Dear Theophilus

The words "right," "righteous," "righteousness," and "just," "justice," and "justification" in scripture all come from the same greek word " dikaiosyne " (dee-ky-oh-soon-ay). From there, in the english translations of scripture, a theo-political battle has taken place which has overspiritualized the word to narrowly define dikaiosune  as a personal experience or legal status given to us individually by God. And so they largely translate the word as "righteousness." Then for 500 years post-Reformation we have debated the salvation implications of individual righteousness as a gift from God. The Romance languages, namely Spanish, free from German influence, do not have this problem. They translate it as "justice". Take for example Jesus' beatitude: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Does this mean that we are blesse...

History isn't linear at least not when it comes to progress. when the overseers leave a space opens for something new. unless the gatekeeper is bent to conserve the old wineskins. a good herald leaves - the next one is irrelevant. we take three steps forward and then two steps back all the while we're 30 years behind the times

Sermon prepping. Figured out a way to get all the Sundays out on a Google Docs. Learned and used the formula from this site:  https://infoinspired.com/google-docs/spreadsheet/google-sheets-list-all-sundays-from-a-start-and-end-date/ listed below if copying and pasting helps.  blessings! 11/18/2018 11/25/2018 12/2/2018 12/9/2018 12/16/2018 12/23/2018 12/30/2018 1/6/2019 1/13/2019 1/20/2019 1/27/2019 2/3/2019 2/10/2019 2/17/2019 2/24/2019 3/3/2019 3/10/2019 3/17/2019 3/24/2019 3/31/2019 4/7/2019 4/14/2019 4/21/2019 4/28/2019 5/5/2019 5/12/2019 5/19/2019 5/26/2019 6/2/2019 6/9/2019 6/16/2019 6/23/2019 6/30/2019 7/7/2019 7/14/2019 7/21/2019 7/28/2019 8/4/2019 8/11/2019 8/18/2019 8/25/2019 9/1/2019 9/8/2019 9/15/2019 9/22/2019 9/29/2019 10/6/2019 10/13/2019 10/20/2019 10/27/2019 11/3/2019 11/10/2019 11/17/2019 11/24/2019

OUR BAIL BOND SYSTEM IS BROKEN: Throwing out an idea for our little community. The more I research the bond system, the more I realize how absolutely broken and unjust it is. •Did you know that America is one of the few industrialized nations with a For-Profit Bail Bond system? It is outlawed in most the rest of the world. •Did you also know that most legal institutions in America, the American Bar Association and the National District Attorneys Association, is against our current bond system. Why? One simple reason: it absolutely discriminates against the poor Here is what happens as I understand it. Someone is taken to jail to await trial for a suspected crime - innocent until proven guilty. If they are unable to make bail because they can't afford it, they sit in jail for months waiting for trial because the system is so backlogged. During this time they run the risk of losing custody of their children, their homes or apts, their jobs, their transportation. Poor folks run the ri...

Your laws may give you "the right" to shoot another human being in the protection of your stuff, but your faith gives you no such permission. That is a sin, contrary to will and word of Christ. Jesus says"But I say to you that listen,  Love your enemies,  do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you,  pray for those who abuse you... and from anyone who takes away your coat  do not withhold even your shirt.  Give to everyone who begs from you;  and if anyone takes away your goods,  do not ask for them again."

[theres a "too long; didn't read" at the end] Your picture/image of God is wildly important to how you live your life, the world, and the people around you. We're talking about this at The Table right now. But one thing we aren't going to cover on Sunday that I think is VITAL to our faith journey is this: how do we reconcile the Old Testament and the New Testament? The Old Testament (OT) is the first 2/3rds of the bible before Jesus. It has wonderful stories like Adam & Eve, Moses, Abraham, King David (and Goliath), the Psalms, the prophets, and many more. But it also has these stories about God that make God appear to be mean, distant, violent, excessively wrathful, and many more things. The New Testament, on the other hand, is the story of Jesus and the birth of the Church in the wake of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. The thing that makes Christians unique in the traditional faiths is that we believe Jesus is God. SO, how do we reconcile Jesus...

Dearly Loved Free Methodist Leaders, A little about myself to begin. I am a young elder in the church. I am seminary trained and have an M.Div from one of our finest institutions. I served at a church as associate, worship, and youth leader 5 years before attending seminary. I converted in from unbelief. The revelation that ultimately led me to Christ and kept me in the church was our emphasis on the poor. Growing up in an underprivileged community with parents struggling with addiction, seeing the way God in Christ identified with the last, lost, and least was the revelation that convinced me of the validity of the Gospel. I had originally thought that God probably loved and preferred the religious and robed. Seeing Jesus prefer the company of "unlettered" fisherman, those with disability and disease, the poor, the average ordinary folks found on the outskirts of the kingdoms - the marginalized - was the ordained epiphany that the God of the universe loved me and I was ...

