"How nice is it to wear jeans to church?" www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUsW...

"You can only preach against ICE for so long before God calls you to get out of the pulpit and get to the streets." religionnews.com/2026/01/22/h...

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u... An all-white jury convicted Tommy Lee Walker of rape and murder, relying on inadmissible evidence and a coerced confession that he immediately recanted, county officials said.

inbox: PR pitch about a ~horse~ who "carries an immortal lineage defined not only by beauty and power, but by kindness, empathy, and trust" AND who embodies a "human-centered spirit, emerging as a modern ambassador for connection, reconciliation, and peace"

New: Arrests in the Minneapolis church protest: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u...

"He registered One Purpose, a website advertising 'scripture-backed fitness' that mixed Hebrew terms with advice to limit your diet to 'God-made fats.'" forward.com/news/antisem...

With this one I'm struck not just by the highlighted error, but also by the fact that the sentence laboriously works its way to correcting the searcher's impression (?) that a previous Pope Leo (c. 1900 at the latest) would have been a critic of the Trump administration?

Minneapolis residents have joined a church-run effort to donate groceries to immigrant families who fear being caught in public by federal agents. What started with a couple of hundred deliveries a week has quickly swelled into a vast operation involving thousands of volunteers. trib.al/1qT1xMw

I went to Mobile, AL, right before Christmas to spend time with pastor Travis Johnson, whose rising profile reflects how Trump is reshaping the contours of the American evangelical elite. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...

"If you tell your companion that you are feeling sad, it will pray for you." Smart challenging questions here from @bonniekristian.bsky.social: www.christianitytoday.com/2026/01/cree...

The three highest-ranking Roman Catholic clerics who lead archdioceses in the U.S. say that America’s “moral role in confronting evil around the world” is in question for the first time in decades. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...

America’s “moral role in confronting evil around the world” is in question for the first time in decades, three top American cardinals say in a strongly worded statement today. New from me, with comment from all three: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...

The Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire told priests protesting ICE to get their wills and affairs in order. Some praise the bishop, while other priests say they never signed up to be martyrs. n.pr/45TIwwT

Letter of Recommendation: Fair-weather fandom. Haven't paid attention to the Bears in probably decades, couldn't name their coach or QB until last week, but now I'm BACK IN. Show up for the thrill of victory, then simply walk away for the agony of defeat!

checking in on book announcement, things are going well

Some Personal News: I'm writing a book! SONS OF GOD is about the young American men moving into more demanding forms of Christian faith and practice, and what that means for the country’s political and spiritual future. Truly excited about this reporting. Here we go!

"My conduct defied everything that I believe about marriage." Evangelical author Philip Yancey said he had an extramarital affair and is stepping down from public ministry. New from me: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/u...

Reading today: Zachary Davis on the 2020s answer to the New Atheists, four thinkers who "have helped achieve a once unimaginable vibe shift—they’ve made Christianity the smart and even cool choice." www.wayfaremagazine.org/p/the-four-h...

"It wasn’t really around when I was a young kid — that you could feel like you have a calling to A-list stars.” @skestenbaum.bsky.social profiles Judah Smith, and asks where the hypepriests of the 2010s fit into Charlie Kirk-style evangelicalism that succeeded them: www.vulture.com/article/juda...

wrong again, genius

Willa Cather, “The Professor’s House”

I went to Texas to write about the sudden end of one of America's most successful experiments: the six decades of welcoming India's most educated and ambitious citizens. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/o...

“A Christmas Story” is about how actually it rules to get exactly what you want

“The women moved through the day unhurried. There was no rushing to finish so they could get on to the ‘important things.’" www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/b...

"In attuning ourselves to phone notifications, we seem to have accidentally recovered a form of attention that was once more clearly vital to Christian life." Lovely and truly thought-provoking (not just tut-tutting over Our Age of Distraction!): www.americamagazine.org/art/2025/11/...

A new archbishop in New York, and an early signal of the direction in which Pope Leo wants to take the church in his home country. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...

Happy birthday to Beethoven! In his honor, TURN IT UP and FEEL SOMETHING: youtu.be/Rd0HnxWm5CY?...

Huge news for people of my exact age, background, taste, and demographic. www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-1...

"'Elon Musk is becoming a role model now,' said Zhang. An increasing number of 'crazy rich' clients are commissioning dozens, or even hundreds, of U.S.-born babies with the goal of 'forging an unstoppable family dynasty.'" www.wsj.com/us-news/chin...

Here's what I read for fun in 2025. Some deep cuts from long-time faves, some new ones, some mysteries, some memoirs on lepidopterology and the nature of memory (actually I guess just one of those)

A perfect storm of technology, cultural conditions and educational choices seem to be producing a generation of kids who are not readers. Read to the end (like our kids should be doing!) for some slivers of hope. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...

Like so many tech stories right now, this is also religion story: a 25-year-old founder who has moved through a Doug Wilson-affiliated church, is now Eastern Orthodox, and "quotes the Bible and Elon Musk in the same breath." By @ainsleyharris.bsky.social: www.fastcompany.com/91448561/thi...

Frederick Sandys, Jacob Hears the Voice of the Lord, engraved by the Dalziel Brothers, 1881 https://botfrens.com/collections/14375/contents/1113220

"Our generation — we’re the test dummies for the internet and social media. ... That’s what’s leading to what I guess is a spiritual revolution.” Smart wide-angle look at the complex Gen Z religious landscape from @michelleboorstein.bsky.social: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Ah, yes, the two uses

Did ... did a dad write this?

Thousands of people gathered Tuesday near Beirut’s destroyed port where Pope Leo XIV celebrated a waterfront Mass. It was an extraordinary end to his first international trip as head of the Roman Catholic Church, which he used to deliver a message of peace to a tumultuous region. trib.al/QaoHdq9

This Giving Tuesday, please remember the countless Media Americans who want to read the substack posts but also can't bring themselves to subscribe

Absolutely stunned and honored to see THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US on this list. I'm grateful beyond words to the five families who trusted me with their stories and allowed me to witness their struggle to secure a home.

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Oscar Jespers, Temptation of St. Anthony, 1934 https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1136243

"To a degree unimaginable to modern humans, public spaces in the 2020s were dominated by the constant clattering of enormous metal water bottles being noisily unscrewed, set down on hard surfaces, and, somehow even more frequently, accidentally knocked over"—social historians of the future, probably

"For more than a decade, Catholic nuns and clergy members visited the Broadview facility every Friday ... The coalition included Sister JoAnn Persch, who regularly visited the facility until her death last week at 91." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/u...

“It’s so much harder than I thought it was going to be, but it speaks to me in a way that nothing else ever did.” I visited a growing Orthodox Christian parish in North Carolina to understand why so many young men are converting. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...

It was an honor for MK and me to meet with Pope Leo XIV – a son of Illinois – to express the pride and reverence of the people of this great state. Pope Leo XIV’s message of hope, compassion, unity, and peace resonates with Illinoisans of all faiths and traditions.

Nice write-up from @adellembanks.bsky.social of my conversation with Bishop Curry at #TribFest25 last week.

Pope Leo has shared his four favorite movies of all time, as the Vatican prepares to host dozens of actors and directors in a “World of Cinema” gathering on Saturday at his official residence. See which films made the pope's list. nyti.ms/4p3exK9

Several families whose daughters died at Camp Mystic this summer filed suit yesterday against the camp and the Eastland family, who have operated Mystic for decades. “These young girls died because a for-profit camp put profit over safety,” the suit says. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...

"God is an anti-vaxxer, and he needs you to speak up." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...

my doctor's office parking garage app immediately asking me to rate my experience