Practices
The Way of Mission is something we practice each day — never perfecting, but always at work shaping our lives. Check out the practices section of this website to find ideas for how to practice mission today, tomorrow, and across the rest of your life.
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Jesus the Miracle Worker: Can the Gospel of Luke Speak to Modern Science?
How can we make sense of Jesus as a miracle worker in light of modern science? For many people today—especially those who value reason and empirical evidence—stories of supernatural events can be hard to accept.
Lord of the Sabbath: A Gentle Rebellion
In Luke 6:1–5, Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grainfield on the Sabbath. They pluck heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat—simple, human acts of hunger and provision.
True Religious Liberty
True Religious Liberty: Freedom from Below, Not Oppression from Above Religious liberty is one of the most precious freedoms we have. It is not merely a political ideal but a deeply biblical principle—one that recognizes that faith must...
Luke’s Disciples: Untrained, Everyday People Changing the World
In the Gospel of Luke, we encounter a truly unique group who helped lay the foundations of Christianity. These disciples weren’t theologians or religious scholars—they were lay people, regular folks with everyday jobs and no formal religious training.
Baptist News Global Interview
Featured on Baptist News Global Q&A with Chris Sanders on unions, social justice and policing Chris Sanders knows theology and law, and he’s an advocate both for labor unions and social justice. That blend of life experience and life...
Broken Halos
Seen my share of broken halos Folded wings that used to fly They've all gone wherever they go Broken halos that used to shine Angels come down from the heavens Just to help us on our way Come to teach us, then they leave us And they find...
Like Jesus Does
We learn about the grace of God from the grace we get from others, and then we hear about it in country songs. LIKE JESUS DOES I'm a long-gone Waylon song on vinyl I'm a back row sitter at a tent revival But she believes in me like she...
“Daddy!”
I was working in my yard, and I hear this heartbreaking sound from two doors down. Loud enough and alarming enough to stop what I was doing and head that way. A towheaded three-year-old boy was standing at the top of the steps outside the...
Why Me, Lord?
Why Me, Lord? Why me Lord, what have I ever done To deserve even one Of the pleasures I've known? Tell me Lord, what did I ever do That was worth loving You Or the kindness You've shown? Lord help me Jesus, I've wasted it so Help me...
GOD WILL
(First preached by Chris Sanders at Ridgewood Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky, October 10, 2021) On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called...
Christian Faith Is a Calling, Not a Formula
By John Pierce Editor’s note: Due to extensive travel in September, this column is a reworking of one that first appeared Aug. 9, 2019. A big question for us today is: How did so much of American Christianity today get so far from Jesus?...
Just Following Orders
“What do you want? A medal? A prize just for showing up? Do your job!” Ouch, that’s a little harsh. Use your mind’s ear to hear those words delivered with sarcasm at high volume, by a shrill friend, or an exasperated boss, or a military...
U.S. Labor History Filled with Days of Infamy and Pride
History is made of moments. Days of pride and days of infamy. In infamy, Dec. 7, 1941. Sept. 11. Burned into our souls. Let Jan. 6 be burned there, too. Lest we forget. The Tulsa Race Massacre of June 1921 is now burning into America’s...
There’s Rules, And There’s Rules
Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?” He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?” He said, “That you love the Lord your God with...
Temptation and Choices
Good choices are hard, especially in weak moments. Does it help us with our choices to know that Jesus had weak moments and tough choices, too? Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wild....
The Zacchaeus Choice
Repentance is turning around. A 180-degree turn to God’s Grace. But is all repentance identical? Does it matter whether you’re poor or rich? Compare these two stories. The Prodigal Son of Jesus’ Parable of the Loving Father (Luke 15)...
The Man Who Cut Dr. King’s Grass
A couple of years ago, the movie "Selma" introduced America to a few heroes of the civil rights movement whose names aren't well-known. And we also saw the hundreds of people walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama whose...
Shreveport
Would They Love Him Down in Shreveport Today? If they saw him riding in, long hair flying in the wind Would they love him down in Shreveport today? If they heard he was a Jew, and a Palestinian too Would they love him down in Nashville...
Grace Under Fire
I’m a Baptist. A real Baptist. Steeped in the American tradition of a free church in a free state. Political factions aren’t to be named and aligned by religion. So it hits me hard, up close and personal, when world news shows...
First Things First
When you’re networking, you carry an elevator speech in your virtual pocket. Just enough words to introduce yourself in the time it takes to ride an elevator. Just enough words to say who you are, what you do, and why your new...
Where Are We Going?
Does life seem repetitive? Does each day seem the same? Do you get up in the morning, go the same places, do the same tasks, eat the same meals, see the same people? Even if there’s options, are they the same options each time? One season...
What Then Should We Do (Specifically)?
When you get under someone’s skin, they let it out with a yelp, like a pinched puppy. Now struggling with a crisis of conscience because of something you said, they have to do something. Their first impulse is to throw it back at you....
Mary’s Song of Praise
“Just say the first thing that comes to mind,” say the counselor, the chaplain, professionals of all kinds. Urging people to let go of inhibitions, they literally urge words out of us without judgment. With support and encouragement, we...
Breaking The Stupid Rule
There once was a nursing home in a small town. You know how small towns are. Everybody knows everybody, everybody knows who’s in charge, so nothing ever changes, for so long that people stop trying. You know how nursing homes are for...
Wait, What? There’s a Sermon on the Plain, too?
You may have heard of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5): Jesus is speaking to a crowd sitting on a hillside. He instructs them with words of wisdom on how to live.
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