I think the reason so many of us feel that things are going very wrong in the world is that we are turning away too soon. Or we are so desperate for a solution to issues like racism that we get stuck blaming others for what’s wrong which only makes the situation feel worse. But what if the question in the face of big problems is not, “What can I do?” but “What is God already doing?” - Suzanne Ross Read more
On a recent family vacation, Adam Ericksen only wanted one thing - to enjoy time with his dad. Could anything get in the way? Read more
Abraham and Sarah show hospitality to strangers, but then they laugh in the face of God. How did God respond to their divine mockery? Martha and Mary show hospitality to Jesus, but then fall into a bit of sibling rivalry. Jesus refuses to join the rivalry and points to the way out. Join Lindsey and Adam in the latest episode of Jesus Unmasked! Read more
I will not celebrate Independence Day. The truth is, the United States has never been an independent nation. Built on stolen land by stolen labor, sacrificing Natives and Africans and their descendants to the mythology of “manifest destiny,” greed, oppression, and white supremacy, this has never been a nation of liberty and justice for all. In fact, this nation has been built upon the deliberate stealing of liberty (and life) from others. According to activist and writer Kevin Alexander Gray, speaking to Black... Read more
“See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” Yes, United States of America, we are the wolves. This week’s lectionary tells us that Jesus sent his disciples from town to town to precede him. He knew the journey would be dangerous, yet he sent out his disciples “like lambs into the midst of wolves” because the mission was urgent. They were to go into the city, heal the sick, and proclaim that the kingdom of... Read more
In the story, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah not because of homosexuality, but because of the way those towns treated people migrating from one place to another. The story says God destroyed the cities because they refused to show hospitality to vulnerable strangers who were staying in their town. Can you see any relevance in this story for our modern world? Read more
“Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” These are some of the most blunt, difficult, and seemingly harsh words Jesus speaks. And as Pride Day approaches with this Gospel text on deck in the lectionary, I am thinking of all the people who have heard Jesus’s words twisted against them because of their gender or sexual identities. I am thinking of the ways Christians have used scripture out of... Read more
In this episode of Jesus Unmasked, Lindsey and Adam explore how Jesus challenges his own disciples to repent from their view of a violent god as he reveals the true God of nonviolent love. Read more
Our enemy is not flesh and blood. Our enemies are policies brought forth by any political party that dehumanize and even demonize our fellow human beings. Read more
Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. This week’s Gospel reading, Luke 8: 26-39, follows a week that included Juneteenth. We know the Spirit is crying out to us when the story of the Gerasene demoniac falls so close to the anniversary of the partial and incomplete exorcism of our nation’s original sin of slavery. At a time when Congress is debating whether or not to even study... Read more
Teaching Nonviolent Atonement
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In