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Articles by Corrie Mitchell
Andy Mineo Raps About Christ. Just Don’t Call Him a Christian Rapper.
In November 2018, a 66-year-old man named Tommy Thompson was wheeled into Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt’s courtroom in Columbus, Ohio, clad in a dark blue suit and looking like he had just served four years in federal prison. Thompson’s hair, once thick black curls, had given way to a bald pate, and with a long white beard and piercing eyes, he looked like a slightly hairier Christopher Lee, the actor who played the wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings.
For People of Faith, Michael Brown's Death Is a Cosmic Tragedy - OnFaith
How are we to understand Michael Brown and Ferguson from the point of view of faith? Speaking as a Christian, I would begin with the premise that any attempt to understand the Michael Brown story must start from respect for him, his body, and his story.
5 Numbers You Need to Know This Week - OnFaith
Here are some statistics driving major stories around the world this week. That’s the percentage of African Americans who say the police have gone too far in responding to protests in Ferguson. Among white Americans, the percentage is 33%. (Source: Pew Research Center) Black Americans are nearly three times more likely to live in poverty than white Americans – a gap that has not changed in 30 years. (Source: Pew Research Center) Black household wealth is 7% that of white household wealth in America.
This is your Bible on drugs - OnFaith
As a new era of legal marijuana emerges in the United States, some Christians are scrambling to figure out a biblical stance on using weed. Though cannabis is nowhere mentioned in the Old and New Testaments (unless you buy interpretations like this one), pastors and teachers have been pointing to a number of passages about sobriety, the body as a temple, and the goodness of all creation to support arguments for and against legal marijuana.
I hated football. Then I got to know its power - OnFaith
I hate football. I’ve always hated it. My father was a football fanatic. He played at West Point. The Army-Navy game was our annual sacred pilgrimage. The train trip to Philadelphia definitely had its appeal. Win or lose, there wasn’t a dry mouth in the house. But God forbid Army lost. Things would be gloomy around our Army quarters for weeks. Happily, I ended up at a school for girls and then an all-women’s college and then moved to Europe, so I didn’t think about football for a long time.
One Way to Think about America's Unique Liberty - OnFaith
In the beginning it was a fairly routine communication, what was known in the vernacular of the day as an “address” — a letter seeking attention for a cause. The Danbury Baptist Association had gathered in Colebrook, Connecticut, in October 1801 to express its concern over the state’s constitutional commitment to religious liberty. Thomas Jefferson’s reply, written from Washington on New Year’s Day 1802, echoes down the ages.
How to Pray for Your NFL Team - OnFaith
And the fans asked, “How should we pray . . . for our favorite football teams?” Whether it’s a quarterback injury, suspended running back, or penetrable defense, every professional football team will face a situation that could use a little divine intervention. So, here’s a team-by-team guide on how to pray for your favorite NFL team as the 2014 season kicks off. AFC EAST Buffalo Bills Help quarterback E.J. Manuel read the field so he can throw on those inevitable third-and-longs.
When a Rabbi Comes Out to His Congregation - OnFaith
Last week, Rabbi Gil Stainlauf of Washington D.C.’s Adas Israel, a Conservative synagogue, came out as gay. Married to another Rabbi, Batya, with three children, Rabbi Steinlauf wrote a moving and deeply personal and courageous letter (see below) to members of his congregation. He is the first pulpit conservative to come out, and he is being supported by the president of the congregation.
Does Jesus heal drug addicts? - OnFaith
What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” (Mark 9:16-18 TNIV) I never thought the Bible had anything to say about addiction. It’s not something that I ever heard preached or read in the Bible.
Nuns: The Newest (and Best) Superheroes - OnFaith
We’re used to seeing nuns in one of two ways — as ruler-wielding disciplinarians from Catholic school or repressed, obedient convent residents. But the extraordinary sisters I spent time with for my latest book, If Nuns Ruled the World, are anything but stereotypical. From an 84-year-old Ironman champion to a torture survivor-turned-activist, here are 10 nuns who are truly shining a light in the darkness: Putting trust in weapons is idolatry. Weapons are always false gods because they make money.
