Isolation in the Digital Age

I shouldn’t be appalled, but I am. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am.Whether it’s the conversation about race, policing, immigration, or just about anything, the tone is downright ugly. Every discussion is polarized. It’s either/or and black/white. There is little nuance. If you try to bring nuance...

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Dogmatic Truth and Grace Part 4

I wrote about the most important thing I learned in Seminary, dogmatic grace. One of the people who commented on the post asked how this jived with St Paul’s statements of judgment in his epistles. There are places where Paul really brings some tough words about people and their belief (or lack thereof).How...

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Lord, Have Mercy

Every day we hear more about ISIS, terrorism, and torture. Every day we are faced with new realities regarding race, class, and politics. Every day we hear about first responders losing their lives in the line of duty.Every day. It feels daunting. It feels overwhelming. It feels like there is little...

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Care for the Other

One of the things that I like about living where I do is that there are so many different kinds of people. It’s probably my favorite part of Doubt on Tap every Tuesday night, the diversity that surrounds the table. A number of years ago I would not have been able to sit around the table at Doubt on...

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Repentance is Freedom

I have been teaching through Luke during our worship gatherings. As I prepare each week I’m surprised by how often repentance is brought to the fore by Jesus.I shouldn’t be. But, I am.Why do you think that is? Why are we surprised by Jesus constant and consistent call to repentance?Could it be that we don’t really think that we need to repent? I know that’s true for me. You see, I was sold a bill...

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The Problem of Scale

Nearly every day I see posts about how other countries do things so much better than the United States. Whether it’s education, the environment, law enforcement, or just about anything else it seems that there is a country out there that does it better than the US. I started wondering why that was...

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Giving Is Always Offensive

We were working on moving from Canton, MI to Ypsilanti, MI and we were getting rid of stuff. I was amazed at how much stuff we had that we never used. Around the corner from our neighborhood was a Goodwill thrift store. We dropped our stuff off there, knowing it would be sold for pennies to people...

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Between Pain and Pain

I live in a city where black folk and white folk live together, work together, and play together. I see in the conversations and faces around me that the things that are happening in our world are not disembodied, it's not just out there. The pain is real. The fear is real. I live in a family...

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Overwhelmed By It All

Overwhelmed. That's how I often feel when I log into Facebook or read my Feedly. Every day there is an article about what the Church "should" be doing. Which means every single day there is another article about what I "should" be doing. We are supposed to be about social justice. We are supposed...

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Conversation Makes A Difference

On Tuesday nights I hang out with a group people for something called, Doubt on Tap. It's a great time each week talking about issues that are important. We discuss politics, religion, and current events. Basically all the stuff you don't talk about in polite company.This week we spent some time talking about issues of race. It was intense. It was so good though. People from all different backgrounds...

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Embrace Another's Suffering

One of the things that has struck me over the last week is how unwilling we are to embrace the suffering of another. A friend of mine, Tyler, wrote an amazing piece about race. He's taken a lot of heat. I've seen friends write things and I've heard friends say things about race that have a lack of empathy.Paul says,If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together....

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