Spirituality. Politics. Music. Life.
“All politics is identity politics.” I keep mulling over this key learning from Ezra Klein’s new book, “Why We’re Polarized.” The classic formation of “identity politics” is used as a slam against liberals. But Klein’s book turns that on its head, and suggests that ALL of us have identities…MULTIPLE identities. Black, White, Latino, Asian. LGBTQ+, […]
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Early in the campaign season, Pete Buttigieg made a stop here in Dallas for a big Democratic event. I was asked to deliver an invocation for the evening, which I was honored to do. During Mayor Pete’s keynote speech, he was interrupted at several points by hecklers, in what was clearly an organized plan to […]
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Lent is *supposed* to be about “turning a new way.” Unfortunately, for too many people, we grew up believing it was about “feeling bad.” There’s a big difference between the two. And that difference is summed up in this year’s theme for Lent at Kessler Park United Methodist Church: “At-ONE-ment.” The word that gets thrown […]
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Sometime this morning, maybe even as I write this, the “Leaning Tower of Dallas” will finally come down. (UPDATE: Obviously, the timeline is much longer now…again, reinforcing the point of this essay…EF) I’ve been captivated by our fascination with this wreck of a wreck ever since it happened a week ago. I always love metaphor, […]
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“Jesus is Lord, and Caesar is not…” This phrase is one of the key insights I’ve ever learned from Dr. John Dominic Crossan. And, honestly, one of the key insights I’ve ever learned in life. Crossan suggests that when the early Christian Church popularized the phrase “Jesus is Lord,” there was an understood second-clause: “Ceasar […]
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One of the most important life lessons Dennise and I have ever learned, we learned from our dog. The lesson is: “Be the Dog On a Walk.” We learned this lesson observing our dog, Daisy. And I should describe it by first describe the opposite… “Daisy in the yard…” When Daisy is in the * […]
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I’ve got my Apple Watch set so that when I don’t have a calendar event, the phrase “Be Here Now” pops up on the calendar app. There aren’t many days when “Be Here Now” is the only thing on my schedule. But yesterday was one of those days. Today is too. Just about every minister […]
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Heads up, Methodist friends. Pay attention to this news about SMU. What does this mean? Plain and simple, this is not a WCA plot. This IS an attempt by SMU to “protect its assets.” Pure and simple, that’s what this is. And nobody should be surprised by this. Nor should they be surprised that the […]
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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 […]
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“If Jesus came back, and saw what’s going on in his name, he’d never stop throwing up.” — Woody Allen What am I supposed to do with the fact that, apparently, Robert Jeffress and Woody Allen agree with one another? Besides being men who —many believe— carry sexual secrets, what else do these two have […]
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