As a child, I possessed a somewhat fearful disposition toward the world. After a few years of tearful late-night sit-ins outside my biological father and his new wife’s locked bedroom door, or screaming near-weekly announcements to the employees of my…
Will our common vulnerabilities in this moment lead us to unite for the common good?
Perhaps this global pandemic will gather in each of us a calm assurance, having become so weary of our vices, we finally embrace our cure – by embracing one another.
In these fearful days, I’m gladly praying for ‘Sticky,’ my 4-year-old son’s imaginary friend
After this pandemic is over, after things return to “normal,” we will still have the scars from our experience. And how well these scars heal is directly related to how we treat our wounds and the wounds of our neighbors now.
We’ve got plenty to be afraid of these days. So why does the Bible tell us not to fear?
The point is not what we fear, but what a life ruled by fear can do to us.
Tired of Christians ruining the name of Christ? A Turkish bath with strangers improved my outlook
Today, Christians in America tend to find ourselves in two reactionary camps: those into apologetics and those into apologies. Both sides come from a stance of fear. If we continue reacting from our defensive postures, then we have learned nothing from scripture, tradition, human experience or, God forbid, the Holy Spirit.
If you’re not outraged …
Several years ago, a bumper sticker popped up here and there that said, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” We need to print up some more of those for times like these. Love him or hate him, you’ve…
With fear, everything becomes a potential weapon, even church bells
Under a covered patch of brick in our church parking lot there hangs an enormous bronze bell. It dates back to 1887 and hung in our spire until a structural engineer submitted a report back in the 1960s telling us…
Creating our own American hell
In the last several days, I have watched yet more police shootings, with compelling video evidence that the use of such force was highly unjustified. I watched a United States senator handily dismantle a Wall Street banker (in a hearing…
What would happen if we set fear down?
You would think that after preaching almost four cycles of the Revised Common Lectionary a preacher would have at least one sermon on all the interesting texts that come around regularly. For some reason unknown to me, however, it turns…