In response to last week’s post about setting aside the phrase, “God protected me” when surviving a natural or human-made disaster, a reader wrote: “Do you have any ideas about what I could say when someone tells me a miracle story like, ‘God saved me but all my neighbors were blown away?’” This reader hit the core of my plea: let us stop suggesting that God has shown special favor to those who survived while ignoring the frantic prayers of... Read more
“Just think how much good you could do!” Those enticing words also may be some of the most dangerous words around–they can open the door to extraordinary evil, perfectly disguised and cloaked with something that just looks so right. Starting this Sunday, May 26, I will begin a five week message series on the necessity of learning as early as possible to discern that which is good from that which is not good. Because even the youngest need to learn... Read more
In a recent news article about the role faith and churches are playing in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes in Granbury, one resident stated that his last-minute decision to take his wife and children to church that night saved their lives, as their home was destroyed 30 minutes later. He said, “That proves right there that going to church can literally save your life.” He also mentioned that because of all the gifts of cash, clothes and food that... Read more
The Dallas Morning News had a front page article today about the role faith and churches are playing in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes in Granbury. The beginning of the article contains these statements: In a place where so much has been lost, broken and scattered, many people in this tornado-touched town say they found something they didn’t know was missing. “I guess you’d call it faith,” said Josiah Thompson, a 26-year-old who decided at the last minute to... Read more
Please read the quote below from the current mayor of Osaka, Japan, Toru Hashimoto. He was speaking about the use of sex slaves provided for Japanese soldiers during World War Two. Historians suggest that up to 200,000 Korean and Chinese women were forced into providing these services. To maintain discipline in the military, it must have been necessary at that time,” Hashimoto said. “For soldiers who risked their lives in circumstances where bullets are flying around like rain and wind,... Read more
Several weeks ago, in the aftermath of the bombing at the Boston Marathon, I wrote: “evil defies reason.” With the exposure now of kidnappings and years-long torture of three women in Cleveland, the time has come to further explore the nature of evil. Again, evil defies reason. Reasonable people do not plant bombs that kill, maim and destroy. Reasonable people do not kidnap others and hold them and torture them for years on end. Reasonable people do not insist on sucking everyone around them into... Read more
The larger church functions more like perennials, which come back year after year adding new growth without the necessity of resowing seed. Eventually, however, they get so stuck together that only the act of dividing the perennials gives them an opportunity for new life. In 2012, I wrote a post about the now-impossibility of actually reforming death-giving structure of the UMC. My frustration emerged after the Judicial Council, doing exactly what they are supposed to do, put the final nail in... Read more
A little background here before I weave together some threads of thought. Sex Selective Abortions First, look at issue of sex-selective abortions and female infanticide. These are major issues especially in India and China. For multiple financial and cultural reasons, many families have a strong preference for male babies over female babies. The growing availability and affordability of ultrasound technology makes it increasingly easy to abort unwanted female fetuses. If an unwanted one makes it to birth, the child is... Read more
It is cold here right now in North Texas. Wind is blowing wildly, temperatures continue to drop and we are on target for record lows tonight. Areas just slightly to the west and north are under a frost watch. I suspect my own garden may get a bit of frostbite because it is on the north side, high up, with a large pasture behind it, so there is nothing to block the wind and cold. I went out and piled straw... Read more
The blogging world of United Methodist Clergy has exploded recently with the revelation that the Texas Annual Conference is floating a document that appears “ageist” in its suggestions as to who might or might not be encouraged to seek ordination there. I want to thank Jeremy at Hacking Christianity for this post which exposes the possible plans in the Texas Annual Conference for discouraging older people from entering the ordination process. Now, there are lots of comments flying around. One,... Read more
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