I had no choice but to stand and deliver… I’m still there. The Sermon After the Shooting Delivered after the July 7 shooting at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Denton, Texas on July 10, 2016. It’s been a very busy time. Just a few days ago, I organized the rally and march that preceded the deaths of five police officers in Dallas. This morning I want to journey through the story of Dallas and end with in the familiar… Read more
June 29, 2020
6 Years Ago // Don’t You Dare Turn Your Head: The Self-Immolation of The Rev. Charles Moore
June 29, 2020 By Jeff Hood
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June 23, 2020 The Rev. Charles Moore visits me often. For over six years now, I’ve closed my eyes and felt the pull of his flame. The media attention is long over. Too much time has passed for most. Our memories are so frail. I won’t ever be able to forget. I still see the flames. To commemorate the passion, I’ve decided to repost the blog that I wrote after hearing about Moore’s self-immolation. I encourage you to sit… Read more
June 19, 2020
The Good Samaritan: For Our Moment
June 19, 2020 By Jeff Hood
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The Good Samaritan: For Our Moment On one occasion a theologian stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” she asked, “what must one do to no longer be racist? “What have your studies told you?” he replied. “What does it say in your books?” She answered, “‘I guess it begins with… Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as… Read more
June 14, 2020
Defund the Police? Skepticism in a Time of Sloganeering.
June 14, 2020 By Jeff Hood
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June 14, 2020 Defund the Police? Skepticism in a Time of Sloganeering. The days are unkind…hopeless…evil. Just when you think you’ve seen the last video for a little while…another officer kills another citizen. What are we to do? The situations are not always the same…but they deliver the same indictment. We train our officers to kill and then expect them to not to kill in the field. We can’t have it both ways. Violence births violence… Read more
June 8, 2020
White Christians are Theologically Compromised
June 8, 2020 By Jeff Hood
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These are crazy times. Folk don’t know what to do…especially white folk. Within the white folk arena, there is one group that seems to have lost all sense they might ever have had on reality…white Christians. On the daily, I’ve been bombarded by bizarre statements/actions that white Christians are making/taking in the name of helping. These bombardments provide a textbook example of what things look like when helping hurts. I’ve tried to refrain from having this conversation. Initially,… Read more
May 30, 2020
Dallas: I’m Ashamed
May 30, 2020 By Jeff Hood
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Dallas: I’m Ashamed The hour is late. I can’t sleep. Tonight, I’ve watched the nation burn. Theologically, I don’t have a problem with the destruction of the property of the oppressor. Jesus destroyed everything he could get his hands on in the Temple. In the midst of this moment, I don’t believe that Jesus would hesitate to torch a police car…or even destroy a predatory business. The problem is that current rioting is indiscriminate. In the chaos, people are… Read more
May 29, 2020
God in the Flames: Reflections on the Riots
May 29, 2020 By Jeff Hood
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We watch as violence engulfs our cities…and we have no idea what to do. Maybe there is nothing to do. Perhaps love is dead. Maybe there is no us left. Perhaps I is all that is. While the answers to such propositions are fleeting…perhaps there is more of an answer than you realize…crackling there in the flames. Variations of the idols of injustice are everywhere. Daily we are asked to worship. Racism? Sexism? Capitalism? (Don’t forget that this all started over some suspected… Read more
May 26, 2020
George Floyd’s Final 300 Seconds/Prayers
May 26, 2020 By Jeff Hood
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George Floyd’s Final 300 Prayers/Seconds * There is a difference between “I can’t breathe” and “I can’t breath.” Breath indicates a single attempt at breath. I want to illustrate that there was 300 attempts to get just one breath. Imagine… the same prayer for 300 seconds. George Floyd prayed it over and over again. In the midst of the terror, I believe that Jesus was there…I believe Jesus heard Floyd’s prayer…I believe that Jesus died with a knee on his… Read more
May 25, 2020
The US Flag at the Front of YOUR Church is Blasphemous
May 25, 2020 By Jeff Hood
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*Revised from Post Published May 2014 A United States soldier processed the flag of the United States of America in to our sanctuary as we stood at attention singing “God Bless America.” The veterans in our midst were honored as we sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” The “Battle Hymn of the Republic” proceeded the pastor’s fiery sermon on the coming destruction of our beloved nation if we “…did not turn from our wicked ways.” Somehow gays, abortion… Read more
May 19, 2020
The Fruit of the Virus: A Personal Account
May 19, 2020 By Jeff Hood
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The quarantine shocked us all. Nobody expected the world to be shutdown. Of all things, people raced to acquire toilet paper. One evening I saw a local pastor, filling her cart with as much toilet paper as she could carry. Later, I saw her post on social media that she would be completely unavailable. In that moment, I realized that wiping her ass was much more important to her than loving her neighbor. Unfortunately, she was not alone. In… Read more
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