I often wonder why people are Christian at all if they aren’t going to be radicals. You say you want to follow a wandering Jewish mystic who preached against empire, yet you argue for American exceptionalism? You’ve pledged to pick up your cross, yet you won’t fight ICE deportations? You claim you died and were… Continue reading The Scandal of Jesus: Reclaiming the Radical Message of Christianity
Sheep and Goats: Eternal Punishment or Restoration?
Earlier in the year I wrote an article that was a brief overview of my belief in universal salvation. In it, I promised to return to the parable of the sheep and goats when I mentioned that I believed Jesus taught love and restoration not retribution. Retribution can be fun to think about when you’re… Continue reading Sheep and Goats: Eternal Punishment or Restoration?
God of the In-betweens
All of life is a spectrum. God made it so. Now, some of the language in our scripture may seem more black and white: male and female, light and dark, land and seas, sheep and goats, life and death. But again, language doesn’t make things so, God makes them so. I’m especially fond of dawn… Continue reading God of the In-betweens
Freedom From Judgement
In Matthew 7 Jesus kicks off his warnings about judgment with the words, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” He then goes on to warn about seeing specks in your neighbor’s eye while ignoring the log in your own. Through the years, I’ve understood this in various layers. Jesus often talks… Continue reading Freedom From Judgement
Vinegar to Drink
The first three verses of Psalm 69 have been one of my favorite parts of scripture throughout my life. So much so, that I’ve put it to music. Save me, oh God. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve needed to pray this in the darkest moments of my life. But some of the… Continue reading Vinegar to Drink
Come Now, You Rich People
I’ve been going to church for longer than the Simpsons have been on the air, longer than the widespread use of the World Wide Web, longer than people have been playing an Atari 2600. I’m old. And I can’t remember a pastor preaching on the beginning of James 5. James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich… Continue reading Come Now, You Rich People
Seven Years of Sobriety
This is going to be a little bit of a different post than you usually see here. Tomorrow I celebrate seven years of sobriety. There are spiritual reasons I gave up drinking alcohol, so I thought it was important to share this milestone here. If you have no interest in sobriety, feel free to stop… Continue reading Seven Years of Sobriety
Why “Welcome” Must Mean Full Participation in the Church
For roughly 20 years I was a member of an Open and Affirming (ONA) congregation in the United Church of Christ (UCC). For those of you who aren’t familiar with the ways of the UCC, some congregations are ONA (I’ve heard a little less than half) and many are not. ONA is a designation for… Continue reading Why “Welcome” Must Mean Full Participation in the Church
The Time For Christians to Fight Fascism is Right Now
Fascism has arrived in the United States, and I refuse to be complicit. If I sound like an alarmist to you, it is because we are in a five-alarm fire right now. I’d like to thank David Artman for turning me on to Jason Stanley’s book, “How Fascism Works,” and helping all of us Jesus… Continue reading The Time For Christians to Fight Fascism is Right Now
Just Do It
I’m thinking a lot about the cross lately. The obvious reason is that we are entering Holy Week. One of my best friends built a 12-foot, 350 pound cross with his father that we hang from our church rafters each Lenten season. It’s ruggedly beautiful, inspires deep contemplation and is impossible to ignore. It reminds… Continue reading Just Do It