“Of course you would be welcomed at our church!” began the email that I received from an Episcopal priest. My partner and I were moving from Atlanta to a small town in South Carolina in the same year that Gene Robinson was elected bishop of
Don’t think that just because you live in the king’s house you’re the one Jew who will get out of this alive. If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he
Trust can be a noun, but it is also a verb. We can have a thing called trust, but trusting is what we do when we exercise it. A flaccid lump with no muscles can do nothing. Human beings cannot float around freely the way
Most of us remember the Pepsi commercial showing a scene from the 1960 movie, “Spartacus.” One by one the slaves revolt, standing up and declaring “I’m Spartacus!” Kirk Douglas looks on with a tear in his eye, drinking his Pepsi in inspiration. It worked for
As the old hymn says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” Jesus made clear that the way the world will know we follow Him is by the consideration we show each other. This is why constructive dialogue between Christians is so important.
O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. (Isaiah 3:12) he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. (Isaiah 5:7) Many years ago, I was asked by the then-pastor of
Back in the old tent-meeting days, they used to sing a sweet little hymn called “Brighten the Corner Where You Are.” They probably still sing it in Bible schools. It seems a good way to motivate shiny-eyed children to live for Jesus without having to
In my city and perhaps most others, there are many churches that have no official policy of being welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people. The general assumption, in the GLBT community, is that if we’re not issued an “official” welcome, that means that
First Reading: Psalm 94 Gospel Reading: Luke 4:18-19 Inclusive Love: Its time has come Given the increasingly strident professing Christian voices condemning same-sex relationships, and LGBT people in general, it is certainly timely and appropriate to honor those who are sinfully demonized and, in one