I own a black T-shirt covered in portraits of prominent figures in Black history. I wore it to work one day at a private Christian school and nearly got fired for it. What I want you to know is this: Juneteenth was born in a church. It was organized by pastors. And the Black congregations who created it had spent the previous year doing something that looks, from a church history perspective, remarkably like the Reformation. That is the story most Christians have never been told, and it belongs to us.

Pentecost Sunday is one of the most significant days on the Christian calendar and one of the most overlooked. Most people know the basics: wind, fire, tongues, three thousand saved. But the story runs so much deeper than a single morning in Jerusalem. From the Jubilee rhythms of the Old Testament to the women standing in the streets proclaiming the gospel, Pentecost is the culmination of everything God had been building since Eden. The fire fell on each one of them and that includes you.

I celebrate the Fourth of July not because I think America is perfect but because I believe in the God-given ideals it was founded on: freedom, justice, and the dignity of every person. As a Christian, I’m grateful to live in a country where I can worship freely, speak boldly, and participate in shaping our future. Patriotism isn’t about ignoring our past; and it’s about honoring what is good and striving to live up to the truths we profess.