A q/a with @baptistnews.com and @greg1garrett.bsky.social about my new @wjkbooks.com book on Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA: baptistnews.com/article/in-c...

In case you're one of those people who said "Who is Charlie Kirk?" this is essential reading. In conversation with Matthew Boedy  baptistnews.com/article/in-c...

“He was beautiful.” From A River Runs Through It. Beautiful, talented, committed, and full of grace. RIP, Robert Redford.

The 2-year anniversary of my book on James Baldwin. So grateful for the churches and readers who have read, marked, and inwardly digested Mr. Baldwin’s wisdom. So grateful to my great publisher, @orbisbooks.bsky.social. Baldwin is still speaking peace, love, and justice. @baptistnews.com

Please, the U.S. Open asked us not to share any video of the president being booed heavily by an entire stadium, please respect their wishes, please

There are lots of ways to love God. This is one of them. "It’s time for white Christians to take to the streets." baptistnews.com/article/its-... @baptistnews.com @episcopalchurch.bsky.social #love #justice #faith #church #theology #canontheologian

This Labor Day weekend I finish my edits on White Lies, a lead trade book on white supremacy and racist myths due out from @Oxford Press next July. Thanks to those who have supported this work and to my wondrous family. May God bless the works of our hands. (Ps 90) #racism #history #liberation

This is my classroom as well. Tech down. Brains up. Let's talk. "Here’s What Happened When I Made My College Students Put Away Their Phones" www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/o...

The President wants the @smithsonian to purge “partisan” and “divisive” material. Emmett Till WAS lynched and murdered. Thomas Jefferson WAS a slaveowner. Phyllis Wheatley WAS belittled by him and others who didn’t accept her poetry or believe she wrote it. #history @NMAAHC

What a joy to watch Hook in the @paramountaustin.bsky.social and then hear my old friend @jvhart47.bsky.social talk about writing the movie, his family, Spielberg, and his friendships with Bob Hoskins, David Crosby, and the wondrous Robin Williams. I laughed, I cried, I crowed. Great experience!

In a few weeks Sophie will have her license and Lily will be off to @riceuniversity.bsky.social. But this week they’re here and I’m here, and I am grateful. Thank you girls. When you smile, you knock me out. I fall apart. And I thought I was so smart. 😂 @hamiltonmusical.bsky.social #daughterdad

Bonne Fête Nationale to my friends at the American Cathedral in Paris and to all those who love France!

SENATOR @warnock.senate.gov : “Are we reading the same Book? The Book I know says ‘I was hungry, and you fed me… I was a stranger, and you welcomed me… insomuch as you’ve done it to the least of these, you’ve done it also unto me.’” #TrumpsTrillionsTransfer

Wishing everyone a happy Fourth of July! 249 years since we declared independence from a king, the work of living up to our founding promise is more important than ever - and it calls on each of us to do what we can for our country.

The Bible teaches the primacy of love and justice. You won’t ever find a loophole saying “except for people who don’t look like you, love like you, pray like you, live where you do.” Do justice. Love each other. People of faith: that is our call. That is our work. Start good trouble. Now.

Impossible. But here’s a top ten for the century so far.

Baylor grad Katie Gaitan talked to me about her thesis research on human trafficking. Her faith animated action against a horrific wrong. So proud to teach such amazing students at a great Christian university! baptistnews.com/article/in-c... @baptistnews.com @baylorsocialwork.bsky.social

In 1932 Benito Mussolini erected a “Classical” bronze of Julius Caesar in the center of Rome. Why did he want to foreground Caesar in Italian history? Because it served the myth he wanted Italians to internalize. History matters. But which version of history we center shapes us and then reflects us.

So amazing to be here reading about the amazing life and afterlife of Brother Malcolm. Teaching him to Baylor students has been so good for all of us! Can’t wait to interview Mark Whitaker about this beautiful and important new book. #love #justice #racism #malcolmx #books #canontheologian

Sly Stone, champion of love, diversity, and music has passed. My first LP was Sly and the Family Stone Greatest Hits. Rest in peace and rise in power.

At my editor's request I just finished a piece for @baptistnews.com about why so many Americans who easily recognize right and wrong on the big screen are sidling up to evil in everyday life. I called it "Don't Be a Stormtrooper." Watch for it!

5 years ago a beloved child of God was murdered in front of our very eyes. People took to the streets, people who look like me understood this could never have happened to us, and for half a moment it looked like the world might change. It still can. Say his name: #GeorgeFloyd

Honored that the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church of Dr. King and @warnock.senate.gov will be joining my friends at St. Luke’s Atlanta to study my book on James Baldwin. Zooming in with my friend @scholarpriest.bsky.social this Wednesday to talk love, justice, and memory. @orbisbooks.bsky.social

Wendell Berry reached the same realization as James Baldwin—but as a white Southern man descended from slaveholders: White people are so damaged by racism, and until they acknowledge our history and confront that moral damage nothing can change. @orbisbooks.bsky.social @baylorsocialwork.bsky.social

Great conversation with Dr. Catherine Meeks on race, justice, and resistance. baptistnews.com/article/poli... @baptistnews.com @bayloruniversity.bsky.social

When the grading is done! Thanks to our friend Mary Vano for including me in this lovely collection of sermons preached at St. Margaret’s, Little Rock. Hoping to talk with Christopher Hays and Matthew Boedy about their important books this summer for @baptistnews.com

adultformation.castos.com/episodes/cra...

