Last Saturday in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Police Officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate were making a routine traffic stop when they were gunned down in a hail of bullets. There are many in this nation who heard about such a situation and believe that the two got what they deserved. After all, brutal police have been gunning innocent citizens down all over the country in recent months. I wrestled with similar thoughts until I heard an interview with Ronald Tate,... Read more
I never thought we would fall like this. Who would have dreamed it? When we met, love was all I could see in your eyes and I fell faster than I imagined possible. Falling is scary. Though it felt so out of control, I just kept returning to you. Remember when we talked about having a big family? We got so much more than we could have ever bargained for. When we found out about the first set of... Read more
With five children, I spend an excess amount of time saying silly things to them. Last week, I was joking around with my son Phillip and said, “We are Christians and Christians pick up their toys.” Phillip replied emphatically, “We are not Christians!” Surprised by his sharp reply, I questioned, “What are we then?” Without hesitation, Phillip declared, “Dad, we are people.” At the age of 3, Phillip is one of my greatest instructors of what it means to... Read more
Last Tuesday night, someone called the police and reported a homeless man with a dog harassing people in Venice Beach. A short time after police arrived, one of the responding officers shot unarmed Brendon Glenn dead. In the understatement of the year, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck described the shooting as “concerning.” I would use the word “concerning” to describe a power outage. When talking about the shooting death of an unarmed man, the word “murder” seems... Read more
I’m sick. I can feel it deep down in my stomach. The comments are eating at me. For the third time in less than a week, I heard a respected activist make a problematic remark. Now, I’m not talking about anything that was misconstrued. I am talking about blatantly problematic remarks. There was the black activist who casually declared, “No Homo!” There was the feminist who spoke of keeping Muslims out of her neighborhood. There was the immigration activist who... Read more
In the wake of the flames of the streets of Baltimore, Christians of all stripes have incessantly talked about the need for liberation. It often goes something like this, “Let’s seek God for liberation in our time….” While these words are wonderful on their face, they don’t speak to the depth of the crisis that our nation faces. Liberation is impossible in this nation without revolution. There has to be a total transformation of the way that we think and... Read more
This is not about Islam. I know too many Muslims to fall for that trick. This is about the consequences of unrestrained bigotry. Pamela Geller and the American Freedom Defense Initiative are bigots in every sense of the word. Today in Garland, Texas, the bigots hosted a “Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest” as a means of insulting Islam and promulgating hate. Two other violent bigots responded to hate with hate and pulled up guns blazing. Now, both shooters are... Read more
If Jesus got down from the cross, would we still call him God? Does the cross make Jesus God or was Jesus God before then? I think the answer lies in the fact that God is Love in perfection. Jesus cannot be God until he becomes the perfection of Love. When Jesus died on the cross, he showed us what perfect Love looks like. If Jesus got down from the cross, I believe we would call him a great... Read more
Scared, Jesus ran away. When evil was on top of him, Jesus refused to fight back. The officers were rough. I guess they didn’t realize who he was or didn’t care. Jesus screamed. Looking up, the color of evil was blue and white. Though he had committed no crime, Jesus was arrested and led away. Unable to breathe, Jesus was going down quick. The officers threw Jesus into the back of the wagon. Screaming for help, Jesus fell out of... Read more
Thank you. My name is Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood. I am the Minister of Social Justice for Hope for Peace and Justice…which is the social justice ministry of a consortium of churches in the Dallas area…and I sit on the Board of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. I am here to speak in support of House Bill 1527. I am here to talk with you a little bit about Jesus. Y’all ok with that? I am... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In