Dennis Allan

In Jesus’s death we find the master story that every Christians’ life is meant to be conformed to. We don’t grasp after power, but embrace weakness, humility, and self-sacrifice for the well-being of our neighbors. post-gazette.com/opinion/guest-…

This week I contributed to an opinion piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, written by David Mills. As Christians, I believe we’re to be ambassadors of a God who’s rich in mercy, not people who pray that God would provide “righteous targets for violence.” post-gazette.com/opinion/david-…

@davidzweig Pittsburgh has, understandably, touted the economic benefit of the Draft. The state and city have spent millions to prepare the city and the North Side (neighborhood of Pittsburgh) for the event. But, I didn’t know the Draft meant we would need to “cancel” school city-wide.

@davidzweig As a parent of five Pittsburgh Public School students who all attend schools near where the NFL Draft will be held, while recognizing thousands of students attend schools far from where it’ll be held, I have had a similar reaction. Unreal.

Pittsburgh Public Schools will be closed for three days, and compel "asynchronous" remote learning, because of the NFL Draft. Since the city will have a lot of visitors this will "ensure students can continue learning safely and effectively." Unreal. publicsource.org/pittsburgh-pub…

The good news of Jesus' Gospel is heaven's constitution. For anyone who calls themselves by Jesus' name, the Gospel's demands organize and define our citizenship. We don't get to decide if we'll love our enemies, be peacemakers, or care for the vulnerable among us.

"In most ideologies, somewhere room is made for hatred of the person. Christianity cannot live in tandem with any ideology that leaves such space." - @Zheschool plough.com/en/topics/just…

@SHoddeMiller I think Paul expresses this well when he invites the Philippians to remember their citizenship is in heaven after pointing them to the way that Jesus emptied and humbled himself, almost like Jesus’s kenotic mindset is meant to be the foundational ethic of the Kingdom.

A central conviction of Christianity—and the essential message of the cross—is that victory and transformation come not through conquest and force, but through love and self-sacrifice.

I had the privilege of being a 2025 Public Life Fellow at @CCPublicLife alongside Nathan Beacom. He is thoughtful, wise, insightful, and faithful. His piece in The Dispatch on artificial intelligence, philosophy, ethics, and morality is too. thedispatch.com/article/anthro…

I’m so thankful for the community of thought leaders and practitioners that @CCPublicLife brought together that not only helped inform this essay, but also shaped the way that I think about the church’s role in public life and community flourishing.

Public life does not change through ideas alone. It changes when people take responsibility for their local communities. Theme 05 of the 2025 Journal of Ideas focuses on concrete applications. These essays explore what public faithfulness looks like in neighborhoods, congregations, and cities. They ask practical questions like: -What does loving your neighbor actually require? -How should churches engage local public life? -What does it take to build institutions that serve the common good? -Can a city change its trajectory? Featuring essays by Krista Kartson, Johnnie Simpson Jr., Dennis Allan, and AJ Calhoun, this theme moves from conviction to lived practice. Explore Theme 05: Concrete Applications: readymag.website/u1646551890/58…

Our Public Life Fellows help name the questions shaping American civic life and imagine what renewal might look like. Their work comes together in the Journal of Ideas, a collection of essays designed to foster communal reflection, conversation across differences, and provide hope as we imagine the renewal of our public life. This week, we’re highlighting Section 02: Foundation of Human Flourishing in the 2025 Journal of Ideas. These essays explore what it truly means to flourish as human beings in a fractured world, asking how dignity, formation, and care for the vulnerable must shape our public life. Essays featured in this section: -Perfectly Imperfect: Loving Whole Persons in an Age of Optimization — Nadya Williams -Whose Life Is Worthy of Life? On Questions of Human Dignity — Lydia S. Dugdale -Flourishing Within Fragility: How Formation in Paradox Can Help Us Reimagine Foreign Assistance — Lanre Williams-AyEdun If you’re thinking about the moral foundations of our civic life, and what it takes for individuals and communities to truly thrive, this section offers a rich place to begin. Read these essays on our website: readymag.website/u1646551890/58…

Lanre Williams-Ayedun is a wise and gifted leader. She’s the Senior Vice President of International Programs at World Relief and a proud Nigerian-American. Her article on African Christian persecution is worth reading. foxnews.com/opinion/im-chr…

@jeff_bilbro @TheAlanNoble @NadyaWilliams81 My @NadyaWilliams81 book came in a custom book wrapping, too! Woe the next book I order that doesn’t come with custom stickers and wrapping.

How did @NadyaWilliams81 get a custom sticker pack to accompany her book? This is a great book, even without the stickers, and I'm glad to see it in the wild.

Countdown to book birthday--Nov. 11! Want to learn more? Also, this occasion has been designated BYOE (Bring Your Own Elephant). zondervanacademic.com/products/chris…

@drantbradley In my experience, many people are looking for more traditional or ancient practices that provide a deeper grounding than modern evangelicalism can/does. Specifically, much of the Catholic church’s growth has been amongst young people and in its more conservative expressions.

Why is this? Meanwhile the Southern Baptist Convention is declining. The SBC fell to 12.7 million members in 2024, its lowest since 1974.

If it was not clear before, it should be clear now: pastors and congregations need to drill down deep, and ensure they are deeply grounded, because the pressures of culture that come from outside and inside the church will not be relenting anytime soon. Know your first love.

The point of the gospel writers telling the story of Jesus next to two thieves is not to emphasize who believed in him and who didn't. The major point is to locate God. Where is God? Behold! God is on the cross, dying next to criminals. Everything flows from here. #GoodFriday

"If circumstances can lead us to sacrifice gentleness in pursuit of a political outcome, it is likely because we fear not getting something from politics that we believe we need more than what God will provide if we are faithful." -From The Spirit of Our Politics

Some fun news! Really excited and humbled to get to be part of this initiative with this amazing group of people.

@whstancil And, it seems to be about a reinterpretation of those civil rights laws to focus on “anti-white” racism instead of racism against people of color. I wonder if people on the right really want to abolish civil rights laws or repackage them in ways that preference white people.

Guys when Chris Rufo and Trump say "We're destroying DEI, we're salting the earth underneath it" and they're repealing regulations that reach back to 1965, they're not talking about corporate diversity trainings. They are talking about civil rights