Though some believe reconciliation is code for liberal partisanship and others are that reconciliation is cover for white supremacy, I am convinced that racial reconciliation is central to the gospel. Here are six of the theological assumptions behind my conviction. buttondown.com/david.w.swan...

Six Assumptions About Reconciliation

Identifying the theological whys behind racial reconciliation

buttondown.com

Beware the preacher, politician, pundit, or prophet who claims to stand for righteousness while remaining protected by privilege, silent about suffering, and indifferent to injustice. "They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness." - Jeremiah 23:14

In an age of violence, nothing about the way of Jesus is safe. It is, however, still the only way to peace.

"Columbus managed to combine religion and real estate in his proclamation of discovery, claiming the new world for Catholicism and Spain. Missionaries have been unable to distinguish between religious mission and their hunger for land ever since." - Vine Deloria, Custer Died for Your Sins

Speaking of a Mississippi lynching in 1892, Ida B. Wells could well be describing the way we remain so committed to violence that we will not mourn the destruction of our neighbors.

Really wonderful to be back in western North Carolina, if even for just 24 hours, where autumn is just beginning its spectacular entrance.

We are compelled to seek justice not by the whims of our own conflicted convictions or fleeting feelings. No, we need a more enduring motivation if our efforts and not just our aims are to be just.

"When scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men. When we foolishly maximize the minimum and minimize the maximum we sign the warrant for our own day of doom." - Martin Luther King, Jr.; "The Three Evils of Society," (1967)

A lot of multiracial churches are disconnected from the Black Church... and it shows.

Ideologues and partisans differentiate themselves by the kinds of people they are most willing to kill. Christians distinguish ourselves by our dedication to everyone's right to live.

"Whether by omission or commission, the forces of racial division, antipathy, and dehumanizing exploitation depend on the participation of sinful people like me." buttondown.com/david.w.swan...

Pendulums and Repentance

Choosing solidarity by jumping into the fray

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As people are treated like machines and machines are imagined as people, as we are increasingly desperate for spaces to experience the sacred nature of our God-given humanity, may our churches double-down on the embodied, incarnate, and decidedly anti-machine nature of the Body of Christ.

Once, when traveling in England to advocate for racial equality back home, Ida B. Wells was asked what the world-renowned evangelist D.L. Moody had done to advocate against the white lynch mobs terrorizing Black U.S. citizens.

These are the two books I think about every single time another tech leader warns about the existential risks posed by A.I. while simultaneously developing the technology as quickly as possible.

Next month I'll begin facilitating a preaching cohort with Charlie Dates. "The Prophet in the Pulpit" is designed to equip preachers to build sermons that courageously proclaim the gospel in the face of injustice while faithfully illuminating scriptures. Info: wheatonbillygraham.com/preaching-in...

I've seen it again and again during my years in ministry– the malformed intuition that a person must choose between God's righteousness and a commitment to justice. But as Charlie Dates writes in his new book, this separation couldn't be more wrong. 1/

I'm glad to be partnering with my friend Charlie Dates for this preaching cohort. Covering many of the basics of sermon preparation and delivery, we'll also focus on preaching God's heart for justice and righteousness. Learn more or register here: wheatonbillygraham.com/preaching-in...

"A break from being expected to say things about God can allow a pastor to be freshly destabilized by the reality of God." My sabbatical begins tomorrow and this is one of the things I'm most looking forward to. buttondown.com/david.w.swan...

The Hazards of God-Talk

The sabbatical invitation to say less

buttondown.com

Our nonprofit is hiring part-time and full-time positions! If you or someone you know is interested in working with some incredible young people as we pursue healing, reconciliation, and flourishing, take a look: Staff: drive.google.com/file/d/1-ZK1... Lead: drive.google.com/file/d/1-ZK1...

God's good, pleasing, and perfect will does not choose between social structures or personal piety. We embrace justice and holiness because Jesus is Lord of all.

Wearing my A Rocha USA hat while watering the New Community Outreach gardens. Love that I get to support these two incredible organizations! newcommunityoutreach.org arocha.us

It's become our church's tradition on Pentecost to trade the sermon for a two-block walk to a local elementary school where we pray over the gardens that we'll spend the summer tending and harvesting. Grateful for a church that is willing to leave the building to pray... even in a bit of rain!

"As we reclaim our God-desired agency over the small decisions, gentle words, and generous actions which make up a human life, we find that we are not as helpless before the systems of violence as we were led to believe." buttondown.com/david.w.swan...

We Are Not Helpless

Reclaiming agency in a catastrophic age

buttondown.com

President Trump is still a racist, misogynist, liar, and thief. Christians will pray for the man's repentance and speak truthfully about him until he does.

Those who aren't grieved by the persistent assault on Black citizenship have proven themselves profoundly unsafe.

Church folks: Is there any way your pastor could use AI for sermon preparation that would be OK with you?

I recently had the privilege of preaching for a seminary commencement. I spoke about the temptation of relevancy we pastors face. "A Christianity that has appropriated the tools of consumer capitalism expects measurable and impressive results from its ministers." buttondown.com/david.w.swan...

The Irrelevant Pastor

The expression and experience of vocational weakness

buttondown.com

Wisdom is differentiating between the willfully and the honestly ignorant. Those whose ignorance comes honestly deserve our patience. We've each been among this group and our growth came through someone's patience with us. But to those whose ignorance is chosen we can only offer our boundaries.

The amount of emotional, relational, and physical harm AI companies are willing to expose their users to is... telling. Behind their utopian propaganda is a vision of humanity that is profoundly inhumane. www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...

Waymo recalls 3,800 robotaxis over risk of entering flooded roads

Waymo said on Tuesday it is recalling about ​3,800 robotaxis in the United States after identifying a ‌risk that vehicles could enter flooded roads with higher speed limits, raising safety concerns.

reuters.com

There were so many warblers in Jackson Park this morning, though most of them were too busy hunting snacks to pose. Thanks to the palm warbler, song sparrow, and blue-gray gnatcatcher for hanging out for a bit.