Is a Wave of New Churches Helping or Hurting America's Cities? - OnFaith
It’s a familiar story by now: after decades of white flight from America’s urban cores, well-to-do white people have been moving back into cities. And they’re bringing lots of change with them, for better and for worse. The situation is no different among the nation’s religious leaders, especially young evangelical pastors who are planting churches in cities.
What You Don't Know About Migrant Children May Kill Them - OnFaith
A family in Guatemala City received a knock on the door. Standing there were several gang members with one demand. “We’ve come to take your daughter,” they said, according to one of our local Church World Service partners. “Our boss wants her.” It was an emergency and the family had to act quickly. The young teenage girl had no choice but to leave the country the next day, for her own protection.
The "Rise" of Rapper and Pastor Trip Lee - OnFaith
Trip Lee is a 27-year-old rapper, husband, and father of two. He’s also planting a church in Atlanta — yes, he’s a pastor — and late last year he released his fifth studio album, Rise, which quickly hit #1 on the iTunes charts. And he’s just published his second book. Rise: Get Up and Live in God’s Great Story, the companion book to his latest album, comes out today, January 27.
Why Evangelicals Believe Democracy Comes from the Bible - OnFaith
The Bible does not prescribe an ideal form of government. Yet, for a long time, and to an exceptional degree among religious types in America, evangelicals have found in their national identity a convergence of first principles: They believe in constitutional democracy and they believe that their Bible-based religion is not only compatible with this system, but actually essential to it. The Bible museum under construction near the National Mall springs from this conviction.
Why We Should Remember the Things We Want to Forget - OnFaith
Every week, my ministry assistant combs the church database and sends me the names of people from the congregation who are celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries. I contact them during the week, often on the very day, usually by email or text, sometimes with a phone call, and wish them well. Most people receive these blessings with gratitude, sometimes surprise. Others never respond. It makes me wonder if it was a bittersweet anniversary.
The Best Writing on American Religion You'll Read this Year - OnFaith
The other morning I awoke from within a crystal-clear dream, the kind that lingers so long you catch a whiff of it throughout your day. In it, I was teaching Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side to a group of college students. I was teaching it as if my life depended on it, and the students were learning as if their lives depended on it.
5 Things Everyone Should Know About America's Religious History - OnFaith
Peter Manseau is a journalist, historian, and novelist. His most recent book, One Nation, Under Gods: A New American History, is a deeply researched account that challenges standard Christian perspectives of the country’s story. Here, he offers a list of counter-intuitive facts about religion in America. Far from a twenty-first century problem, the fraught relationship between Islam and Christianity shaped the earliest interactions between the Old World and the New.
Graphic: This Is Your Body on God - OnFaith
We experience God not only in our minds and spirit, but also in our bodies. As science is uncovering the complexity of our bodies, it is discovering how attuned we are to the people around us and how the experience of God is an inborn capacity. You might say that our bodies are designed to fulfill the two great commandments, as expressed by Jesus Christ, to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. These are innate capacities.
The Crucified God in Ferguson - OnFaith
A few years ago my husband, small daughter and I packed up our bags in Portland and drove across the country to the exotic Midwest. There, we planted ourselves in the most diverse neighborhood in all of America, soaking up the differences while striving for commonalities.
OnFaith Finds - What to Read Today - OnFaith
Here’s what we’re reading, Liking, Favoriting, Re-tweeting, and raising our eyebrows at today in the world of religion news and views. – Why is it so hard for conservatives and progressives to talk to each other about gay sexuality? You’d be hard pressed to find a better explanation for the ongoing conflict than this one by Wesley Hill.
