Last Week at RHM: March 9, 2026

Thank You!

We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.

Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.

To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.

If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”


Recommended Reading for March

Why Christians Should Be Leftists

by Phil Christman

The Sermon on the Mount offers a rousing call to political solidarity―if only we have ears to hear it. 
 
Being a Christian and being a socialist go together for Phil Christman. He explains why in this stirring manifesto, which is part testimony of his own journey out of conservatism, part entertaining introduction to the American left, and part impassioned call to his fellow believers to take a fresh look at their own politics. Christman speaks particularly to Christians who are already uncomfortable with how political leaders on the right leverage sexism, racism, and homophobia. He encourages these believers: Keep going! Apply your moral discernment to capitalism, too!
 
Demonstrating why he’s regarded as one of the best essayists in America, Christman deftly synthesizes politics, theology, pop culture, and ethics in this erudite and lively treatise. Throughout he offers a gentle but firm challenge to Christians who are disillusioned by politics as usual and searching for a new approach to civic life that takes Jesus’s teachings seriously.
 
“I am approaching the social through the personal, by giving a testimony of sorts. You can take the boy out of evangelicalism, but can you really take the evangelicalism out of the boy? Even now, I have to tell the story.”

Last Syllable Book Award Nonfiction Longlist (2025)



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Last Week’s Social Jesus Blog Posts

Justice Lessons at the Well

Part 1

The story of at the well begins with mutual vulnerability, not with a loftier benefactor dispensing charity.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/socialjesus/2026/03/justice-lessons-well

Stop Blaming the Woman at the Well

Part 2 of the series Justice Lessons at the Well

This woman’s story plausibly reflects more structural vulnerability. Repeated marriages in the ancient world signal exploitation.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/socialjesus/2026/03/stop-blaming-woman-well

Spirit and Truth

Part 3 of the series Justice Lessons at the Well

This story challenges us to cross boundaries, to listen first, to trust that those most marginalized are messengers of truth and justice.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/socialjesus/2026/03/spirit-truth




New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast

A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice. 

This week:

Season 3 Episode 11:  Justice Lessons at the Well

John 4:5-42

The Samaritan woman, who was marginalized by ethnicity, gender, and social stigma, is treated as a human being with value in John’s story. Her question matters. Her voice is honored. Justice work begins the same way: by centering those most excluded and trusting their questions as genuine sources of divine revelation. “Spirit and truth” resists empty religiosity that divorces worship from lived reality. Truth is not mere doctrine; in John’s Gospel truth is embodied in Jesus’ life-giving, boundary-breaking love, just as the synoptic Gospels define that lived love as concrete justice for those being harmed by Herod’s and the temple’s complicity with Roman exploitation. Worship that ignores oppression, poverty, racism, or patriarchy leads to worshipers who ignore these realities in our material lives as well, and that kind of worship and actions are incomplete. “God is spirit” in this context means that God is much larger than the institutions that try to trap the Divine and control access to it. God is Spirit and that Spirit is present wherever people struggle for for their humanity, liberation, justice, and wholeness. Streets, shelters, protest lines, classrooms, and kitchens all become legitimate spaces of worship when animated by Spirit and truth. The question is no longer where we worship, but how we live, whether our practices align with the liberation, justice, and love we see Jesus modeled towards others in the gospel stories. 

Available on all major podcast carriers and at:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/justice-lessons-at-the-well



Upcoming Events

March 21, 2026

Good News Fellowship (via Zoom)

Toronto, Ontario Canada

For info: 304.520.0030


Weekly HeartGroup on Zoom Every Wednesday Night!

Each Wednesday evening, Renewed Heart Ministries hosts a Zoom-HeartGroup led by Herb Montgomery.  Our discussion each week will focus on the content in RHM’s weekly eSight articles and the Social Jesus podcast.  The time of each Zoom session will be on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. Pacific/10:00 p.m. Eastern.

To receive the link for the Zoom meeting, email us at info@renewedheartministries.com.


Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels

by Herb Montgomery

Available now on Amazon!

In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.

Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.


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