Category: Awareness
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A Confession of Sin
As I confessed in the past blog post tagged here, The Sin of Overprotection, my biggest soon is overprotection. I know that this might sound benign. But, in my experience, it does me as much harm as other people’s professed sins, It has cost me relationships, it has caused me needless suffering, and in many…
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Do the INR (Individual Narrative Responsibility) Work
How often do you reflect on how much the stories you tell yourself impact your life? Personally, I think about it everyday. Because since I was a child, I have always been keenly aware of narrative dynamics. Consciously or unconsciously we all perceive ourselves as characters in a narrative. And how we locate ourselves in…
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Race Doesn’t Divide, Racism Does
After I shared my piece on whether or not Jesus’s skin color matters, I had someone suggest that what I write about race is divisive. I, of course disagree. I look at it as more of an intervention because I love everyone and I would like for us to get to a place where we…
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Does Jesus’ Skin Color Matter?
So, I watched this YouTube video where this Conservative Christian Black dude was trying to call out the hosts of the View for bringing up to the star of The Chosen—a series about the ministries of Jesus and the Disciples—that they were appreciative that in the show Jesus Christ was not blonde haired and blue…
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Using Words to Listen to Silence
I’m currently reading this book, Ki-Asana Zen, written by my uncle, Vernon Kitabu Turner. Reading it, I am reminded how blessed I am for having mentors and that God is always looking out for me on my journey—mind, body, and soul. On my spiritual journey, I have never pursued anyone or anything apart from the…
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In the Shadow of Bullies and Hypocrites
Grief Will Make You Take Stock and Clean House Over the past few weeks, I have been doing a lot of reflection on my personal history in the Church and my relationship to my fellow human beings. A lot of it is in light of how the church treated Carlton Pearson. Ever since I went…
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A Black Santa for White Christmas
Picture this. It is Christmas 1977. My mom and dad are arguing. I am 2. Somehow I know that I shouldn’t understand what is happening. But, yet I do. The final threads in the fabric of our family are snapping. My father is leaving. As he heads for the door, I feel an invisible tether…
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Is Jesus Made Up?
Yes. Jesus is made up. Haha made you look. 😂 I’m talking about the name “Jesus” (Jeezuss) In response to a Facebook post I did someone said they wondered why some cultures (aka Latin influenced) feel comfortable naming their sons Jesus and others don’t. Here is my long answer. It is worth reading if you’re…
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Message From a Frustrated Former Pastor (Concerning Pauline Interpretations and Other Stuff)
Since I don’t go to a particular church right now, I sometimes visit different churches or listen to messages from different folks online. Today I came across a guy online giving a message out of 1 Corinthians. Sadly he was using it to “put women in their place” and talk about “weak men” who support…
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Counting It All As Loss: The Faithful Choice of Carlton D. Pearson
Ever since it was announced that Bishop Carlton Pearson was ill, people have been commenting on the implications of his legacy in the Christian Church. There have been debates and panel discussions, Youtube personalities have been throwing out vitriolic commentaries and random people were wishing ill of him as if it was earning them some…
The Roofless Church 