Freedom to do just anything at all is not our goal. Freedom to act more humanly, more humanely, to act better, is. Freedom is only freedom when it doesn’t create more captivity somewhere else (like in another’s life). Freedom to do anything is mere anarchy, which takes too lightly our ties to one another and... Continue Reading →
Can We Be “Chosen” without Being Jerks?
Benjamin Netanyahu is angry with you. The Israeli Prime Minister considers the vote last week at the PCUSA's General Assembly "disgraceful." (this was a vote to stop investing in companies making money off Israel's continued settling in territories reserved for Palestinians.) He said anybody with morals should recognize it as such and at the very... Continue Reading →
Can “Faith Alone” Really Save Us?
Preached Works Righteousness on Sunday. That is, I took permission from Brother James to emphasize the importance of acting on our faith in addition to merely reflecting on it. We place such a high value on education and theology in some circles that our Christian life can get pretty academic. And I love that "academic"... Continue Reading →
Science and Scripture
Insisting we take the Bible literally is a relatively new, and often bad, idea. For the great majority of the Church's history we let scripture speak to us in rich metaphor and symbol, in evocative, poetic, spiritual and life-changing fashion. We knew that God's Word, speaking through the Bible but not perfectly synonymous with it,... Continue Reading →
Open and Affirming
God is at work calling many who are gay or lesbian into the ordained ministry. For Presbyterians (PCUSA) that means called to be Deacons, Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders (minister of the Word and Sacrament). We also want to call them for our next potluck, mission trip, committee meeting and book group! Our denomination recognizes the ordination of gays... Continue Reading →
Healthy Adaptive Joyous 