True or False: Do You Benefit from Christian Privilege? - OnFaith
Islamophobia — the fear or hatred of Islam and Muslims — is not a liberal meme. Islamophobia is a real and insidious ideology that believes there is something innately wrong with Islam and its adherents. It’s the reason CNN anchors were unable to grasp Reza Aslan’s point that “Muslim countries” are not all alike.
Frederick Douglass, Revisited - OnFaith
In 1847, just a year after having been purchased his freedom by British allies, Frederick Douglass moved himself and his family to Rochester, New York.
The 5 Most Delightful Church Dance Videos on YouTube - OnFaith
Psalm 149:3 says, “Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises to him with the tambourine and harp and the tap dance and pop-lock.” Or, maybe it stops at “harp.” But the people in these videos are finding their own delightful ways to “praise his name.” Push play for the singing, stay until 1:04 for the tap dancing. Here’s a longer but better look at the whole thing.
These Are America's First Churches - and They're Still Worshipping - OnFaith
“I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion — for who can search the human heart? But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions.” This observation from nineteenth-century French statesman Alexis de Tocqueville mimics the convictions held by most of the Americans tasked with shaping national and state governments in the newly established United States of 1776.
10 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About the Black Church - OnFaith
For most of my life, I have been in and out of the black church, and it has been a spiritually formative and resonant space. The dynamism of the preaching, the soul of the music, the embodiment of worship, the scents of soft peppermints or smoking gold balls (yeah, they exist) — all these characteristics combine to create the black church experience. Even when I have turned my back on it, the black church beckons me with her call to justice and endurance in the black community.
Building a Church That Isn’t “A Middle Finger to Everybody from the Neighborhood” - OnFaith
When Jordan Rice moved to Harlem two years ago to start a church, he didn’t know a single person there who would ever want to be part of one. But he knew the neighborhood — he used to come to Harlem from New Rochelle every Saturday morning as a kid to play basketball, his first love in life.
4 of Christianity's Biggest Financial Blunders - OnFaith
Many well managed Christian organizations have done a lot of good in the world and are worthy of our appreciation — take a look at Samiritan’s Purse, Lutheran World Relief, Food for the Hungry, Catholic Relief Services, and World Vision. But plenty of major mistakes have been made, both unintentional and otherwise — some of which changed the world. Here is a list of four big financial mistakes in the history of Christianity.
Our Favorite Non-Religious Religious Music - OnFaith
When Bach was writing his cantatas and suites some 300 years ago, it was always clear what kind of music was being presented: there was church music, and then there was everything else. Today, the musical landscape is a lot less divided. Plenty of what some call “secular” music confronts themes of religion and spirituality, yet calling that music “religious” might be unfounded. We’re doing it anyway.
A Homeless Shelter Where Jesus Is Served - OnFaith
Wendell Harden recalls being “a little disgusted” with religion at the time, but he decided to stay at the Christian-based New York City Rescue Mission anyway. It was August 4, 2011. He was into drugs and heavy drinking. He was about to lose his home. He left the shelter in Lower Manhattan after four days, and went on his self-destructive way. He continued drinking: “I lost my family. Everything was going down. Down, down, down,” Harden said. By October, he had given up hope.
Martin Luther King, Jr. on Loving Your Enemies - OnFaith
Note by Dr. Cornel West: Convicted in July 1962 for participating in Albany movement demonstrations the previous December, Dr. King and his close friend and movement colleague Ralph Abernathy refused to pay their fines and announced instead that they would serve five-day jail terms. After spending two nights in a jail that King described as “dirty, filthy, and ill-equipped . . . [the] worst I have ever seen,” the two men were unexpectedly bailed out by an unidentified black man.
Be Fruitful and Multiply - But How Fruitful? - OnFaith
“Are you sure? This procedure is very hard to reverse,� the doctor said. He was my age, the type of guy I could watch football and eat Buffalo wings with on the weekends. Instead, he was planning to slice me open and make it so I could never have kids again. Are you sure? I thought about the possible implications. What if my wife died and I remarried? What if a year from now we no longer feel done? What does God think? I wasn’t expecting that last one to cross my thoughts.
