Believe and Obey

So, this week’s Gospel text (Matt 11:M2-11), finds John the Baptist in jail and asking questions of Jesus via His disciples. He pointedly asks, “are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”. It appears that John is not sure. In last week’s text (Matt 3:1-12), John portrays the coming Messiah as one who’s winnowing fork is in his hand”. While, as I suggested last week, this does point out the risks of not having a relationship with God (as a lack of such

This week’s Gospel reading (Matt 3:1-12) is a classic Advent text. This is the story of John the Baptist out in the wilderness, wearing clothing of camel’s hair and eating locusts no less, baptizing believers in the river Jordan. This text offers some interesting insights into what we can and should expect as followers of Jesus. It is, of course, an excellent time to think about this as it is the beginning of a new church calendar year and as we prepare to commemorate the

There is an old religion, all but dead for about 1000 years that used to compete with Christianity in the early Middle Ages. Manicheanism was a belief in the world as made up of light and dark; good and evil and everything should be viewed from this perspective. Its core beliefs were not compatible with Christianity. This view held that God was not omnipotent and that He was opposed by an eternal evil counterpart (the devil). Humanity, the world and our souls were byprodu

My second week of break, I am reposting this piece from 2017. Sadly, this hoary myth is still as strong as ever. This being Veteran’s Day and seeing the deluge of “thanks for your service” posts from those of all political persuasions, it would be a good time to deal with the myth surrounding veterans. The veteran’s myth is one of the most persistent and pernicious in all the warfare state’s pantheon of myths. The myth does not concern the sacrifice made by veterans, that i

As I am taking a couple of weeks off, I am reposting this in preparation for Veterans Day and what it means to cheer for victory in war. This was written by Twain in 1905 as a reaction to the Spanish-American War and the subsequent Philippine-American War. It masterfully exposes the hypocrisy behind all war cries. The War Prayer It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the

The recent Trump Administration decision to remove the small number of U.S. troops from the Kurdish controlled area of Syria, thereby allowing for Turkey to send in its armed forces to clear and control the area has created a bipartisan uproar in opposition to this move. This proves once again that U.S. military and imperial involvement around the globe continues to have nearly universal support in Washington. Let’s be clear this move does not signal a major retrenchment of

Kindness has been much in the news this past week. It centers around the fact that Ellen DeGeneres spent a recent Sunday afternoon with former President George W. Bush. Many on the progressive left slammed her for doing this and she responded with a defense of kindness, even toward those with whom she disagrees. She has been widely applauded for this defense. My point here is not to rehash the case against George W. Bush but, rather to push back against the notion that op

This Thursday begins another season of what is unquestionably the greatest ministry I have been blessed to be a part of. Spirit Matters is a ministry that provides social and fellowship opportunities to special needs adults. There are a multitude of great programs for special needs youth, but these opportunities largely evaporate as these folks grow into their adult years, which is what makes this ministry so unique and so important. The genesis of this ministry came from

Labor Day has come and gone, so that means that it is time for another session of Midweek programming at church. This fall we are discussing the book Love Without Limits: Jesus’ Radical Vision for Love with No Exceptions. To start off the discussion, the Pastor leading the class asked “is society more divisive than it has been in the past?” Most thought that it is, some disagreed, arguing that past eras were more divided than today. My answer to the question are we more o

Trade has been much in the news this past week as the President went off on a tirade in which he amped up the trade war he ignited with China. His tweets ignited a firestorm and a massive sell off in the markets on Friday: Replying to @realDonaldTrump ...unfair Trading Relationship. China should not have put new Tariffs on 75 BILLION DOLLARS of United States product (politically motivated!). Starting on October 1st, the 250 BILLION DOLLARS of goods and products from China, c

This past week saw the 50th. Anniversary of the Woodstock music festival. It is an overused cliché to say this or that event defined a generation but, in this instance, I think it is warranted. Unfortunately for Boomers this does not bring upon them any credit. A recent PBS documentary brought into sharp relief what a disaster the concert was and how it almost become tragic. The documentary outlines all the ways this event was destined to fail. Before the event started th

On July 30th. Nick Buoniconti, the hall of fame football player died at the age of 78 of complications from dementia. He and his family are convinced that it was CTE, developed as a result of his football career. This would mean that he joined a growing list of former football players that have suffered and died from this disease. In essence football killed Nick Buoniconti. This hit me particularly hard as Nick Buoniconti was a star when I was growing up and, in those years,

So, who could be opposed to hate crimes? You would think not many, right? You would be correct. According to Gallup there is about 68% support for hate crimes legislation in the United States. Hate crime laws are those which provide for enhanced penalties for those committing violence against protected groups. These protected groups are communities identified by race, creed, sexual orientation, and gender, among others. The purpose of these laws is to provide extra pro

Can an individualist be a Christian? Seems a strange question from a self-avowed anarchist. Yet the answer to this question gets to the heart of what living as a Christian is all about. The base fact is that if we define individualist as a hermit-like character then no they absolutely cannot be a Christian. This is, of course, a hackneyed definition of an individualist. It is the kind of characterization of individualists that come from statists and collectivists of all s

The images emanating from the southern border are appalling and enraging. The separation of families, caging of children and doing so in such a substandard way is nothing short of disgusting. It is clear by his tweet that Donald Trump and his administration mean for these vile conditions to act as a deterrent to migrants entering the United States. My purpose here is not to dive deeply into the arguments for letting migrants and asylees into the United States, I have dealt

This week’s worship service readings are key readings for understanding how Christians are to live in society. The Gospel text is Luke 9:51-62. This text provides two key lessons that should inform us in our social lives as Christians. This text first tells of Jesus on His way to meet his fate, “having set his face to go to Jerusalem”. On the way He and the disciples enter a Samaritan village but were turned away. This leads the disciples to ask "Lord, do you want us to

W-W-2, the BIG ONE, the good war. It is celebrated throughout the land and its participants lauded everywhere. It is beloved among the Left because it represented the nearly complete socialization of the U.S. economy, a thing they have been pining for ever since. One of the things that the war is also credited with doing is ending the Great Depression. This is particularly true among unrepentant Keynesians like Paul Krugman. The basic argument is that the New Deal was to

No reasonable person is alright with the existence of hate groups and we should, when confronted with them take a firm stand and denounce their ideology. But how? Many have come to the conclusion that hateful extremism is on the rise and much of it is fueled by social media. Consequently, there has arisen, from both the left and right, calls to regulate and “deplatform” obnoxious and “hateful” figures. This has resulted in the recent purge of figures such as Alex Jones an

The notion of civic duty is deeply ingrained into our culture. All across the political spectrum people genuflect in the direction of this idea. Some of the common civic duties are obeying the law, serving on juries, paying taxes and voting. In the U.S. the only one of these that is not compulsory is voting but that is not true everywhere and some in the U.S. want to make it mandatory. The basic idea behind civic duties is that we all have obligations to obey the government

My annual share of a very powerful Easter message. Christ has risen, He has risen indeed alleluia! #Peace #Theology