The Roofless Church

Category: Separation

  • What are In-Divide-You-Alls? 

    What are In-Divide-You-Alls? 

    What are In-Divide-You-Alls? I have never met an individual. I’ve met people who live as if they’re individuals. And I’ve tried and failed to be one in an effort to understand a concept that fundamentally makes no sense to me. But I’ve come to see that it didn’t work because I just can’t feel my…

  • State of Confusion 2020

    Sometimes I feel actual physical discomfort when I think about the decisions that are before our world over the next generation or so. I’m the type of person who will choose to try and see where other people are coming from almost to the degree of great emotional risk. I have listened to people of…

  • The Story You Refuse to Hear May Be Your Own

    In a recent sermon called, The Search for the present Christ, I challenged my community to reflect on the image of Afro-Cuban artist, Harmonia Rosale’s work, I Exist, which features a black woman on the Cross. I asked them to do this not because I was trying to be provocative in the shock value sense,…

  • If You Don’t Bear Your Cross, Someone Else Will Have To

    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…

  • Tear Down These Walls For A Change

    Recently, I was listening to Jonathan Odell, author of The Healing, talk about some of his experiences of growing up as a white male in 1950/60’s Mississippi. One of the stories he told that stood out to me the most was when he described an instance when a “well-meaning” older white woman explained to him…

  • Where Isn’t God?

    Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in…

  • Coming Out of the Dark…

    Somewhere in time there is a part of me that I visit frequently.  He is in a dark room and he feels alone.  He is living a lie.  He believes that he is separate from God and from everything else in life–the consummate individual.  Even though he knows that he can get up and walk…

  • The Reality of Diversity and Illusion

    Have you ever wondered why–in almost every environment–conversations and programs around diversity and inclusion are so difficult?  Why is it that despite efforts to make organizations more diverse, there seems to be little to no substantial development where it really counts?  Well, if you watched the above video, you know what my take is.  I…

  • Hate the World, Make It a Better Place

    There are whole industries dedicated to minimizing risk, variation, cost, and waste.  They fall under the umbrella of what is called “quality control” and when it comes to manufacturing products, I think that there is a brilliance to it that can be applauded.  It is so brilliant in fact that many people have integrated the…

  • Reflection on the Body of Christ and God’s Mysterious Ways

    Ever since returning from China I have been reflecting on the Pauline metaphor of the Body of Christ.  Meeting Christians in China was an amazing experience.  I felt love, the Presence of the Holy Spirit, and the most sincere desire of the people to spread the love of Christ among their people and the world. …