareness of slavery came through the story of the Exodus. Though my family isn’t Jewish, one year we celebrated Passover. My mom went all out—matzah, bitter herbs, salt water—everything prepared…
By: Joel Zantingh on October 9, 2025
This post reflects on the current cultural grappling with our world’s Colonial past, and the shifting tide of a predominant Western cultural narrative that emphasizes the evils and calls for decolonization. I will explore five questions and then draw some conclusions. Current Knowledge and Belief My current view on the nature and legacy of colonialism,…
