Rev. Peter M. Wallace

After you spend time and energy trying to learn something, sometimes God gives you an opportunity to put it into practice, ready or not. And that's a good thing because it compels us to live what we've learned. For me, it happened the moment I walked out the door after...

In a special Day1 Conversation, author and religious historian Diana Butler Bass talks with me about her new book, Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (HarperOne, 2012).

Diana delves into the roots of the crisis that churches of...

I got stumped the other day by what would seem to be a rather easy question: "Would you say something to us about God?"

I was meeting with a dozen members of an important committee in the denomination to which I belong. The members were asking me all sorts of...

A year ago I attended the National Festival of Young Preachers, an initiative of the Academy of Preachers. And I reported here that I had seen the future of preaching, and it's a beautiful thing.

I returned to Louisville, Kentucky for this year's Festival Jan. 2-5,...

A meditation on the Psalm appointed for Sunday, Oct. 30 (Revised Common Lectionary)

O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the...

It's mid-May.
I'm in a Minneapolis hotel bar
Slick, dark and red-lit
Sipping a husky tempranillo
Resting after a busy day
Mindlessly checking email on my phone
Reading the latest headlines
Minding my own business.

I'm aware of three men
...

A couple of months ago I wrote here about my experiences on the streets of Atlanta meeting homeless people. Recently, I spent another hot day in the city with ministry colleagues. Our goal this time was simply to listen to people who call the streets home share...

You probably know that "Hoarders" is one of the most intriguing and popular programs on cable TV today.

Well, I must confess that I am a hoarder. Okay, not one of the 3 million compulsive hoarders like those featured on the addictive A&E series....

When it comes to promising the sky, Psalm 128:1-4 doesn't beat around the bush:

Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you. Your wife...

Last month I was part of a group of people of faith who spent a Saturday mingling with homeless persons on the streets of downtown Atlanta. Maybe you'll consider doing something similar where you live. You will likely come back home as grateful, and as surprised, as I did.

What...

What if they find out? What if you're exposed? You could lose your position, your wealth, even your life. These people, your fellow Pharisees, are serious -- deadly serious.

The Rabbi has had them in an uproar for some time now. He seemed to go out of his way...

I've been asking a lot of "why" questions lately. But what else is new.

Last week in Atlanta, where I live and work, two families were awash in emotion -- one with joy, the other with sorrow.

The Sowell family was rejoicing that their 15-year-old son Thomas was...

Do you take water for granted? After all, you probably have bottled water in your refrigerator, a water cooler at work, even kitchen tap water ready and waiting. At the slightest twinge of thirst, it's not difficult to satisfy the craving.

When was the last time you were really thirsty?...

1 O LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?

In the film Annie Hall, Woody Allen's character Alvy Singer refers to an old Groucho Marx joke that describes his relationships with women: "I would never want to belong to any club that would...

I have seen the future of preaching, and it's a beautiful thing.

As the producer and host of the "Day 1" radio program, which gives outstanding mainline Protestant preachers an international pulpit on 200 stations and online, it was my privilege to attend the second annual National Festival...

This year a number of Christmas stockings will no doubt be stuffed with a copy of a beautiful little book, Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem (published by HarperOne). It's the first English translation of an ancient manuscript that has...

In the Hebrew Bible, God tells Abram: "Leave your country, your family and your father's home for a land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1).

There comes a time when each of us who accepts God's invitation to authentic life must leave home, comfort, familiarity and security to step...

We've just gotten through Halloween, and the mask of sanity and civility seems to be slipping, revealing a horrifyingly ugly reality underneath.

In the wake of several heart-breaking young gay suicides comes an Arkansas school board member whose epithet-laced, grammatically mutilated Facebook posts essentially encourage gay youths to...

"Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss." (1 Thessalonians 5:26 NRSV)

Frankly, that New Testament verse attributed to St. Paul always made me a little uncomfortable.

Some Bible translations try to avoid our awkwardness with the original Greek and make the verse better fit contemporary...

At the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Review Summit in New York Sept. 20-22, 2010, heads of state are joining leaders from the private sector, foundations, and civil society to commit to an action agenda to achieve the MDGs by 2015.

Only five years remain until the target...