Ask Laura: Do I tell my employer I'm pregnant? - OnFaith
Every week, Ask Laura features responses to your questions about religion, relationships, and the mess they often create. You can submit questions to Laura anonymously at this form, or via Twitter (@lkoturner) or email (asklaura@faithstreet.com). I am working a part-time job for a company where I hope to gain a full-time position. I have just learned of an opening that I would like to apply for. But I also just learned that I am pregnant (which is really good news for my husband and me).
L.A. Program Proves that Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job - OnFaith
The job description sounds like a recipe for disaster: pastor of an urban parish in an under-resourced region of East Los Angeles marked by multiple warring gangs. Any one of the words would have made the assignment daunting: Pastor. Urban. Under-resourced. Gangs. Taken together, most people would have run the other direction. Most people know that success, or even hope, is not to be found there. Greg Boyle is not one of those people.
5 Verses No Football Player Should Ever Quote - and 5 Better Verses - OnFaith
Like most sports, football is replete with faith — on the field, on the sidelines, in the stands, and in living rooms across the country. And that’s fine — but it’s probably best if we leave non-contextualized Bible snippets out of it. Here are five verses that all athletes would do well to stop referencing after games: 1. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. This is one of the most misused Bible verses of all. Tim Tebow famously featured it on his eye black.
OnFaith's Top 20 Posts of the Year - OnFaith
Our 20 most popular pieces of 2014 had a little bit of everything, including Jesus, marijuana, Pope Francis, atheism, Sikhism, gay marriage, the prosperity gospel, the Bible, and much more. These listicles, essays, and reported pieces reveal what captivated our readers most this year. #2: If you call someone a name, you’re going to hell. Admittedly, this is a paraphrase of Jesus’s actual words. But it is an accurate one.
OnFaith Finds - What to Read Today - OnFaith
Here is what you would be reading if you were reading what we’re reading. – “What your smartphone addiction actually looks like”: From the Post’s Caitlin Dewey, this series of photographs of people looking at their phones is the best documentation of contemporary American spirituality you’ll see this week. (Washington Post) – A father in Denver recounts the harrowing experience of realizing his teenage daughter had runaway from home to join ISIS. Incredible.
How Peyton Manning Helped Me With Spiritual Discipline - OnFaith
When my spiritual director suggested Sundays to practice the discipline of being present, I’m not sure this is quite what she had in mind. I am standing in a sea of orange, one of 77,047, swaying and stomping and screaming as one giant, bellicose beast. We are channeling our collective energy toward the Denver Broncos defense, willing them to stop the San Francisco 49ers and give the ball back to Peyton Manning, who is now just a single touchdown pass away from setting the NFL’s all-time record.
Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Handel's “Messiah” - OnFaith
Mitch Davis is the writer of Handel’s Messiah, a docudrama premiering on BYUtv this month. Filmed on location in Italy, Germany, and England, Handel’s Messiah explores the little-known backstory of this renowned choral work. The film is based on years of extensive research and interviews with leading musicologists, historians, religious leaders, and features historic reenactments. We asked Davis what everyone should know about one of the most famous pieces of music ever composed.
5 Questions About the Vatican Synod on the Family - OnFaith
For those who’ve come to expect from Pope Francis a shift in tone toward mercy and acceptance, his current Vatican assembly does not disappoint. The 12-page report released midway through this landmark two-week meeting of Roman Catholic bishops is already stirring up controversy with its amiable language regarding gay people, divorce, and unmarried couples.
Why Are Christians So Upset Over Muslim Prayers at a Christian Church? - OnFaith
It was quite something, all of those beautiful, colorful prayer rugs strewn about the floor in the east transept of the National Cathedral recently. They looked as if they belonged there, picking up the dazzling hues from the sun streaming through the stained glass windows. The sounds, too, were lovely, especially the haunting invocation — Allaaahhhh — echoing between the massive stone columns from the imam who conducted the first Muslim worship service (Jumuah) at the National Cathedral.
