David Monje / Unsplash Throughout my childhood, I often spent the night at my grandparent’s house. I loved them very much. I didn’t love the way they put us to bed. After we were tucked into our beds, my grandmother would close her eyes and say, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray to God my soul to take.” For... Read more
Dozens and dozens of people were dead. The images were horrific. Yet again, someone opened fire on a church. With images of blood fresh on my mind, I went to the leadership of our church. Out of fear, I suggested that we hire armed security for the church. Everyone agreed. Even though I felt like I’d done something really good for the church, there was a part of me that wondered. The service was about to start. I... Read more
In the beginning, God created guns. God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule with guns.” So God created humanity with guns in their hands. It was not long before humans started killing each other. In their depravity, humans roamed the earth prepared to shoot. Protection and murder became synonymous. In the day of Abraham, he took a gun and dealt with his domestic violence... Read more
Getting out of the car is not easy. Our youngest children like to sprint across the parking lot. They have no idea of the danger they are in. They are just ready to eat. When we get inside, the kids run around until I get them seated. I turn on a show. They are distracted for the moment. Before they get undistracted, I run to order our food. Keeping a close watch on the kids, I pick everything... Read more
Today. I am. May the grace of God and the comfort of God’s brilliance…guide your heart, mind, body and soul…now and forevermore…world without end. Amen. The room was devoid of all color. I was exhausted. I had no defenses. Fear crawled up my spine. Deep anxiety trickled back down. Hell! Hell! Hell! I could feel the fire. Sweat poured out of my soul. I was lower than whale shit. In fact, I was ushered into hell. At the end of... Read more
Sweat poured down my face. Gravity was merciless. Tightness visited every joint. Every brick brought me closer. My hands throbbed. I was so close. Dirt covered everything. This was much more than I’d bargained for. Finally, I tossed the last brick in. Everything was so heavy. I thought I could handle it. I thought wrong. I reached up to tilt the bricks. When the bricks gave, I knew that I was in trouble. Turning around, I tried to get... Read more
I heard the word rapture far more than I heard the name Jesus. That’s just how we were. We were terrified. We though it was our job to scare the hell out of everyone. Somewhere in there, love got left behind. We said we were following Jesus. Somehow, I think we knew that wasn’t true. We were about control. We knew that fear was an incredibly effective method to control others. The fearful won’t leave the church. The fearful... Read more
The diagnosis is terminal. Truth be known, you probably only have a week or two left. Fear inhabits every orifice of your body. There is nowhere to go. There is no one to turn to. There is only one thing to do…die. Then, the phone rings. On the other end of the line, a stranger offers help. For your last few days, the stranger provides you with shelter and care. The beauty of their sacrifice is amazing. Love is... Read more
Our church was crazy as shit. Everybody was constantly telling everybody that they needed to get saved and everybody was always trying to get saved. To say that it was a confusing environment was an understatement. Like most similar environments, we were taught that our bodies were bad. I can promise you that our youth group talked much more often about saving yourself until marriage than it did Jesus. Regardless, one night was particularly crazy. Everybody had already... Read more
There is a church a few blocks from our house. I run by it everyday. Though I’ve known about their theology for some time, I’ve always wanted to hear more. I’m not interested in joining…I know enough to have firmly made that decision…but Their are parts I’ve wanted to know more about. In the fall, Saturdays are always yard sale days. Every stop sign seems to have a handmade sign pointing you in the right direction. Unaware of much else…besides... Read more
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