Red Letter Christians https://redletterchristians.org What if Jesus really meant what he said? Sun, 19 Apr 2026 05:17:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://redletterchristians.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/rlcicon-on-white-1-150x150.png Red Letter Christians https://redletterchristians.org 32 32 Oracles: words, and what we make of them https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/21/oracles-words-and-what-we-make-of-them/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/21/oracles-words-and-what-we-make-of-them/#respond Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/?p=24512 “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” President Trump When it comes to the history books covering the 21st Century, surely those words will ring, not with truth, but with a resounding sense that a world leader had the means – and the intent – to literally erase one of the oldest cultures on the planet, for no particular purpose other than his own pique and…

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]]> https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/21/oracles-words-and-what-we-make-of-them/feed/ 0 From Golden Calf to Sacred Dwelling: Reimagining Jewish Identity Beyond the Nation-State https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/20/from-golden-calf-to-sacred-dwelling-reimagining-jewish-identity-beyond-the-nation-state/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/20/from-golden-calf-to-sacred-dwelling-reimagining-jewish-identity-beyond-the-nation-state/#respond Mon, 20 Apr 2026 11:00:55 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/?p=24501 Editor’s Note: The following is part of a talk given by Ariel Gold at an April 13, 2026 panel on religious nationalism at Yale Divinity School’s Center for Public Theology and Public Policy When Pope Leo XIV rebuked Pete Hegseth on Good Friday for using biblical language to justify war, it stopped me cold. What was a red line for the American pope — and sparked a “tidal wave” of complaints…

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]]> https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/20/from-golden-calf-to-sacred-dwelling-reimagining-jewish-identity-beyond-the-nation-state/feed/ 0 My Journey Through Sleepless Nights, excerpted from “The Sleep You’re Longing For” https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/16/my-journey-through-sleepless-nights-excerpted-from-the-sleep-youre-longing-for/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/16/my-journey-through-sleepless-nights-excerpted-from-the-sleep-youre-longing-for/#respond Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:00:22 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/?p=24488 The sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his [bed]room. —Pascal, Pensées, trans. A. J. Krailsheimer I’ve got a friend named Leroy. Leroy can fall asleep in five minutes, no matter the situation. We have traveled the world together, from fun family vacations in Italy and Spain to intense conferences and heated debates focused on race and racism in…

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]]> https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/16/my-journey-through-sleepless-nights-excerpted-from-the-sleep-youre-longing-for/feed/ 0 What Are We Becoming https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/14/what-are-we-becoming/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/14/what-are-we-becoming/#respond Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:00:57 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/?p=24482 In today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus commissions the twelve and sends them out as sheep among wolves. That image is not sentimental. Sheep are not predators. They do not dominate. They do not devour. They are vulnerable, watchful, dependent on the Shepherd. Wolves move by instinct, by hunger, by force. Jesus does not send wolves to defeat wolves. He sends sheep.

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]]> https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/14/what-are-we-becoming/feed/ 0 Find Jesus in Others, excerpted from “Everlasting Jesus” https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/09/find-jesus-in-others/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/09/find-jesus-in-others/#respond Thu, 09 Apr 2026 10:15:06 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/?p=24459 The world is made up of sheep and goats—or maybe I should say sheep vs. goats. There will come a time, Jesus says, when the Son of Man in his glory sits on a throne and divides the people into sheep and goats, one or the other. The heavenly King will decide. (And remember it’s a story. Jesus is telling another story.) Sheep and goats, really? It seems monstrous, if not unfair…

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]]> https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/09/find-jesus-in-others/feed/ 0 Comfortable and Compromised: The American Church in the Mirror of the Early Church https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/07/comfortable-and-compromised-the-american-church-in-the-mirror-of-the-early-church/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/07/comfortable-and-compromised-the-american-church-in-the-mirror-of-the-early-church/#respond Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:00:08 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/?p=24455 There is a strange kind of spiritual blindness that affects the successful. When a movement grows large enough, wealthy enough, and culturally impactful enough, it becomes almost impossible for that movement to see itself clearly. The American church today suffers from exactly this problem. We have built huge institutions, filled massive auditoriums, and gained cultural and political influence…

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]]> https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/07/comfortable-and-compromised-the-american-church-in-the-mirror-of-the-early-church/feed/ 0 Livestream April 6, 2026, 5 PM ET: A Time to Break Silence: Faith, Moral Power, and the Crisis of Global Militarism, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/04/livestream-5-pm-et-a-time-to-break-silence-faith-moral-power-and-the-crisis-of-global-militarism-the-martin-luther-king-jr-center-for-nonviolent-social-change/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/04/livestream-5-pm-et-a-time-to-break-silence-faith-moral-power-and-the-crisis-of-global-militarism-the-martin-luther-king-jr-center-for-nonviolent-social-change/#respond Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:00:31 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/?p=24469

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]]> https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/04/livestream-5-pm-et-a-time-to-break-silence-faith-moral-power-and-the-crisis-of-global-militarism-the-martin-luther-king-jr-center-for-nonviolent-social-change/feed/ 0 Dr. King’s Historic Riverside Church Speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” read by 27 faith leaders https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/04/dr-kings-historic-riverside-church-speech-beyond-vietnam-a-time-to-break-silence-read-by-27-faith-leaders/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/04/dr-kings-historic-riverside-church-speech-beyond-vietnam-a-time-to-break-silence-read-by-27-faith-leaders/#respond Sat, 04 Apr 2026 09:30:49 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/?p=24407 Here are a few highlights from our event at The Riverside Church this past weekend, on the anniversary of Dr. King’s historic speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” We had 27 faith leaders read portions of King’s original speech, including his daughter, Rev. Dr. Bernice King. I’ll also highlight a few of King’s quotes from the speech below (along with who read them) …

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]]> https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/04/dr-kings-historic-riverside-church-speech-beyond-vietnam-a-time-to-break-silence-read-by-27-faith-leaders/feed/ 0 America is exceptional — in its addiction to violence and war https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/04/america-is-exceptional-in-its-addiction-to-violence-and-war-2/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/04/america-is-exceptional-in-its-addiction-to-violence-and-war-2/#respond Sat, 04 Apr 2026 09:00:59 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/2024/04/04/america-is-exceptional-in-its-addiction-to-violence-war/ (RNS) — It’s been 55 years, but Martin Luther King’s historic speech, ‘Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,’ rings out as true as ever. To our shame. “I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” Those are the words of Dr. King in 1967…

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]]> https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/04/america-is-exceptional-in-its-addiction-to-violence-and-war-2/feed/ 0 Knowing The Symptoms of a Nation Approaching Spiritual Death https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/03/knowing-the-symptoms-of-a-nation-approaching-spiritual-death/ https://redletterchristians.org/2026/04/03/knowing-the-symptoms-of-a-nation-approaching-spiritual-death/#respond Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:00:50 +0000 https://redletterchristians.org/?p=24399 Editor’s Note: This piece first appeared on the RLC blog on April 6, 2020, but we share it again in honor of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., knowing that so much of this message is sadly even more relevant six years later. In the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, public education about the symptoms of this disease is critical. When we recognize that something which impacts…

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