The walls couldn’t contain the energy of us all. Everyone wanted to go outside. Some of us did for a few minutes but never for much longer. I couldn’t remember any holiday ever being this wet. Walking through the house, I blurted out, “It feels like God is pissing on us.” “Maybe we deserve it,” replied my wife. When I walked outside, looked to the heavens and let the rain hit my face, I wondered. Amen. Read more
Throughout Thanksgiving dinner, I kept looking at an iconic photograph hanging on the wall at my wife’s grandfather’s home. Though I have seen different versions of the photograph all over the country and beyond, I couldn’t help but stare this time. The photograph is of a old man praying over a simple meal. Rocking back and forth in my chair, I kept asking myself a question, “What is he praying for?” Then it hit me. The old man was praying... Read more
I recounted the following story after I found out my grandmother died a little over a week after last Thanksgiving: Though I have had many beautiful conversations with my grandmother, I will always cherish the last one. My grandmother has never been able to understand my activism and progressive ministry. While I was at home for Thanksgiving, my grandmother brought up “the gays” (in her words). I asked her, “Have you ever been attracted to a woman before?”... Read more
*The above picture was drawn of me by a congregant while I was preaching the sermon below at Trinity Presbyterian in Denton, Texas on November 22, 2015. I start all sermons that I give at the beginning. Progressive Christians struggle with the beginning. It’s as if we’ve ceded that space to the Fundamentalists and their crusades for literal interpretations of the creation myth. We don’t know how to believe that there is still tremendous power in these stories even when... Read more
*The following is based on my speech from Oak Lawn to DPD, Rally for Change. There is always a difference between talk and action. I doubt you will find many people from the community who would say that they are for what has been happening in Oak Lawn. On the other hand, we must also realize that very few people from this community have actually been engaged in the Battle for Oak Lawn. While I guess I could continue on... Read more
For the third time in a week, I received a phone call from a prophetic and transformative friend who either resigned their pastorate or was bullied into silence by the governing board of their church. In an age of increasing injustice, our churches have become the great bastions and protectors of the status quo. The most praised ministers in this environment are those who talk a big game without ever actually doing anything transformative. Churches love the puppet in... Read more
When Jesus bound his body and ultimately became the stranger in Matthew 25:35, he left no doubt that he was calling us to do the same. Since the Paris attacks, Muslims have been strangerized over and over. From calls for registration to violent language around refugees, the rhetoric has grown worse and worse with every day. Jesus is bound to the stranger. Jesus becomes the stranger. In our Islamophobic society, I have no question that Jesus is so intimately incarnated... Read more
*Delivered at Climate Change Press Conference hosted by the Texas Drought Project in Dallas on 11/19/2015. When I think about climate change, the message of Jesus comes to mind. We are called to love our neighbor as we love our self. Our actions and lack of action continue to destroy the homes of billions. When it comes to climate change, it seems that we don’t know the first thing about love. Jesus also talked about the least of these. We... Read more
This Wednesday, Raphael Holiday will be executed minutes after 6pm at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas. Unlike many of those I’ve encountered on death row, I believe that Holiday deserves to die. In early 2000, Raphael was partnered with Tami Wilkerson. Together, they lived in a secluded log cabin in Madison County with their infant daughter Justice and Tami’s young daughters, five-year-old Jasmine and seven-year-old Tierra. In March, Tami discovered that Raphael had sexually assaulted Tierra and... Read more
Early this morning, I shot up in bed. Even in my sleep, I couldn’t get the images of Baghdad, Beirut and Paris out of my head. How is a follower of Jesus to respond to these terrorists? I thought about it for hours. Then I realized something. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” & “Love your enemy.” We are commanded to “love our enemies as ourselves.” We cannot love our enemies as we love ourselves and not become our... Read more
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