Father Greg built his church by practicing unconditional love to people society had rejected and provided the opportunity for them to transform their Good Friday lives into Easters. Some did, and some didn’t. (In 2024, Father Greg was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor for his work.)

Open and relational theology offers a better framework for imagining how humans might imitate God.

When JD Vance denounces childless cat ladies, he represents the heart of fundamentalism, all those white Christian nationalists who define a man by the size of his gun collection and a woman by the number of her offspring. Jesus is/would be horrified.

Step back a bit and think about it.  Neither you nor I, as believers in law and order, want to see an innocent man put to death.  Let’s put the blame for this miscarriage of justice where it belongs – on people’s belief in God!  Let the people deal with the consequences of their primitive ideas. 

People often think that the Bible is obscure, hard to understand, and irrelevant. But today’s reading from Ephesians seems as fresh and accessible as when it was first written some 2,000 years ago. The passage is straightforward. It is a list of don’ts and do’s, a kind of inventory of spiritual virtues.

I’m bone tired of being told why I should fear the other guy. Not because I’m not afraid—Lord help me, I’m terrified—but because fear will never move hearts and minds like an appeal to who could become.

You have probably given some thought about what it means to be a Christian, and the concept of conscious evolution probably never occurred to you.  Allow me to explain, and in explaining you might be surprised that I am going to first talk briefly about geology.

Thoreau’s exhortation about how to achieve a happy life- Simplify! Hemingway wrote short sentences with a minimum of adjectives and adverbs. I have here tried to follow this advice, communicating as concisely as possible what I see as basic human truth.

In Roger's book Discovering Fire, he doesn't advocate for thoughtless religious syncretism, but he does recognize that our lived experiences often transcend the neat boxes of religious or spiritual categories.

We do not have to see malice in the actions of Satan or “the Devil”. Satan is, in fact, a charming character, quite well-intentioned. As you’ll see, the Church tried its hardest to give the guy a bum rap.

A decade of planning a coup has taught the greedy, super-rich, and powerful that the immigration card trumps everything. They’re coming for your job, taking aim at your family, your home, your religion, your country, and you need a strongman to protect you. Trump uses this fear all the time.

Why did God make it so difficult? There is no answer to this question. In the book of Job, God inflicts pain and suffering but refuses to explain why. God is a profound mystery, transcendent, beyond human comprehension. So what does God give us? Instead of the big experience described by Paul, we get brief glimpses into a reality of goodness and love.

Donald Trump promised, “In four more years, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.” His words are starkly anti-democratic and—from a candidate who incited a mob to attempt a deadly coup—deeply disturbing.

Ninety-five percent of the human population is left-brain dominant. A 2013 study sampling 160,000 Americans showed that 37% of Americans are left-brained, while only 29% are right-brained. In only 34% of participants did the two hemispheres exert equal influence on decision-making.

Once you understand the agenda of Christian nationalism, ask yourself: What Christian nationalist ideals and beliefs do I put up with on a daily basis? These ideals and beliefs are everywhere in our culture. All we have to do is pay attention. Every day in a thousand little ways, you and I participate in and give power to a Christian nationalist belief system – no matter how covertly or unconsciously we may do it.

There is the rather staid term used to describe a form of worship in the Christian faith tradition, known as ‘liturgy.’ It comes from two Greek words, translated as the “work” of the “people.” For decades, I used to remind a flock of worshippers that an hour spent on a Sunday morning was only a rehearsal for what they were called to practice and live out the rest of the week. 

The fourth part of a seven-part series that looks at the life of Jesus.

Several accounts envision Jesus himself as divine light: so, in the Gospel of John, he declares that “I am the light of the world,” and, in Thomas, “I am the light of the world, the light that is before all things; I am all things; all things come forth from me; all things return to me. Split a piece of wood and I am there; lift up a rock and you will find me.” 

Since Michaelmas falls on a Sunday this year I propose that it be revived, partially to address the ancient duty to feed the poor, as Soup Kitchen Sunday, with churches throughout the land offering bounteous meals to all who would come. 

What if the shooter whose bullet grazed Donald Trump's ear had no motive but the urge to have fun?

I call on every Christian, wherever they are in the world, to say a simple prayer when they hear the siren. It might help people in some way that we do not understand. It might influence the thinking of the first responders in a positive way.

This is where we are, and it makes me very, very angry. The Jesus fabricated by evangelical politicians and billionaires is everywhere, an “awesome god” who really, really loves America and free enterprise. But this is not the real Jesus.

Immediately after the horrific assassination attempt on former President Trump, people of faith began claiming that God protected him. For example, Franklin Graham unequivocally pronounced, “God spared his life.” But that popular affirmation raises difficult questions, which even Graham acknowledged.

A national Zoom call from the D.C.-based Black women's organization "#WinWithBlackWomen"  had over 40,000 sistahs in attendance. In three hours, these women raised over $1 million to support Harris, which T.V. personality Star Jones, the campaign chair, spearheaded.  "#WinWithBlackWomen" is a national intergenerational and intersectional sisterhood of black diasporic women who leverage talent, influence, and networks to support Black women.

Biden's stature as a patriot and a statesman blew off the charts.  While pressure to step down has been building since his disastrous debate performance on June 27th, it is still most unusual for someone to walk away from what is generally regarded as the most powerful position in the world.

From a theological perspective, politics is the argument about the nature of community, who counts in community, and our moral responsibility for community. It is an old argument. It existed long before Jesus, long before Rome. It runs through the Hebrew scriptures. It shaped ancient societies. These are questions are the heart of human existence, these theological-political questions.

If you think God is a Christian, then you are mistaken. He isn’t a Muslim or a Hindu, either. We can't pin labels on God; he is not a tribal or sectarian deity; too often, organized Things have changed a little for Catholics in the papacy of Francis, but there is still an element of defending the faith, like soldiers in a fortress, watching out for those who question and debate too much. Too often, Christian churches have adopted an ‘either-or’ philosophy – you are either right or wrong, either with us or against us.

When I watched—repeatedly—the news report of the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, my heart time-travelled. To Robert Kennedy shot dead. To Martin King and Malcolm X, shot dead. To John Kennedy, shot dead. To Gabby Gifford, Ronald Reagan and George Wallace. To the people acting very surprised at this violent act, I say, “Why are you surprised? This is a shoot-em-up nation.

The third part of a seven-part series that looks at the life of Jesus.

In honor of Independence Day 2024, we should celebrate the dedication of the deep bench of public employees who serve everyone competently and without partisanship, representing in person the values of human equality and compassion. Without specific religious motivation, these public servants exemplify key principles of the Beloved Community.