Last October Charles Colson made this declaration on his radio program: “I want to say this to every Christian listening to my voice: Let’s stop criticizing candidates for their religious convictions.”

Colson was responding to the rhetoric from some evangelical leaders warning their flocks not to vote for Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon. Since Romney has taken the lead in the GOP primary, with some bumps along the way, there seems to be a real effort to downplay his Mormon faith as an issue among evangelicals. I’ve read numerous articles and editorials reporting that evangelicals are indifferent to Romney’s religious beliefs, and like most other voters their highest concern is the economy and not theology.

But I’m not convinced evangelicals are embracing Romney as much as some…

To commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, here’s a video clip from a talk I gave at Newsong in Irvine, California. It’s about the turning point in the Civil Rights Movements during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. How was MLK able to express love for his enemies amid constant threats and attacks on his family? How was he able to rally African Americans to a non-violent movement of civil disobedience after centuries of abuse and oppression? Historians recognize the influence of Gandhi and liberation theology on King, but they often overlook a life-changing, late night encounter he had with God in his kitchen. That was when he came to truly see this as a God-with-us world.

Last week I saw a report on CNN about a kid in New Hampshire who is asking every candidate in the Republican primary about their favorite superhero. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Perry all answered “Superman.” But I think a far more interesting story would be asking Superman about his favorite candidate.

Of course we would first have to establish the Man of Steel’s political affiliation. Is earth’s greatest hero a Democrat or a Republican? Below is my assessment of Sups’ political leanings based on his demographics, lifestyle, and values.

He is a white man between 30 and 50. (1 Point: GOP)

He grew up in a small town in Kansas…otherwise known as “real America” by Sarah Palin. (1 Point: GOP)

He now resides in an…

Last week was the Willow Creek Association’s Global Leadership Summit. The annual conference is a convergence of business, government, social, and church leaders curated by the WCA and headlined by Bill Hybels. Past Summits have featured speakers like Bill Clinton, Jack Welch, and Bono. But the buzz surrounding this year’s lineup (or “faculty” as the WCA likes to call them) was focused on who would not be there.

Days before the event Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz withdrew because of an online petition launched by Change.org. The gay-advocacy group accused Willow Creek of being anti-gay and threatened to boycott Starbucks if Schultz spoke at the Leadership Summit. The controversy was widely reported in the press, and as 165,000 people gathered at 450 locations around the world for the WCA…

[NOTE: This post originally appeared on The Washington Post's "On Faith" website.]

Governmental, religious, and cultural leaders on all sides have already spoken, written, or tweeted about the proposed Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center site in Manhattan. So when my friend Eboo Patel asked me to add my voice to the noise, I wasn’t sure what new perspective I could offer.

An expert in constitutional law might see the Cordoba House controversy as a First Amendment issue and demand that the Muslim-Americans organizing the project be allowed to proceed without impediment. A politico might see the matter as an opportunity to score easy points with constituents (right or left) by supporting or denouncing the “Ground Zero mosque.” And a member of the media might…

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season prior to Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Vice President Joe Biden sparked curiosity when he appeared in public and on television with a smudge of ash on his forehead. One news anchor in the UK had no idea what it was. “What’s happened to his head?” asked Kay Burley on Sky News. “It looks like he’s walked into a door!” The co-host speculated that he had fallen on the ice while attending the Winter Olympics. (As if we needed more evidence that Britain is an utterly post-Christian secular culture.)

Biden is a practicing Catholic, and the ash was part of the Ash Wednesday mass he had attended earlier in the day. While usually associated with Roman Catholic…

Confession time. I’ve never watched An Inconvenient Truth. I’ve never read Earth in the Balance. In fact I’ve never studied the global warming issue in any depth beyond the occasional news article in Time magazine. I’m not sure this is anything to be ashamed about…I’m probably like many Americans in this regard.

But since Barack Obama has taken office and everything is now green (“green economy,” “green jobs,” “green energy,” “green cars,” and “green business”) I’ve started to actually pay attention to the issue of anthropogenic global warming (AGW).

I know what the “deniers” on the right think. Rush Limbaugh is fond of saying that humans didn’t create life on earth and therefore we cannot destroy it. He says global warming is a myth concocted by lefty scientists…

Promise Keepers new focus on women and messianic Jews:“Promise Keepers is not a men’s ministry. It is a ministry for men.” -Raleigh Washington president of Promise Keepers. Read more.

The Manhattan Declaration’s focus on abortion, gay marriage, and religious liberty:

“We argue that there is a hierarchy of issues. A lot of the younger evangelicals say they’re all alike. We’re hoping to educate them that these are the three most important issues.” -Chuck Colson. Read more.

Pastor on relocating to Chicago to plant a church:

“I just had one of those moments like ‘Holy crap … what are we doing?’” -Mark Bergin. Read more.

Rick Warren on paying $1500 for counseling early in his marriage:

“MasterCard saved my marriage!” -Rick Warren.

Zondervan’s decision…

“A clash of civilizations.” That’s how many in the media and in politics describe the relationship between Muslims and Christians. This popular narrative, however, does not capture the full story. Yes, there is a faction of Islam that is hostile and even aggressively violent toward the West. And there are some Christians who ignorantly scrawl Bible versus on the gun barrels of their tanks. But there are also people like Pervaiz Masih.

Pervaiz was part of the poor, Christian minority in Pakistan. He was illiterate. He worked as a janitor at the women’s campus of Islamabad’s International Islamic University. When a suicide bomber disguised as a women tried to enter the crowded cafeteria, Pervaiz confronted him at the doorway to prevent him from entering. In the struggle the…