I cry with all my heart; answer me, LORD, and I will obey your decrees. [Psalm 119:145] This section of Psalm 119 has several consecutive lines which begin with the word “cry” partly because every line in this section has to start with a ק and the word “cry” in Hebrew is קרא. But it brought an interesting point to mind as I was contemplating it. Does crying out to God count as worship? I would say yes and I... Read more
I was honestly surprised on Tuesday when Mississippi rejected the referendum that would have legally defined “personhood” as beginning at conception. I figured the personhood movement targeted Mississippi because it was the safest red state they could have possibly picked. I’m not going to speculate on why things happened the way they did. But as someone who opposes both abortion and the manipulative use of abortion as a partisan political tool, I really hope that some of those who were... Read more
About two-thirds of the way through Chris Tomlin’s Fairfax, VA show last Friday, he joked that there was probably somebody in the crowd who was still standing with his arms crossed despite the overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit in the room, etc. Well I was that guy. I tried to clap for at least some of the time, but a lot of the time I had my arms crossed because it was crowded and I didn’t have any other... Read more
Sermon preached 11/5-6/2011 at Burke United Methodist Church Texts: Psalm 126, Matthew 25:14-30 What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore– And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over– like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? (more…) Read more
I watched a video I shouldn’t have of that Texas judge William Adams beating his 16 year old daughter Hillary. I had to delete and rewrite that sentence a few times since I wasn’t sure whether to use the word “beating” or “spanking.” I ultimately decide to write the word “beating” because I don’t think you can call it a “spanking” anymore when the recipient is a teenager. (more…) Read more
In some recent reading I’ve been doing, I stumbled across an early 20th century Baptist preacher named Russell Conwell who went on a speaking tour around the country giving a motivational speech entitled “Acres of Diamonds,” very similar in its values and assumptions to the speeches Dave Ramsey has been giving in his “Great Recovery” tour around the country today. Many of the assumptions we have about self-reliance and individual responsibility have their origin in voices like Conwell, rags-to-riches novelist... Read more
On Tuesdays at noon, I have my smallest, most fruitful small group. It’s me and a mom who’s got a kid in our church preschool. She brings her newborn infant who sleeps the whole time. We were trying to start a Bible study for our preschool parents. I stood at the door to greet parents and hand them flyers for this Bible study three different times so far. There was another mom who came once or twice. But she hasn’t... Read more
For most of Christian history, the relationship between God and the universe He created was conceived completely differently than it is today. While premodern thought understood God’s relationship with the universe sacramentally, modern thought sees it voluntaristically. The voluntarism of modernity (and not the Bible itself) is what has made God into a mean tyrant in Western consciousness. Please keep reading! I will explain. (more…) Read more
I wonder how many people secretly want for the world to end. I do. I don’t mean “end” in a way that actually causes pain to other people. I mean “end” in the sense that all the pressures and anxieties which make my white middle-class universe miserable would somehow suddenly disappear, so that whatever happens next is completely stripped of the should’s and have-to’s that completely define my existence. (more…) Read more
My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words. Psalm 119:139 I resonate with this verse way too much. Isn’t this verse the battle-cry of all the angry, sanctimonious Christian bloggers whether we’re raging against those liberals or those fundamentalists or those mainliners or those evangelicals? Since my enemies ignore “your” words, God, I will SCREAM LOUDER. (more…) Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In