The message written below is a response I wrote to someone with whom I was engaged in a dialogue after we both read the same blog post where pastor, John Pavlovitz, made distinctions between white Christians who say they were “embarrassed” by President Obama, those who simply disagreed with him, and those who basically are conscious … More On Blacking In America – v. To offend others by existing
A stumbling block. An Offense. A curse. These are all words used to describe the cross of Jesus that we find ourselves contemplating. The Roman Cross, one of the most inhumane instruments of death ever conceived. Jesus, a teacher of wisdom and love who traveled through communities blessing and loving, healing and holding, cherishing and … More That Old Rugged Cross
How Would You Live if You Knew You Couldn’t Die? Death is so annoying. That’s how I feel about it right now. It is annoying, because for so many of us, the fear of it is a distorting filter that obscures our ability to live a true life or to relate to others who are … More Don’t Let Death Get In the Way
I am not a victim! I know this for a fact and at the same time I cannot deny that there have been people, systems, and deep ignorance aimed in my direction attempting to make me one all of my life. But not just me. Since people have been people, there have been those who … More How To Win At Losing
On the Liturgical celebration known as Good Friday, communities all over the world offered services of contemplation on the seven last saying of Jesus on the Cross. If you are not familiar with those sayings, they are: 1. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34). 2. Truly, I say … More With Our Last Words…
Don’t let the title of this post fool you. If you’re thrown off by this image and the title then chances are you have never heard of the show from the early 2000s based on the life of comedian Chris Rock as a teenager. The show was entitled “Everybody Hates Chris” and chronicled the awkward misadventures of young Chris as he navigated the challenges of growing up and trying to find his place in the world. … More Everybody Hates Christians
On July 17, 2016, I preached a sermon entitled “Broken For You”. The idea behind the sermon came down to the idea that if people took 100% responsibility for their lives the whole world would be transformed in an instant. The spark for the sermon came from Jesus’ teaching that those who desire to follow … More If You Don’t Bear Your Cross, Someone Else Will Have To
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. … More Who Does Jesus Belong To?
Fear and God. For a long time those two words seemed not to go together for me. After all, in the book of 1 John we are told “God is Love” and despite how we tend to think of hate as love’s opposite, anyone who has ever loved knows that is inaccurate. Fear is actually … More The Privilege of Fearing God
My thoughts are strong on this point. Listen with caution. Excuse the blurriness. Over the past couple of weeks, I have seen several people reposting an article from the blog, Diversity Chronicle, entitled POPE FRANCIS CONDEMNS RACISM AND DECLARES THAT “ALL RELIGIONS ARE TRUE” AT HISTORIC THIRD VATICAN COUNCIL. My first thoughts when I saw this article were … More What’s It To You If All Religions Are True?
