Category: evil
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Ashes, Water, and the Sign of the Cross
Ashes remind us of our mortality and dependence on God for life. The waters of baptism remind us of new birth, new life, and the promise of resurrection. The symbol of the cross reminds us that God entered our fragility, in Jesus, even unto death, and overcame it.
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“Tower of Babel” – a sermon preached on August 30, 2020, at The First United Methodist Church of Orlando
The Tower of Babel, as well as recent events, serve as reminders of our deep brokenness, especially along racial lines, and of just how far we’ve traveled away from the Garden of Eden, and the resulting conflict between humans. This story is our story too.
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We’re ALL afraid…
Every mass shooting reignites the same debate over guns – gun owner rights vs. gun law reform. Before I go any further, I should confess I don’t own guns, and I don’t like guns. I never have, and likely never will. I don’t feel a need to own one. In…
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Is Jesus helpless?
Is it possible, these tragedies keep happening, because we’ve rendered God ineffectual by our collective disbelief? Have we, as a society, drifted so far from God, or believe so little in God, that we’ve effectively shut the door?
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Transcending Hell
what if the Hell people need saving from, most, isn’t in their future? What if the “lost” are already in Hell, in this life? What if the “saving,” lost people need, isn’t just from a future Hell, but a current and present one?
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Darkness covered the land… (A Good Friday Sermon)
I wonder when the sun shined again. Did the sun return that day, after Jesus was taken down from his cross, or did the darkness remain, as afternoon passed into the night? Was it dark, when they laid Jesus in his tomb? Did the sun rise with the dawn on…
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God is seldom in charge…
While I still believe God is ultimately in charge, is it possible God only controls the events of this world to the degree we align our wills to his’? Is it possible, we can only align ourselves, collectively, with God if we are truly seeking to know his’ will, and…
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Taming Leviathan: in search of God, and an elusively acceptable explanation for suffering and evil
Though leviathan are mythical – especially tamed ones – and the real-life tragedies of this world are definitely not, this image – literal or not – reminds me that God is not defined by my simplistic definitions of good and bad, right and wrong, just and unjust, fair and unfair. …
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Coddling Evil
Yesterday, in a brief conversation with a colleague, reflecting on the recent tragedy in our community, she asked, “Why do we coddle evil?”
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