Reflecting on being caught off guard by a startling image for God in Psalm 91 this week. substack.com/home/post/p-16…

Horrific

Proverbial Wisdom for Faithful Politics open.substack.com/pub/michaeljrh…

Reflecting on reading Scripture with an appreciation for mystery, with a personal postscript on Brueggemann's passing. michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/both-particl…

A few reflections on how others have wrestled with Rom 13:1-7's apparently hard political teaching, based on my new article "Reading Paul's Politics Wisely" in Studies in Christian Ethics open.substack.com/pub/michaeljrh…

A child dies of malnutrition every 15 seconds, as 185,535 boxes of special food for starving children are stacked in a warehouse in Rhode Island, paid for by American taxpayers. After shutting USAID, the Trump administration is just sitting on the boxes. nytimes.com/2025/06/25/opi…

Paul refers to Prov 4x right before Rom 13, and in the weirdest way ever. He takes God out of his Prov texts, only to apply some of the "God stuff" he takes out to the governing authorities. Some highlights from my new SCE article on substack this week. michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/reading-roma…

Christians do not love their enemies merely for a reward or out of prudential considerations, but because they are ambassadors of the Crucified Messiah, who died for his enemies and transformed them into friends. Or, as another Prov LXX text puts it: michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/reading-roma…

It's time to stop using Jesus' words as an excuse to shrug at our neighbor's suffering. michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/the-poor-you…

While Jesus’ words “the poor you will always have with you” can sound like an apathetic shrug about the suffering, Jesus is actually quoting Deuteronomy 15, one of the texts most dedicated to economic justice in all of Scripture. michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/the-poor-you…

A native-born US citizen high school student detained by federal immigration officials for 23 days, despite having presented his birth certificate He was not allowed to shower that whole time, he says, and he lost 26 pounds More from CBS News cbsnews.com/news/us-citize…

Discipleship requires us to sync up our eyes and guts with God’s, so that neighbor-love drives us across our own dangerous roads and cultural barriers to embrace our neighbors in the ditch. michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/go-and-feel-…

Letting the Little Children Come Unto Me open.substack.com/pub/michaeljrh…

On why the Torah's blueprints don't include cry rooms and youth buildings... michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/letting-the-…

Wrestling with how to pray amid the horrors this week... michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/praying-the-…

Christians are called to pursue better structures in both church and society. But never forget: our org charts cannot save us. The end of Gideon's story in Judges reminds us why. michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/our-org-char…

If we want justice, peace, and flourishing in any group, we're gonna have to think about structures. Unfortunately, even if we get the best org chart down on paper, a surprise ending in Judges reminds us such structures cannot save us. michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/our-org-char…

In a world obsessed with what we can measure, count, understand, and control, we feel pressure to make the Bible less strange, less fraught with mystery of God... Instead, in the words of David Bowie, let’s “turn and face the strange.” michaeljrhodes.substack.com/p/turn-and-fac…