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Posts by author

John Pavlovitz

The Church was never meant to be a place.

24 posts
is a pastor, writer and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. In the past four years his blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said has reached a diverse worldwide audience. A 20-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities. He recently released his first book A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community.
  • God

Remember, the Bible Never Mentions a Building Called ‘Church’

  • Posted on June 24, 2019June 24, 2019
Recently, I wrote this piece, encouraging people who love God but who for any number of reasons find themselves outside of a traditional church. A number of Fundamentalist Christians objected.…
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  • 3 min
  • Life

No, Everything Does Not Happen for a Reason

  • Posted on June 21, 2019June 21, 2019
We’ve all received that phrase “everything happens for a reason” personally gift-wrapped by well-meaning friends, caring loved ones and kind strangers. It usually comes delivered with the most beautiful of intentions, a buffer…
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  • 5 min
  • God

5 Things I Wish Christians Would Admit About the Bible

  • Posted on January 2, 2019January 2, 2019
The Bible. Christians talk about it all the time, though what they mean by “The Bible” isn’t always clear. That is to say, other than the catch phrase “God’s Word”…
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  • 5 min
  • God

Have We Made the Bible Into an Idol?

  • Posted on September 21, 2018December 13, 2018
The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it. You’ve heard that phrase before. You’ve read it on bumper stickers. You may have even said it a time…
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  • 3 min
  • Nation

The Heresy of Nationalism

  • Posted on March 13, 2018
God doesn’t bless America. That’s not how this works. I’m sorry to break it to you, Bible Belt Christians—but that’s just how it is. I know this kind of wrecks…
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  • 4 min
  • God

I’m a Christian Who Says Happy Holidays

  • Posted on December 11, 2017
American evangelicals’ annual campaign against the supposed “War on Christmas” began early this year, with the president promising the perpetually oppressed faithful that we would once again be a nation…
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  • Culture

5 Truths About White Privilege

  • Posted on April 3, 2017April 3, 2017
The first time I heard the term “white privilege,” I did what many white people do. I leapt immediately to defending myself from whatever accusations those words generated in my mind, choosing to…
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  • 5 min
  • Life

Confessions of a Recovering Christian Know-It-All

  • Posted on August 23, 2016December 27, 2017
Hi, I’m a Christian—and I don’t know anything. Well, I know a whole heck of a lot less than I used to, and the simple fact that I’m OK admitting…
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  • 1 min
  • Current

The Deeper Problem With Brock Turner’s Father Calling for Leniency in His Son’s Rape Case

  • Posted on June 8, 2016December 27, 2017
You’ve surely heard by now about the unconscionable case of Brock Turner, the student at Stanford University who last year was accused of raping a fellow student behind a dumpster—while…
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  • 5 min
  • Life

How to Debate on Social Media and Not Lose Your Soul

  • Posted on June 6, 2016December 27, 2017
As with many people, I live a good portion of my waking moments on social media, engaging, writing, responding—virtually existing. As fruitful as it can be, there’s a toll this…
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  • 4 min
  • Culture

No, ‘Moral Decay’ Isn’t Happening More in America

  • Posted on May 18, 2016December 27, 2017
You don’t need to look far to see that we’re in the middle of a cultural outcry—about almost everything. A few months ago, it was same-sex marriage and Kim Davis.…
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  • 3 min
  • Church
  • God

The Greatest False Idol of Modern Christianity

  • Posted on March 14, 2016June 7, 2017
Idolatry is a horrible, dangerous thing. Sadly, far too many of us are guilty of it. You can see it in the way we complain on social media, in the…
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  • 3 min
  • God

The Harm of Claiming There Is a ‘War on Christmas’

  • Posted on December 7, 2015June 7, 2017
The yearly Christian obsession with the supposed “war on Christmas” began early last year, with a viral video of self-proclaimed car seat prophet Joshua Feuerstein’s rant against Starbucks before Thanksgiving…
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  • 4 min
  • God

Christians Shouldn’t Try to Scare the Hell Out of People

  • Posted on October 28, 2015June 7, 2017
Now this was a nightmare. I was a year or so into my career as a student pastor, carelessly bounding through twisting cornstalk caverns on a crisp Fall evening in rural Pennsylvania, alongside…
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  • 3 min
  • God

What to Do When You’ve Lost Your Faith

  • Posted on October 7, 2015December 27, 2017
“I just don’t know if I believe anymore … and I don’t know what to do about it.” I hear words like these every single day from people from every…
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