Check Your Heart
Read the rest of the series Okay, so you’ve decided to become a Christian. You’ve felt the tug on your heart and you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins on the cross and rose again in three days. It’s the
My Excellent Cyberspace Adventure (Or, How Not To Win Friends and Influence People)
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9) Since I found a church home, at long last, a little over a year ago, God has been doing a work of spiritual healing in me. It has been good for
Vision and Promise for a New Us!
What I see happening in our future faith of the GLBT community of faith is finding our future by looking to the past. We need to know our faith roots to move to the present. I know that sounds heart-wrenching for some of us, me
God Is Still Speaking
God is still speaking: The campaign Never place a period where God has placed a comma. (Gracie Allen) In 2004, the United Church of Christ produced commercials with the tagline “God is still speaking.” The controversy that erupted was not so much over the assertion
Transformed by Grace
Delivered during the only worship service conducted solely by LGBTA people at the Ninth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Porto Alegre, Brazil This week, more than 4,000 people have gathered under one of the most diverse, inclusive “tents” the world has ever
Prophet-Making Opportunities
Garden of Grace United Church of Christ, Columbia, S.C. Readings for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany: Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Mark 1:21-28 How many email accounts do you have? More than one? More than two? More than three? More than you can reasonably count? Have any of
Finding Jesus
An old drunk stumbles across a baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down by the river. He proceeds to walk into the water and stand next to the preacher. The minister notices the old drunk and says, “Mister, are you ready to find Jesus?” The drunk
The Laws of the Natural Universe
Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch. Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. Law of the Telephone: When you dial a wrong number, you never get
The Burden of Legalism
… the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. (2 Corinthians 3:6) A rabbi and a priest are having a conversation. The priest says to the rabbi, “You ought to have ham. You’ll like it.” The rabbi says to the priest, “You ought to have
Two Queer Scriptures for the Pro-Gay Toolbox
As the coauthor of a book on homosexuality and the Bible, I’m often asked to speak to groups. Usually, I try to get them to let me talk about the affirming passages — the centurion and his slave, the Ethiopian eunuch, Hathach the messenger —