In my recent book, Land of Contention, I noted, “An essential feature of Christianity and the kingdom of God is that the people of God are to be fundamentally different from the world. After all, we follow a different King whose kingdom follows a different set of rules. To make our King known entails a call to a radical, self-denying, cross-bearing love for the other. We must love the way Jesus loved. But we must also pursue peace and justice”... Read more
Whether the US is great or not is a debate for another day. One great thing is the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to free speech. The freedom of speech gives power to the people. The power of dissent. The very nature of free speech is that it protects dissent. After all, every country offers free speech regarding towing the party line. Without dissent, there would be no need for law permitting the freedom of speech. The right to... Read more
Domesticating Jesus As I noted in my previous two posts (post 1 and post 2), my journey of deconstruction/reconstruction goes back years. Two Dimensions to my journey of deconstruction/reconstruction First, over the years, I began to see Jesus and the Gospel of the kingdom in a way that did not conform to what I had been taught. This journey took several steps. As I noted in my last post, my understanding began to shift when I read Yancey’s The Jesus I... Read more
Anticipation grows as the world awaits Trump’s plan for the West Bank. He is expected to reveal his plan sometime next week. It is anticipated that he will green-light Netanyahu’s long-standing desire to annex the Palestinian territories. NB: You may be aware by now of the appalling video revealing Trump’s plan for Gaza. But, isn’t the real question, “How is this Trump’s decision?” Israel asked us to help. But, “Who said it is Israel’s decision?” The West Bank and Gaza... Read more
Earlier this week, President Trump threatened to punish “illegal” campus protests. I posted some thoughts on my Facebook page. I asserted that the potential danger is that the threat will result in the stymieing of free speech. Is this alarmist? Perhaps. Is it wise caution? I want to think so. Examine Everything One of the first problems to arise in any society is the inability to critique our own. NB: this is especially problematic for Christians who know well the... Read more
Trump’s Plan The Palestinians Won’t Trust It Nor Should They In my post last week, I noted that Trump’s plan for Gaza constituted ethnic cleansing and a war crime. I described it as “Absurd, Inhumane, Heartless, and Callous.” Interestingly, his administration realized the absurdity of the proposal and immediately began to walk it back. Trump, however, continued the rhetoric. “I know land deals.” “We are going to buy Gaza.” Some responded to my post by asserting, “This is nonsense.” Others... Read more
In case you didn’t hear, last week, Trump said that he wants to “clean out” Gaza. In case that wasn’t enough, He said yesterday, “The Gaza has not worked. It has never worked. I think they should get a good fresh piece of land. I don’t know how they could want to stay. It’s a demolition site. If we could find the right piece of land or numerous pieces of land and build them some nice places. They could be... Read more
Today, thousands of people are living in fear of deportation. Native Americans, those whose rights to live here transcend all others, are being detained because they have no birth certificates or proof of US citizenship. I recognize that the issue of immigration is not simple. I also realize that there is a role for the Church, and that role is not sitting on the sidelines quietly while those “illegals” are being rounded up. In this post, we begin with the... Read more
Blessed are those who mourn Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness/justice Blessed are the merciful Blessed are the peacemakers (Matt 5:4, 6, 7, 9) We rejoice that a ceasefire has been declared in Gaza. However, our rejoicing must be tempered. It must be tempered by the fact that the conditions that led to the assault on Gaza haven’t been resolved. In many ways, things are worse, much worse, than they were on October 6, 2023. The ceasefire... Read more
Maybe you haven’t heard, but there is a Genocide going on, and in case you didn’t know, it is happening with “our” sanctioning and “our” tax dollars. So, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., I thought addressing the war on Gaza would be appropriate. I believe that MLK would have been a staunch advocate for ending the Genocide. NB: When I initially wrote this post–earlier last week–there were some initial reports that a ceasefire deal was in the works.... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In