The positive Mel White of old the "SpongeBob Squarepants of the gay community" is long gone. What's left is a man that's pretty pissed off at the church and when I say church, I mean the whole church.
On Holy Friendships
My thoughts these days are drifting towards relationships, or the lack thereof in churches. I've been thinking about this in light of a recent blog post on CivilPolitics.org on the dearth of cross-party friendships. The post linked to a longer article in the Chronicle of Higher Education on the issue. The author, Neil Gross notes... Continue Reading →
Now That We’ve Won (Maybe)…
This week's drama over the issue of same-sex marriage at the Supreme Court has been nothing short of historic. American society is at a point that I thought wouldn't come for several years, if not decades. Same sex marriage might be legal in most of the nation in a few short years. Here in Minnesota,... Continue Reading →
QMTD*
This summer the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will gather for its biennial General Assembly in Orlando. One of the items to be considered is a resolution proclaiming the denomination Open and Affirming to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. A resolution is for the most part a sense of the Assembly and carries no... Continue Reading →
Birth Control And The Sham of Theological Diversity
One of the things that Progressive Christians like to say about themselves is how welcoming and tolerant they are. Compared to their more conservative cousins, progressives can pride themselves in being able to think for themselves and to have a place where all ideas and beliefs can be shared without fear. Why, your progressive church... Continue Reading →
Wait for the Healing
Back in May of 2012 , I shared a story of what happened at a Baptist church I attended in Washington, DC in the early 90s. It was a story of how people who disagreed with each other on the issue of homosexuality were able to still be friends and support each other. Around that... Continue Reading →
About That Interview…
Some of you might have noticed that there is an article in the most recent Christian Century with a Disciples pastor in Minneapolis by the name of Dennis Sanders. I haven't said much about it, but I wanted to provide some background to the article. Steve Thorngate, the editor sent me an email over the... Continue Reading →
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Social Conservatives
I happened to look at a sermon I wrote about 7 years ago. It was during the time I was involved in a new church start. Reading the sermon, I tend to think it wasn't my best sermonizing. The sermon seems a fitting for the current context; it was based on Micah 6:1-8 and focused... Continue Reading →
A Pastoral Letter on the Marriage Amendment
I wrote the following for the church newsletter regarding the proposed Minnesota Marriage Amendment which would limit marriage to one man and one woman. The thrust of this letter was to share why I stood where I stood, but do it (hopefully) in a spirit of respect towards those I disagree with. I love chatting... Continue Reading →
Saving Liberal Christianity
On the heels of what I wrote late last week on the pitfalls of Progressive Christianity, there has been a flurry of articles on the future of liberal Christianity. I want to start off with a piece by Allan Bevere who wrote the following last Friday: In recent years evangelical Protestantism has been going through a... Continue Reading →