There is probably at least the one time when you have to cut the bridge that connects you to your past. I did it last year when I left the professional ministry. It was sudden, drastic, shocking, radical, extreme and cataclysmic. It hasn’t been the easiest road since. But it has certainly been the happiest. You must do it when you know it is time to do so. (You can buy Sophia originals and prints here.) Read more
Of all my favorite topics to write about, visionary thinking is one of my favorites. Others topics such as LGBTQ and questions and leadership are engaging. But of all my posts, the ones that receive the strongest responses and reactions are my posts about vision in the church. That means that I am either dangerously wrong or dangerously right. I humbly submit it’s the later. Why don’t you try it, church? Just for a season! See how liberating and fruitful... Read more
Most people know when they are being played. That is, they know when they aren’t being taken purely for who they are, loved as they are, appreciated as they are, delighted in as they are. In a true loving relationship do you have an agenda? Of course not. If one person in the relationship has an agenda for the relationship the purity of the relationship is already spoiled. Even the most seemingly intimate relations will be superficial and strategic plays... Read more
I believe in love and its power to transform the world. But I am not naive enough to think it is a sentimental notion… all touchy-feely with warm fuzzies. It’s an austere road that takes courage to travel. When someone says “Why can’t we all just love one another?“, sometimes I wonder if they are aware of just how dangerous that is? Actually, no one has said it better than James Fowler in his book Stages of Faith. In reference... Read more
This young woman, while sitting over her first cup of coffee for the day, has realized the inevitable: she has a fight on her hands. Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist, has asked that I be a weekly contributor to his blog’s new efforts. This cartoon was my first offering that was posted last week on the FriendlyAtheist. The deal is I can post it some time later on my own blog. You can check it out here with all the... Read more
Here’s my friend’s dream. He is a pastor. I just received this email today. It is used with his permission. (I think this is my longest post ever!) Hi David, I had a dream the other night about you a couple weeks ago and thought you might find it interesting. Here it is. You and I were out for a walk late one night, I think it was in St. John, though not sure. The street was urban, the street... Read more
It took a while for Jesus to comprehend his significance. He just couldn’t catch on to the idea that he was the intersection of ages. He felt the urge to sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. Sheep scattered. Lambs languished. Then, as he grew up, the horrible realization began to dawn on him: he was the sacrifice, and he was the one to make it. Buy a print of this cartoon. Read more
he has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… (Ephesians 2:14) Hostility is the motivation behind separation. When the writer used “hostility”, he removed any argument that the dividing wall is a metaphysical one only, somehow mysteriously built by an invisible negative force. It is a very real division built by… us!… the manifestation of our hostility. It is not only spiritual but visceral. So this passage is written not only against those... Read more
You know you are free when you delight in setting others free. This is another drawing in my Sophia series that I completed this weekend. It is the story of a young woman’s courageous journey towards her own wisdom and independence. Here she sets the horses free because she is free. I have a good friend, Christy Clark, who rescues horses and uses these same recovered horses to help people in their own healing process. Check out her website Gratitude... Read more
One of the most difficult things to do is to consider that our spiritual experiences may be the products of our own minds. It is painful to admit that our religion and our spirituality may all be generated by our fears and fantasies. To contemplate that That-Which-We-Call-God is beyond our comprehension paralyzes the religious impulses of our minds and actually may deliver us closer to that which is True. I have published two books. Both are available on Amazon: CLICK... Read more
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