Christmas, Star Wars, and Greg Abbott

December 26, 2022.Reading time 12 minutes.

This week, as I reread the first verses of Luke’s Christmas story, I thought about Rey (from Star Wars), and about my own governor, Greg Abbott. Director JJ Abrams masterfully introduces the character of Rey to us in “The Force Awakens” in a sequence that is worthy of a careful look. As John Williams’ brilliant […]

The New AGSV Bible Translation

October 30, 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

Exciting news, friends! I’ve been given an advance copy of a new Bible translation, hitting the market soon. The translation is called the “American Government Standard Version.” (AGSV for short…) The AGSV is a new and carefully sourced translation from the original Hebrew and Greek texts, with one incredibly helpful addition. The texts are also […]

What Will YOU do?

August 31, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

As we crossed back to the US yesterday, I snapped this first pic of a sign placed by Border Patrol: “CPB Welcomes Your Comments.” We had just spent time listening to the stories of migrants camped out on the Mexican side. Cubans. Hondurans. Salvadorans and Guatemalans. All of them have been pushed back across our […]

The Crisis We Are Creating

August 30, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

As we cross the border today, I’m struck by the predominance of FEAR. Fear of “The Other” is fundamentally what drives the kind of policies we see now. We must understand the real dynamic of the past two years: 1. While our immigration laws have needed reform for decades, there was never any “invasion.” 2. […]

Today on the Border

August 30, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Today, we cross the border to see the violence/damage that the “metering” policy has wrought. God calls us to love the neighbor as we love ourselves. To have one law for the migrant and the citizen. Instead, we created a new “metering” that is subjecting migrants, Mexicans, AND US CITIZENS to new and dangerous crime […]

What Do We Do With the Case of Francisco?

July 24, 2019.Reading time 11 minutes.

Dear White Friends, Can we talk again?I can’t shake the story of Francisco Erwin Galicia. He’s the 18-year-old American citizen that was detained for almost a month by Border Patrol and ICE. I can’t shake the story, because it play directly into a narrative that I have been preaching about for perhaps a decade now…that […]

A Wall of Lies

January 8, 2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

The President and his administration are *lying* when they claim there’s a “crisis” at the border. The President and his administration are *lying* about the alleged “facts” they use to justify this fake “crisis.” Many observers suggest these lies could be used to declare a so-called “state of emergency” (which would be another lie), and […]

More on Moral Licensing

November 1, 2018.Reading time 10 minutes.

I want to circle back around to the concept of “Moral Licensing” and what’s happening in our world. While I’ve said a lot the past few days, I probably didn’t have the laser-focus I could have in what I said. So, a bit more….and first, some rapid-fire facts….things that cannot, or should not, be disputed […]

Separating Children is Against the Gospel

June 18, 2018.Reading time 14 minutes.

When Maria was about seven, we went on a family vacation to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. Dennise actually travelled first, to take some intensive language classes, and Maria and I joined her a week later. I was excited about the prospects of traveling with my daughter, internationally. I had spent six years as […]

“Mulligans,” Grace, Trump and Dreamers

January 31, 2018.Reading time 8 minutes.

I’ve been completely speechless for several days, after seeing this video featuring several local women, supporting Donald Trump, and excusing his affair with a porn star, and doing so based mostly on their so-called Christian faith. The American view of Christianity was already in tatters *before* Trump came along. In the past decade, the number […]