Category: Society
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What (or Who) is Normal?
There’s not another you, or me, in the entire world. We have different DNA. We have different finger prints. We have different personalities, dispositions, temperaments, capabilities, tastes, struggles and varying strengths and weaknesses. We certainly have different life experiences. There’s never been another you or me in the history of…
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Stop the Unsanity! Can We?
There was once a time we could respectfully “agree to disagree” on many things. Not any more. And, that’s a problem. A big problem.
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Advent 2020: Who or what are we waiting for?
The word “advent” literally means “arrival.” Thus, the Advent season is about the coming of the Christ Child, and the less emphasized subject of his eventual return in glory. Advent is a time for planning, preparing, and anticipating a particularly important arrival. It is a season of looking and longing…
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Sermon: “Connecting with Your True Self” – part of a sermon series called “ConnectAbility,” preached at the First United Methodist Church of Orlando, on August 2, 2020
Our summer theme, “ConnectAbility” – based on the Great Commandment, to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind” and to, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” – has had three major emphases… Connecting with God: emotionally, intellectually, and…
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Connecting through Courage: a sermon preached at the First United Methodist Church of Orlando on July 26, 2020.
Fear dehumanizes people. It turns people into monsters to be avoided, instead of people with whom meaningful connections can be made.
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God Isn’t Colorblind
When someone claims to be colorblind, they’re devaluing the full humanity of the other, which is essentially a racist stance.
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It is what it is: complaining, coping, or becoming through hardship
I don’t believe God caused Covid-19, so I also can’t say “God has a purpose for Covid-19.” But, I DO believe God will uniquely work in EVERY situation if God finds willing and able partners in us. If we’re willing to patiently endure this difficult season, submitting it to God,…
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“Connecting with the Mind” (A sermon preached on June 28, 2020 for the First United Methodist Church of Orlando, Part II of a series called, “ConnectAbility”)
Loving God with our minds is actively seeking the mind of Christ. Loving God with our minds is actively, purposefully seeking God’s wisdom and knowledge. Loving God with our minds is submitting our thoughts and ideas to God, and asking God to reveal God’s thoughts and ideas.
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Discovering and Overcoming Unconscious Bias
Though I’ve never been overtly racist (to the best of my knowledge), I’m ashamed to say it’s taken most of my life to overcome conscious and unconscious biases, stereotypes, prejudices, and even fears.
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