I’m no legal expert when it comes to religious liberty. Not like Brent Walker or Holly Hollman. Neither am I a political pundit or a talking head who takes an extreme view in order to satisfy the base. I write…
“Surely not me”: The death of Jesus and corporate sin
Last night, Jesus once again gathered with his disciples, washed our feet and called us to love, and then shared the unthinkable news that he would be handed over by one of his own. No sooner did the words come…
Surprise!
In the 1970s the British comedy troupe Monty Python performed a sketch which turned a common expression of exasperation at an unwanted series of questions into a comic refrain. In the sketch a man and woman are having a conversation….
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday … What’s Saturday?
Maundy Thursday. “Maundy” is derived from the first word of John 13:34 in Latin: ” Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos ut et vos diligatis invicem.” “A new command I give you: Love one another. As…
Same-sex marriage and the intractable knot of freedoms
Same-sex marriage has tied American society into a seemingly intractable knot. Advocates of one great value pull a thread that ultimately tightens and restricts another cherished principle. And vice-versa. Human rights vs. religious liberty.
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…