A Blog from David Crump
Last week’s school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas brings the count to 22. That’s right. Five months into 2018 and there have already been 22 school shootings (slightly more than 1 mass shooting per week) in America. Widen the circle beyond our schools and there have been 101 mass shootings in this country so far … Continue reading “America’s Gun Idolatry and Fake Christianity #gunsinchurch #schoolshootings”
NOTE: Jamie Smith is a friend of mine. We were colleagues at Calvin College for many years. He is also the fellow who gave me the nudge to write my book, I Pledge Allegiance: A Believer’s Guide to Kingdom Citizenship in 21st Century America. Awaiting the King: Reforming Public Theology is the final volume in … Continue reading “A Review of James K. A. Smith’s book, Awaiting the King: Reforming Public Theology”
The loss of special privilege is not persecution. Let me say it again: The loss of special privilege is not persecution. Furthermore, the loss of religious privilege is neither religious persecution nor an infringement of religious liberty. Rather, it is an honoring of the American ideal that no religion will receive special government patronage. Unfortunately, this … Continue reading “Sorry, I Don’t Need Government Sanction for My Prayer Life”
Jesus warns his followers that when they live as he lived and invite others to inhabit the kingdom of God as he did, they would experience opposition. In the Sermon on the Mount, he encourages them by saying, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because … Continue reading “The Church Fights for a Seat at the Head of the Table, An Excerpt from “I Pledge Allegiance””
Rarely have I seen such a sorry sight as the rows of obsequious, evangelical sycophants lined up on either side of president Trump in the Rose Garden last Thursday. Basking in the bogus allure of Oval Office access, partisan grins stretched from cheek to cheek, they all had deceived themselves into believed they were actually … Continue reading “Trump’s Proclamation on the National Day of Prayer, 2018 Was an Exercise in Idolatry and Faithlessness, as It Has Always Been”
OK, so, I lied. I originally said that this would be a 3-part series on the biblical concept of holiness. But, as happens with much of my writing, it has grown into at least a 4-part, maybe even a 5-part, series. This is the 3rd installment. In part 1 I explained how a proper understanding … Continue reading “The Meaning of Holiness, Part 2B”
I plan on periodically sharing excerpts from the writings of Sǿren Kierkegaard, one of my favorite Christian authors. Whether or not you agree with him, he is always worth reading (very slowly) and pondering (usually, for a long time). Here is our Kierkegaard reading for today: “Hardship is the road [for the Christian life]. Far … Continue reading “Keeping Christianity Difficult with Sǿren Kierkegaard”
It has happened to me before, but not by so many – and at both services! I believe that every church elder in the first service, and several congregants and/or visitors in the second service, walked out at the midpoint of my message. More than that, the elders called me into a meeting between services … Continue reading “The Morning the Elders Walked Out on Me”
Jim Wallis and the Sojourners team recently convened a group of Christian leaders at a private retreat in order to pray, lament the state of American politics, and compose a declaration entitled “Reclaiming Jesus: A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis.” The statement’s opening paragraph reads: We are living through perilous and polarizing times … Continue reading “Sojourners’ “Reclaiming Jesus” and the Sin of Selective Outrage”
Here is an excerpt from my new book, I Pledge Allegiance: A Believer’s Guide to Kingdom Citizenship in 21st-Century America, pages 190-94. Consult the print edition to follow up on the notes. Available from: Eerdmans or Barnes&Noble or Amazon Strengthening the Community of Kingdom Citizens My brief but significant experience of spontaneous community that hot … Continue reading “Strengthening the Community of Kingdom Citizens, An Excerpt from My New Book”