Loving, Learning, and Leading

Imagine, you see a stray dog in your neighborhood.   Since you have been in your neighborhood for sometime, you are familiar with all the dogs in your neighborhood, and this dog is definitely not from your neighborhood.  While it is simply sitting on a sidewalk, your instincts for safety kicks in.  You are well aware of the dangers that  a wild, undisciplined, or even rabid dog can present to your neighborhood.  So, you call the county animal control agency, and you describe that menacing canine to them.  To your surprise, animal control does not share the same degree of alarm, but states that they will send a unit to investigate the dog right away.  They specifically ask you not to approach the dog.  The dog notices you watching it and begins to move into a yard.  You become more alarmed as the villainous vermin is now coming closer and closer to his vicious potential.  You get out of your car and the dog begins to run.  You chase ...

" In regards to the gospels, we have forgotten what the main thing is." N.T. Wright in "How God Became King" I have begun to read N.T. Wright's book: "How God Became King".  Its premise asks a question that I have struggled with for some time.  That is, is the gospel (literally good news) of Jesus, revealed in the four canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that same as what we consider the gospel today? In the classic creeds of the church, there is an emphasis on the atoning work of Jesus' death for our personal salvation and justification.  This formulation relies heavily on Paul's letters to the Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews (although the authorship of the book of Hebrews is contested).  This understanding of the gospel is thoroughly Biblical (I Corinthians 15:1-5).  It is focusing on the death and resurrection of Jesus and its work to establish an eternal link to God. The controversy, is not whether that formulation of ...

Racism need not be intentional or malicious for it to be. Monica Harrold, Coordinator of the the Race and Culture Task Force, African Heritage Network of the Free Methodist Church. Recently, Franklin Graham, the son of legendary evangelist, Billy Graham openly and publicly questioned President Obama's professed faith.  He has since apologized for his questioning and backed off his critique of the President quite a bit.  He adds his voice to the hundreds of pastors, talk show hosts, and politicians who seek more to discredit and diminish this president that encourage or build up Christian people in their faith and in their mission. Ronald Reagan, who is hailed by conservative Christians as the "Holy Grail" of presidents, never confessed to be an evangelical Christian.  Yet, few Christian conservative leaders took the time to question his beliefs, his alignment to classical Christianity, or the authenticity of his brief and relatively few statements regarding his perso...

"The moral nihilism of celebrity culture is played out on reality television shows, most of which encourage a dark voyeurism into other people's humiliation, pain, weakness, and betrayal" Chris Hedges in "Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and Triumph of Spectacle" The tragic death of pop icon Whitney Houston this past weekend was heartbreaking, but not surprising.  Her struggles with drugs, alcohol, and recklessness has been well documented and popularized over the past decade.  Her life and death are tributes to America's celebrity culture, where lives become valued for their entertainment over and against their intrinsic value. "Being Bobby Brown" aired on the Bravo Network from 2005 through 2007.  The show was immensely popular and was a reality series looking at the life of Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston.  Critics on NBC's today showed characterized the show as " disgusting and crude" .  Although I never watched the sh...

Jesus told this story: "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.  In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'  "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you ca...

8 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." 9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. Job 1:8-11 In the book of Job, we are exposed to the discussions in a heavenly or otherworldly court.  God himself oversees this court and begins to address the court which is described as having angels, including fallen angels such as Satan.  The book of Job begins by powerfully illustrating that the events of our world are influenced by others in spiritual realms.  Although it is a heavenly court, the discussion centers upon Earthly matters.  We rarely take...

But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. The husband should fulfill his wife's sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband's needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife. Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I Corinthians 7:2-6, NLT The letter to the Corinthians by the Apostle Paul is startling in its frankness about sexual relationships.  This letter had been in response to a letter sent from the leaders of the Corinthian church regarding issues of sexuality.  Corinth was renown for its pagan temples and rites that often included having sexu...