There are financial bankruptcies in many parts of the church. No question about that. But we see the possibility of reimagining and revitalizing the church.

We need to be politically engaged, but peculiar in how we engage. Jesus and the early Christians had a marvelous political imagination. They turned all the presumptions and ideas of power and blessing upside down.

One of the great dangers in political engagement is misplaced hope.

The more I get to know Jesus, the more trouble he seems to get me into.

I engage with local politics because it affects people I love. And I engage in national politics because it affects people I love.

You can't really learn God's hope like you learn the logic of an argument or the details of a story. It's more like learning to belly laugh. You catch hope from someone who has it down in their gut.

The church is like Noah's ark. It stinks, but if you get out of it, you'll drown.