A man unsubscribed from my mailing list last week. He left a note that confused me. I am trying to build my mailing list. When a person opts out, I can usually guess the reason. Reason 1: I Disagree Not everyone agrees with my comments or the insights of those…
What Jesus told me about BLM
All the children I don’t know what song children are learning in church these days, but I do remember a standard when I was going up. “Jesus loves the little children/ All the children of the world/ Red, and yellow, black, and white/ All are precious in his sight/ Jesus…
It’s going to be alright
My problem with John’s Revelation This week, I led the sixth of seven Bible studies on the book of Revelation. It featured Revelation chapters 17-19 – the Whore of Babylon, the great Beast, the fall of Babylon, the celebration in Heaven (and marriage feast of the Lamb), the Rider on…
Three Lists I Challenge You to Create
These days, I am seeing a lot of lists related to racism. “10 things to watch to educate yourself about systemic racism.” “Seven books you must read.” And even, “75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice.” I am finding most of these lists helpful. Marilyn McEntyre (I posted…
Why You May Never Understand Revelation
I hope you never get the book of Revelation. The only people who truly “get” that book of the Bible are the enslaved or dominated or persecuted – or all three. This is what I am learning as I am studying to lead my church in a series through the…
An Interview with Lewis Brogdon
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed. Before we knew of his death, but earlier that same day, Lewis Brogdon spoke to me about the need for Christians to listen to minorities and to their insights into the Scripture. He notes that the Gospel of Luke, in particular, points…
How Not to Interview – 5 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way
My hope is that the Thursday interviews will be enlightening, educational, and (sometimes) entertaining. I enjoy learning from others and hearing about their experiences. I suppose I am projecting that appreciation onto you, thinking you will like this, too. Setting up the first interview I conducted my first video interview…
An interview with Brian McLaren
Brian McLaren is a popular speaker and writer. He has authored 19 books and has several more coming out soon. I interviewed him at Princeton Divinity School where he was a keynote speaker for the Frederick Buechner Writers Conference. Learn about the persons who were his Great Bible Teachers, the…
Why Aren’t We Uncomfortable with Jesus?
If we think about why Jesus was killed, we might be uncomfortable with him. We might be uncomfortable with his teachings. And, if we teach what he taught and lived (which got him killed), our class members might be uncomfortable with us. Do we dare? Let’s acknowledge that there are…
Obviously! (Five assumptions we bring to any text)
Before we even open a text, what assumptions do we bring to it? Last Sunday, my pastor and I began co-teaching a seven-week (of course) course on Revelation. I’ve been reading several commentaries and watching several videos to prepare. I’ve learned a lot that I am eager to share. I…
