Spirituality. Politics. Music. Life.
Increasingly, I am convinced the opposite of “faith” is not “doubt,” but “fear.” This is because the deepest level of “faith” is not “belief,” but “trust;” and the opposite of “trust/faith” is “fear/anxiety.” Instead of faith’s opposite, doubt is a part of the journey of faith. Skepticism is, or should be, embraced as how we […]
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The greatest trick Constantine ever played on our world was to convince us that the Empire that killed Jesus should actually embrace the religion that bears his name. Why this isn’t self-obviously shocking to us today is a symptom of both how completely our culture has accepted the ascendancy of Atonement Theology; and also why […]
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Dear Donald Trump: Migrants are not animals.Migrants are not subhuman. Using such language about them is a dangerous and fascist tactic, designed to dehumanize and create “The Other.” Real leaders don’t light these kinds of matches and stoke these kinds of hates.But I guess you know that. Real Christians understand the Hebrew scripture injunction that […]
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It’s now more than a week past Tracy Chapman’s incredible performance at this year’s Grammy Awards Show. I can’t stop thinking about it. And it’s reminded me of my favorite Tracy Chapman song. Most people’s favorite is likely the big hit she performed at the Grammy’s. But mine has always been “All That You Have […]
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This very hour might be a really good time to re-read this editorial by Paul Jones. It appeared in newspapers, one day after The Beatles first appearance on Ed Sullivan, sixty years ago tonight. The cultural historian in me wonders: Did anybody ever go back to Jones later, and see if he changed his mind? […]
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I want to circle back to a theme that clearly resonated with people in my post on Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce last week. It’s a concept I’ve come to now understand has a name: “Freudenfreude.” Loosely defined as:“Taking joy/pleasure in other people’s joy or pleasure.” It’s a concept defined as the linguistic opposite of “Schadenfreude.”“Taking pleasure […]
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I’ve been writing longform over on Facebook for more than a decade now, but never had anything approaching the reaction to this week’s post on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. 10,000 shares?Are you kidding me? Wowza.So, thanks again to everyone for sharing/reading this post…and for re-enforcing my faith in humanity. It’s very clear that, like […]
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The United Methodist Church is now a Center-Left denomination.America is a Center-Left Nation. These are the twin theses I want to put before you today. After the past several years of bitter and partisan theological infighting, our separation into UMC and GMC is now complete. Studies show fully one quarter of former-United Methodist Churches have […]
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We saw the “Tina Turner Musical” this week, and a brief moment of the narrative has stayed with me, touched me deeply, and seems to speak deep truth about our need to be entertained, and perhaps even our continued fascination with Donald Trump. I know, that’s a lot. You might think the Trump association has […]
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Dallas awakes to snow and ice, and flurries continuing to fall as I write, and I’m here to update you again about our ministry helpful our houseless neighbors. Yesterday, it seems to me, was one of those both beautiful and heartbreaking days…especially if you’re going to serve others. We started with our primary mission (IMHO) […]
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