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September 2019

September 05, 2019

Donald Trump, Pardons, and Forgiveness

Pardons are in the news, particularly Presidential pardons. Presidential pardons are nothing new, and most...

September 03, 2019

What Lies About God Do You Believe?

In Lies We Believe Abut God, Wm. Paul Young (author of The Shack) tells the story of...

September 01, 2019

Jesus and the Compassionate Capitalist: A Reflection for Labor Day

There are a couple of sayings attributed to Jesus that Christians often use when attempting...

August 2019

August 18, 2019

Finding the Light

We are not simply made by God—we are made of God Julian of Norwich Toward the end of a...

August 15, 2019

Does Faith Need a Creed?

One Sunday, I decided to pay close attention to the words of the Nicene Creed...

August 11, 2019

This is Just Too Weird: Dealing with Inconvenient Truths from the Gospels

During the three years that I lived in Milwaukee while completing my Ph.D. studies at...

July 2019

July 30, 2019

Elijah Cummings and Donald Trump: Can Anything Good Come Out Of Baltimore?

Another Saturday morning, another vile stream of racist and/or misogynistic tweets from the President. This...

July 23, 2019

Crows, Ravens, Golden Eagles, and the Holy Spirit

My childhood was filled with unusual characters, all products of my father’s fertile imagination. A...

July 18, 2019

I am a white person. Does that make me a racist?

Last Monday, as everyone’s heads were exploding over Donald Trump’s racist tweets targeting four Congresswomen...

July 16, 2019

The Bible is Not the Word of God. Unless . . .

Frequently, my conservative commenters suggest I will be immediately straightened out if I just “read...

July 13, 2019

You mean THOSE people are my neighbors???

Not long ago, Jeanne and I saw “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”, the documentary about...

July 10, 2019

What if the facts lead to a conclusion that you don’t like?

People are prone to apply the meaning of other people’s arguments to suit opinions that...

July 05, 2019

A Thankless and Glorious Assignment: Enter if You are Brave Enough

In the early hours of a Sunday morning not long ago, I read the final...

June 2019

June 29, 2019

It’s My Life, and I’ll Die When I Want To

If you got to choose the manner of your death, what would your choice be?...

June 27, 2019

What Happens After You Die Isn’t That Important

A conversation involving a bunch of guys at a sports bar waiting for the big...

June 25, 2019

Getting Old Is God’s Worst Idea

I've been thinking a lot about end of life issues lately. Really. They seem to...

June 23, 2019

Do You Want To Be Free? Face Your Demons

The lectionary readings for today include two fascinating texts from Scripture: Elijah collapsed under a...

June 18, 2019

If Norway Speaks, Donald Trump Will Listen—but probably not to this

Norway is in the news—last week President Trump mentioned Norway as an example of a...

June 13, 2019

What My Father Taught Me About Reading and Belief

One of the most important tasks that an author has to face when a book...

June 08, 2019

The Message of Pentecost: God Is Not Angry At Us

Jeanne and I watched a documentary not long ago called “Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets...

June 06, 2019

The Greatest Task of All is to Live

For the past several years my upper-division (juniors and seniors) classes have included an ongoing...

June 03, 2019

When Christianity Becomes an Angry and Fearful Faith

At its best, faith is the overflow of gratitude, the attempt to live as if...

June 02, 2019

Passing the Baton: An Ascension Sunday Reflection

A disturbingly common mishap in recent Summer Olympic games has been the failure of U.S....

May 2019

May 26, 2019

Do You Want to Be Made Well?

Anyone who reads this blog regularly or even occasionally knows that I love movies. Solidly...

May 23, 2019

When God Is Silent

Every religion which does not confirm that God is hidden is not true. Blaise Pascal One...

May 21, 2019

Rise, Kill, and Eat: A Story About Learning to See Things Differently

Iris Murdoch was one of the philosophers whose work was front and center in my...

May 17, 2019

Scottish Sheep are Waterproof, and other takeaways from Good Shepherd Sunday

One of my prized possessions, purchased when Jeanne and I on vacation last June in...

May 14, 2019

Are Evangelical Christians Discriminated Against? The Dangers of Tribal Christianity

Last week, a Christianity Today article reported that "Half of Americans Say Evangelicals are Discriminated Against." www.christianitytoday.com

May 11, 2019

A Mother’s Day Remembrance: Her Children Rise Up and Call Her Blessed

I once learned something interesting about giraffes from one of my colleagues. He was lecturing...

May 07, 2019

Why Did Jesus Like Little Children So Much?

One of the stories that was emphasized regularly in the Baptist Sunday school of my...

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