The early Christians felt a deep collision with the empire in which they lived, and with politics as usual. They carelessly crossed party lines and built subversive friendships. And we should do that too.

We should refuse to get sucked into political camps and insist on pulling the best out of all of them. That's what Jesus did - challenge the worst of each camp and pull out the best of each.

A pastor friend of mine said, "Our problem is that we no longer have martyrs. We only have celebrities.

Money has power. And so withholding money has power too, especially when a bunch of people do it together.

We can ignore suffering no matter where we live. There are people who live a few miles from me who never see much poverty or the injustices that live on our doorstep.

Certainly the institutional church is ill. It's hemorrhaging young people at an astronomical rate.

Discontentment is a gift. It's the stuff that changes the world.