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Fear and Loathing in San Francisco
The Christmas story is an immigrant’s story San Francisco’s Chinatown was designed to look older than the oldest parts of China. Why? Fear of immigrants. [bctt tweet=”We are always immigrants. All of us. Forever.” nofollow=”yes”] More than a century ago, blatant, nefarious racism against the Chinese was normal. But disaster made the racism even worse.…
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Bible Study
It feels like we don’t respect the Bible. We use it as a weapon. As justification. As a tool. We use it as a litmus test and a crutch. We use it as means of separation and as a means of distinction. We use it to gather people to us and to turn them away. Our…
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Old Testament
Let me begin by saying that I shy away from the term “Old Testament”. Yes, I’m one of those people. My concern with the name (and its companion, the New Testament) is not that they aren’t PC enough. It is that they are too narrowly prescriptive and restrict the beauty and depth of our scripture.…
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Psalm
The psalms are the odd duck of the Bible. As a book of Scripture, they stick out. They are like the weird friend who is an exceptional pianist or the anti-social kid who can make exceptional speeches. The Psalms are remarkable reading. But they aren’t a story. They don’t tell the story of creation or the birth of…
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Lessons
We’re in church to worship. And after the big opening, we slow it down, like the second track on an album; it’s time to have a seat, relax, and listen. Not all groups do worship the same way, but we nearly always read scripture. Arguably, it is the one constant. Even without music or prayer…
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One example of how the Bible is political
Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to aliens. We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. With a yoke on our necks…
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My neighbor has a strange view of GOD
You can’t save yourself, but… A couple of months ago, my neighbors put out a simple yard sign with an open book and block letters across it. The sign read: I drove by it many times, each one thinking “I know which neighbor I don’t need to invite over for Christmas dinner.” Or maybe I…