15 Hispanic Faith Leaders You Should Know - OnFaith
Religion in the United States is increasingly shaped by Hispanic Americans. Hispanics now constitute 40 percent of Catholics in the U.S., and they’re also playing a big part in the growth of the American evangelical church. And, a growing number of Hispanics are converting to Islam and discovering their Jewish roots. But who are these faces that are shaping what American religion looks like?
The Economics of Modern Death: How Money Shapes the End of Life - OnFaith
Every year, about .8% of the American population dies. That’s 2.5 million people succumbing to heart disease, cancer, strokes, illness, accidents, and violence. For the past 75 years, this percentage hasn’t changed. What has changed, though, is the cost. Dying isn’t cheap. In America, the entry-level funeral costs about $8000. For that much, you get a memorial service, embalming, a decent casket, a concrete vault, a grave, and a headstone. Want some upgrades? The sky’s the limit.
How to Reconcile the Divided States of America - OnFaith
Note: Russell D. Moore is president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and a former professor of theology and ethics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Late last night, he posted the following note to the readers of his blog. The mood in Ferguson, Missouri, is tense after a grand jury decided against indicting a police officer for the killing of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown.
5 Reasons Religious Millennials Aren't Marrying - OnFaith
My best friend and I are both 24 years old, career-driven, and single. We’re also both women who are set on marrying someone who shares our respective faiths — she’s Muslim, I’m Christian. We joke about our singleness a lot — every embarrassing picture, ridiculous dance move and dumb comment is attended by the sarcastic-but-obligatory, “Why am I still single?” But to my friends who are “nones,” being in your mid-twenties and unmarried is normal, even preferred.
Jesus Walks in Jackson Heights
My analyst and I grew more intimately connected each week of treatment...but I never saw this indecent proposal coming. It’s the waning moments of my fourth session with a new therapist. I’m holding back — and she knows it. My entire body feels tense, not ideal for the setting. I try to relax, but the plush leather couch crumples under me when I shift, making the movements extraordinary. I’ve barely looked into my therapist’s blue eyes at all, and yet I think the hour has gone very well.
Raiding Brothels and Taking Names
Afternoon is fading fast and Nget Thy is waiting for the Neak Loeung Ferry to cross the Mekong River in southern Cambodia. His destination is a transit center near the Vietnam border, where his small staff rescues and shelters children from Cambodia who’ve been taken from their homes and sent across the border to work as beggars.
Building a Church That Isn’t “A Middle Finger to Everybody from the Neighborhood”
When Jordan Rice moved to Harlem two years ago to start a church, he didn’t know a single person there who would ever want to be part of one. But he knew the neighborhood — he used to come to Harlem from New Rochelle every Saturday morning as a kid to play basketball, his first love in life.
OnFaith Top 20 Posts of the Year
Our 20 most popular pieces of 2014 had a little bit of everything, including Jesus, marijuana, Pope Francis, atheism, Sikhism, gay marriage, the prosperity gospel, the Bible, and much more. These listicles, essays, and reported pieces reveal what captivated our readers most this year. #2: If you call someone a name, you’re going to hell. Admittedly, this is a paraphrase of Jesus’s actual words. But it is an accurate one.
10 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Evangelicals - OnFaith
Warren Cole Smith is the associate publisher of WORLD Magazine. He is the author or co-author of several books, including A Lover’s Quarrel with the Evangelical Church and Prodigal Press. We asked him to give us 10 things he wishes everyone knew about evangelicals. Being an evangelical actually means something doctrinally and theologically, namely that salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Memories of the March: 10 voices recall 1963 March on Washington
WASHINGTON (RNS) Religion News Service asked participants in the 1963 March on Washington to reflect on their lasting memories of the event and how it shaped their faith. Their comments have been edited for length and clarity. Don Cash had graduated from high school in June 1963 and decided on the spur of the moment to join the March on Washington when he finished his work shift at a nearby warehouse.
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