“You know that line, the line where they tell you anything is possible. You can do anything you want when you grow up…it’s a lie.” I have had the conversation multiple times with youth and young adults. I’ve had it…
Letting go – moving on (The metaphorical meaning of an Easter story)
In the story world of John’s Gospel Jesus tells the disciples that he is going away, but he would not leave them without his presence. How could that be? Most spiritual truth is paradoxical in nature. The Father, says Jesus,…
When God changes His mind*
It wouldn’t be the first time, you know. If Fox News wants to see what “fair and balanced” looks like they should check out National Public Radio. You know the folks at the helm are left of center, but they…
Good power/bad power (The nonviolent Jesus versus the apocalyptic Christ)
It is vital to our spiritual health to understand the difference between dominant power and spiritual power. Dominant power is the power to externally influence behavior by the use of force, coercion, threat or promise, reward or punishment. Spiritual power,…
Do you believe in the Rapture?
In an earlier blog article this month, I mentioned having a theological discussion my sister. One of the direct questions she asked me was, “Do you believe in the Rapture?” If she had asked me that question 60 years ago…
How do you stop a tidal wave?
Easy. You don’t. You channel it, or re-direct it, or surf it. Note: this is a metaphor. I say this in case someone decides to actually try this and then (if they survive) comes after me with their high-priced-lawyer-cousin-working-for-free claiming…
Sanctified seeing
The following is the text of a homily I preached earlier this afternoon in a School of Divinity chapel service at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina] John 9 is all about seeing and the inability to see. That’s…
Seeking Jesus is like hunting for Easter eggs
Whenever I hear someone suggest the gospels are pretty much straight forward, I want to ask her or him whether we are reading the same books. There are so many times when reading the gospels, I stop, wondering if I…
What Easter means (and why what literally happened on Easter morning is irrelevant)
What matters most is not what historically happened on Easter morning to the body of Jesus but what the Easter story means. The Easter stories in the Gospels are religious/spiritual/theological stories, not historical reports. That is not to say there…