The end of the academic year is always hard for me. I learn from and love these kids, and they graduate! I’ve experienced empty nest syndrome 35 times. It hurts every time. And I wouldn’t give it up for anything. Thanks to my kids and to Baylor University for letting me build these sacred spaces.

worth every second

A few weeks ago my friend Winnie Varghese Zoomed in to talk with my James Baldwin class. Yesterday she was named the Dean of St. John the Divine in NYC. It’s one of the most visible pulpits in America and also the place where Baldwin’s memorial service took place in 1987! Congrats, Winnie!

Just out of the honors defense of my Baylor student Katie Gaitan. She wrote about human trafficking, and argued that instead of condemning victims forced into sex work, American Christians should offer love, justice, and hope. I'm proud of her work and her faith. Baylor students change the world.

Grateful to Baylor Univ President Linda Livingstone for visiting my James Baldwin class today. Great conversation. Thank you, Dr. Livingstone for your leadership on racial justice and Christian higher education. And for asking why Baldwin still matters! @orbisbooks.bsky.social

My annual Holy Saturday email to Rowan Williams was long. The ending: Pray for us. I am strong in the faith and strong in my resolve to, as Congressman John Lewis said, start good trouble, and I am back among the saints who rescued me and taught me justice….I am ready for the alleluias to return.

77 million Americans voted for #Trump and #MAGA corruption. 263 million of us did not. You all know this, right? Watch what is about to happen. Even @nytimes.com David Brooks is calling for resistance now against this #lying #grifting #criminal #fascist #president. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/o...

This is a good Good Friday post: Darkness, death, and resurrection coming. Thanks to the saints of St. James Episcopal, Austin and the Episcopal Church for rescuing me. May we all know liberation and resurrection! www.kwbu.org/show/living-...

This Holy week, a choice berween White Christian Nationalism and the actual Jesus. @baptistnews.com baptistnews.com/article/a-ho...

“Two processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30…. One was a peasant procession, the other an imperial procession.” Borg and Crossan, The Last Week. There’s 2 kinds of #faith on offer on Palm Sunday: in an all-powerful government and in a peasant who claimed to be God’s son.

It was an honor to be recognized at Baylor University last night for helping vets reach their educational goals. Our veterans and their families have sacrificed and, often, suffered. All Americans have a responsibility to them. Don’t cut essential staff and services for vets!!

How is this even possible? And honestly, who gets disappeared next?

Sent off the copy edited manuscript on white supremacy to my editor at Oxford UP and told my wife it’s the best and most important thing I’ve written. It will be my 31st book, out in Spring 2026, and my 4th book with the best publisher on the planet! May it be of use. #books #history #race #justice

@robertpjones.bsky.social is a New York Times bestselling author and the founder of @prripoll.bsky.social, an essential resource. His book White Too Long was just banned at our Naval Academy. Robby Jones' books are true. Banning his books will not change that. www.whitetoolong.net/p/my-book-wh...

I am almost 64 years old. This is the first protest sign I have ever made. I should be enjoying the good bourbon. Instead I am marching with tens of thousands of people in Austin. I don’t want to be doing this. I am a white Christian male with a mortgage and a family. Sit with that, if you have to.

Like Jason Isbell I was raised to be a strong and silent Southern man. And like Jason Isbell, because I’m strong, I will not be silent. Don’t you be either. Thank you, Jason, for last night in Austin, and for your art and witness. Let’s all start good trouble.

Today I taped an hour long conversation at KWBU about depression, faith, and how I was rescued by a faithful community. St. Anthony said, "Our life and death is with our brother and sister." It's just Humanity 101. How is it that so many Americans have decided we don't want to rescue each other?

My interview with @bethallisonbarr.bsky.social about her new Becoming the Pastor's Wife is at @baptistnews.com. And I'm headed over shortly to talk to Ron Johnson and his class about James Baldwin. So grateful to be with @baylorhistory.bsky.social! @orbisbooks.bsky.social @brazospress.bsky.social

I never teach a class the same way twice. I was prepping my American Literary Cultures class this fall—adding poetry, Lorraine Hansberry, and Ava Duvernay—and leaning back into the challenging texts: Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Leslie Martin Silko. Someday I hope to teach them well! #teaching

It was a joy to sit down at Fabled yesterday with my friend and colleague @bethallisonbarr.bsky.social and talk about her brand new NYT bestseller!! Editing now. Watch @baptistnews.com for the interview, and do pick up Becoming the Pastor’s Wife! @baylorhistory.bsky.social @brazospress.bsky.social

Watched Anora last night. Script was structurally brilliant: 3 distinct acts, all with their own earned moods; amazing foreshadowing. Mikey Madison is a force of nature. And it's about real-life stories, esp the realization that the very rich can do whatever they want, no matter who they hurt.

I was honored to be part of a Zoom defense for the 1st PhD in Preaching candidate from Baylor’s Truett Seminary today. Praying this program will be a gift to the Church and the world, which is what Baylor is all about. Speak truth. Love hard. Make a difference! #preach #preaching