Tag: Culture
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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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I may not like you…
As a person of faith, I may not like everyone (I don’t), but I can and must treat all people with dignity and respect. I may not respect a person’s politics, their taste in music, the jokes they tell, their recreational choices, their affiliations and allegiances, their philosophical leanings, or…
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Lament
I posted the following on my Facebook page in September, 2016. Someone reposted it today. I feel like I could have written it today…. Lament. “Listen to my words, Lord, consider my lament.” Psalm 5:1 For months, I’ve read many posts about issues ranging from gay marriage to the presidential election…
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Blogging silence, hard questions, passive aggression, and the Jesus-litmus test
Though I’m wrestling with loads of hard questions (for me) these days, I don’t claim to have many answers. Though I don’t claim to be absolutely “right” about much of anything, I’m increasingly convinced that we are wrong about MANY things. The litmus test for me is Jesus…
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How the Birthday Cake Ruined the Church…
I’m not questioning our appetite for excellence. I’m challenging our consumeristic expectations and demands. If you want something to be excellent, then YOU make it excellent. And, just because the world is willing to cater to your demands for convenience and customization, don’t bring that expectation to church.
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Privilege
As a white, straight, middle-class, college-educated, male, Christian, southern-U.S. citizen it’s taken me a while to grasp the place of cultural privilege I’ve been afforded. I never did anything to earn or deserve the opportunities I’ve had, simply because of the life I was born into. Nor have others, more…
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What is manly?
I’ve recently been in conversations about manliness and masculinity, which has me thinking about roles and stereotypes.
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“Dim Dots” – Where we’ve been, and where we’re going
If you drew a line, starting with your birth, from dot to dot to dot, all the way to this very moment (yes, this moment – as you read this blog), what dots might be coming next, and after that, and after that?
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The Black Panther and the Church…
Not surprisingly, I couldn’t help but think of the Church. We also have a treasure the world desperately needs. We, the Church, also struggle with the purpose of our existence. Do we exist for ourselves? Or, do we exist for the world? Are we a kingdom in hiding, or a…
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