There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18) Give in to love or live in fear. (Finale B, Rent, Jonathan Larson) The harm being done is real It is hard to know what to say about the profoundly
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? (Hillel the Elder, first century BCE rabbi) The second [great commandment] is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Mark
Gay. Straight. It does not matter. It doesn’t matter how we behave. It doesn’t matter how we’re wired. So said Christian music megastar Amy Grant in a recent interview. What matters, said Grant, is setting a welcome table and loving people as we have been,
Part of an occasional series celebrating Whosoever’s Silver Jubilee. I believe God is that essence in us that reaches out to another, committed to their well-being, their enlightenment, their moral, emotional, relational, and spiritual growth. (Phillip Gulley, Unlearning God, 2018, pp. 193-194) Much has changed
Why write a Pride hymn? My answer begins with a parable and some commentary. And he spoke to them and said, “What is the Community of God like? It is like a Pride parade filled with a great diversity of people, decked out in rainbows
Walking down the street, I see them: three young upper-middle-class people loudly talking on their way to a fancy dinner up the block. I am furious with them almost instantly: for their fine tailored clothes, for their trés chic dining plans, for the way they
It’s easy to talk a good talk about faith. “Faith is belief in that which is unseen but still known,” we might say, or “faith gives my life meaning.” There’s nothing wrong with these statements, but they can direct us toward a pietistic, quietist approach
Prayer, the simplest of activities, can be a complicated matter when we think about its many manifestations. We pray for such a wide range of things, in such varied ways, and in so many different states of mind (and heart). Prayer – like the Holy
By their fruitiness shall ye know them Amazing Grace: Stories of Lesbian and Gay Faith Malcolm Boyd and Nancy Wilson, eds. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1991. A collection of autobiographical writings by lesbian/gay Christians. This one stands out for several reasons. First, it is ecumenical,
“But the Bible says it plainly!” “Read Leviticus!” “God said it. I believe it. That settles it!” “Paul says it’s not natural.” “The Bible says what it means and means what it says!” “God’s word is God’s word.” Have you ever heard these or similar