Lynne Hybels

Lynne Hybels, co-founder of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, is author of Nice Girls Don’t Change the World and a columnist for Sojourners magazine.

Posts By This Author

When People Become a Commodity

by Lynne Hybels 06-03-2011

A club owner in Chicago can pick up the phone and "mail-order" three girls from Eastern Europe.

An Apology to My Muslim Friends

by Lynne Hybels 03-09-2011

On the weekend of Oct. 6, 2001 -- less than one month after 9/11 -- my husband preached a sermon called "Religion Gone Awry." That was not the message he had originally scheduled for that weekend.

Tahrir Square: The Many Little Revolutions

by Lynne Hybels 02-15-2011

Last week, I received this photo of Maggie, an Egyptian Christian friend who is a documentary filmmaker. When I asked her if I could post the photo on my blog, she sent me this email in return:

How to Pray for Egypt

by Lynne Hybels 02-04-2011

Here is a new update from my friend, Wafik Wahba, Associate Professor of Global Christianity at Tyndale University and Seminary.

Cooking Up Peace

by Lynne Hybels 02-01-2011

Six Christian women from an evangelical church in Texas invited six Jewish women from a local synagogue and six Muslim women from a local mosque to form a cooking club.

Prayer and Fasting for Egypt

by Lynne Hybels 01-31-2011

An Egyptian friend living in Chicago just spoke with a pastor in Cairo. For security purposes, I have not used the name of the pastor in Cairo, but I do know him and deeply respect him.

Jesus' Best Work

by Lynne Hybels 12-01-2010

In February 2009, I attended a conference in Egypt taught by Arab Christians from throughout the Middle East.

Waging Peace During Threats of Terrorism

by Lynne Hybels 11-09-2010

We've all heard the horrible news of the threatening packages sent from http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj1003&arti..."

Hope for the Holy Land

by Lynne Hybels 09-02-2010

Two years ago, as I listened to the escalating rhetoric of hate in the international media, I became haunted by the thought that Christians, Muslims, and Jews are going to blow up the world.

The Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman

by Lynne Hybels 09-01-2010

In the DRC, soldiers use women's bodies as a battlefield.

The DRC: The Worst Place on Earth to be a Woman

by Lynne Hybels 08-30-2010

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a beautiful, lush country, with fertile soil and rich minerals.

Mother of Exiles

by Lynne Hybels 07-07-2010

Bill and I were vacationing in Michigan when we received the call from the White House asking if Bill would in

Following Jesus in the West Bank

by Lynne Hybels 07-01-2010

I am still pro-Israel, but I've also become pro-Palestinian.

This Changes Everything

by Lynne Hybels 05-01-2010

Every single member of God's family is as important to God as you are.

Every time I hear a news report about casualties of war, my mind travels back to the early ’90s. Twice in two years I traveled with a humanitarian organization to Croatia and Bosnia as those countries were being ripped apart by war with Serbia. It was a vicious war. When entering a village, soldiers routinely raped the women and took captive all the men and boys over 13, most of whom never returned.

In Croatia, we visited refugee centers filled with women who had lost everything: jobs, husbands, homes, country, and their planned-for future. In Bosnia, we visited schools where social workers tried to help grade-school kids who suffered so severely from post-traumatic stress that they sat all day silently chewing their nails to the quick. It was the first time I had seen war up close, and I was stunned by what human beings do to one another.

On my last day in Croatia, I climbed to the top of a hill that overlooked the countryside of Bosnia. I sat there for hours and wept and prayed for the women and children I’d seen. While I prayed, an unbidden question repeated itself: “Am I my sister’s keeper?” And the repeated answer was, Yes, yes, yes; you are your sister’s keeper.

“God, then who is my sister?”

They are all your sisters, I sensed God saying. Croatian Catholics. Bosnian Muslims. Serbian Orthodox. They—and every other woman you will ever meet—are all your sisters. And every man you will ever meet is your brother. Whether they know it or not, they are all part of the human family I have created, and I love them.

Jesus-Focused Conversations in Occupied Bethlehem

by Lynne Hybels 03-19-2010

I arrived in Bethlehem last Sunday evening to speak at a conference called "Christ at the Checkpoint: Theology in the Service of Peace and Justice." I'm not a theologian or an expert in anything.

Healing Presence

by Lynne Hybels 02-24-2010

During the past two years, I've traveled internationally quite extensively, focused on issues related to extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, and war.

From 'Strangers at Our Gates' to Brothers and Sisters

by Lynne Hybels 01-05-2010

Just say it: Feliz

I've Done It. I've Reclaimed Christmas.

by Lynne Hybels 12-08-2009

I refuse to write a blog about how overwhelmed I am by the holiday season. I'm not going to wax eloquent about how the season I loved most as a child has become the source of excruciating stress.

From Bethlehem: A Human Story

by Lynne Hybels 10-29-2009

When it comes to Israel/Palestine, the human story often gets lost in the confusion of ideology and politics. Let me just highlight the story of one woman, a wife and mother named Isme. Prior to October 12, 2009, Isme lived in a small but tidy one-story house in the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Scripture and History Remind Us That We Are All Immigrants

by Lynne Hybels 10-08-2009

Nearly five years ago my friends, Hector and Gabby and their five kids, entered the U.S. legally from Mexico in order to join the pastoral staff at my church, Willow Creek.