You know how the prayer starts, especially if you’ve spent any amount of time in a more liturgically inclined congregation. It is the prayer that’s often introduced with words such as, “And now, as our Savior taught us to pray, we are bold to say…,”
“Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” “Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” – Matthew 7:1 If you’ve spend a good deal of time in Christian circles, it stands a good chance you’ve encountered judgmental people. You know the type. Those who take some sort of pleasure in
As I’ve often written, many clergy within the institutional Church preach and teach the false gospel of legalism, perfectionism, and exclusion and thereby do immeasurable harm to the emotional and spiritual lives of those who allow themselves to be exposed to that kind of toxic
Psalm 23 v 1 states: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” So many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people have had the doors of their churches slammed in their faces. Often discovering and revealing one’s sexual orientation mean that many doors
Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.” God is for us, not just with us. Because of Jesus, God is for us. The Bible says that God didn’t just intend for you to
In the Gospel of John, there’s a famous story of a woman caught in adultery, dragged before Jesus so that he could confirm her guilt and approve her execution. His verdict is so well-known in Western culture that it has even become part of our
One of my favorite cartoons from childhood was Fractured Fairy Tales. We would watch this program every weekend, riveted to the adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha and Mister Peabody the bespectacled dog. The bad puns, corny jokes and silly rhymes from various
Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments
Jubilee! Circle, Columbia, S.C. Readings for the 10th and 11th Sundays after Pentecost: Our enemies laugh among themselves. (Psalm 80) The Lord answered him and said, ‘You hypocrites!’ (Luke 13:10-17) Ask a songwriter where they get their material from, and most often they’ll tell you