Jaymes Lackey - 2014 Matthew Thomas Elmer Parsons Mark Ormston William Clark E. P. Hart 1863 BT Roberts 1852 Thomas Morris 1820 Robert Roberts 1816 William McKendree 1808 Francis Asbury 1784 Thomas Coke 1784 John Wesley 1728 Dr. John Potter, 1715 Dr. Baxter Tenison, 1701 Dr. Philip Tillotson, 1683 Niles Sancroft, 1658 William Laude, 1633 Kyle Abbot, 1610 Richard Bancroft, 1604 Mark Whitgift, 1577 Steven Grendall, 1575 Dr. Matthew Parker, 1559 Phillip Barlow, Bishop of London 1536 Thomas Cranmer, 1533 William Warham, 1503 Cardinal Morton, 1488 Cardinal Bourchier, 1469 Cardinal Kemp, 1452 Henry Chichele, 1413 James Abingdon, 1381 Simon Sudbury, 1367 Simon Langham, 1327 Walter Reynolds, 1313 Robert of Winchelsea, 1293 John Peckham, 1279 Robert Kilwardby, 1269 Boniface of Savoy, 1252 Edmund Rich, 1234 Richard Weathershed, 1230 Stephen Langton, 1205 Hubert Walter, 1197 Fitz-Jocelin, 1191 Reginal, 1183 Baldwin, 1178 Richard, 1170 Thomas Beck...

As I read the story unfolding before us of the mass shooting in San Bernadino, my heart aches. First, because of the human loss of life and the human depravity that caused it. Second, because I know this is going to be instantly politicized. Third, because we are going to offer up shallow religious platitudes as a mask for our true, contrived, political feelings. By now we know the drill. We have become so desensitized to the mass murder of innocent people that we don't even collectively mourn anymore. We don't even breathe together the profound sigh of sorrow and lament. Instead we leap into politicking, defense, and demonization. We are so polarized that as we watch this event unfold, instead of sheer, knock-me-to-the-ground horror, our minds race to a vindictive hope that the shooters are not going to make our political standpoint look bad. "Please don't be a white guy." "Please don't be a refugee." "Please let's not blame mental il...

Erin, the kids, and I are moving. We are moving into some apartments in Thermalito that have always had a bad reputation while I was growing up. We are doing this on purpose in an attempt to live with and in the community we are hoping to minister to. Our approach to church and ministry (service) is that we follow this incarnational model. In short, and in our limited understanding of theology, we want to follow Jesus and do what he did. The Gospel of John, chapter 1, tells us that Jesus, the Word of God revealed in a person, "The Word became flesh and made his home among us." Incarnation = Jesus became the flesh presence of God on Earth. Incarnational = to be the flesh presence God in a community. To be a real person living with and in the place. To experience what the people experience. To be in solidarity with the purpose of redemption. Usually when people talk about incarnational ministry they assume that the place is underserved, underprivileged, and marginalized....

We live in this post-enlightenment age. American Christians stereotypically fight the sciences. But we are shaped by this nonetheless. We look at stuff as neutral, having no value in an of itself. But our parents in the faith viewed things differently. Rich foods like dairy, meats, desserts were eaten during feasts and abstained from during fasts. They were thought to make us too comfortable here. Making this earth our home and not the Kingdom. They do. Money always comes to mind. We think it is a value-neutral object corrupting only corruptible people. The saints always saw its potential for evil. Even Jesus calls it "deceitful" and compares it to a false god. "Get rid of it lest it find a way to my heart." TV, technology, media We consume to be consumed. Vegging out to "rest" (read: escape). But to our forebearers, everything brings us closer to or pushes us further from Christ. Neutral things and neutral time are not good. they im...

Sometimes you read a story that shakes you. One might read the story below and think, "look how barbaric our history was." What strikes me most about the story are the parallels to our modern day. Not only was this not that long ago, the actions and arguments now concerning racism and oppression are not far from what these were. HERE is the story written then. (Warning: there is racist language throughout, not only from the testimony of the perpetrators, but the journalist as well). Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy from Chicago visiting his family in Mississippi during 1955. He made a mistake about romantically approaching a married white woman that, a few days later, would cost him his life. (Note: the events of what happened in the store are disputed by different witnesses). The husband of the offended and harassed woman (Roy) and his brother-in-law (Milam) went and found the boy sleeping. They took him to a shed and beat him with pistols. Emmett bravely asserted h...

I listen to Christian radio when I get tired of my albums. Don't judge, but it is necessary for me to listen to music to which I can let my guard down. I know it is not good, but I am not going to drive in silence.  Well, tonight they were talking about stewardship and the Bible. The mere sound of the word irked me. Why? What bugs me about it? Driving to the grocery story sans kids gave me some room for introspection. My answer is two-fold: The idea of "stewardship" assumes that (1) there is some discernment that is needed on my part, and (2) that I get to keep some of the thing that is stewarded - which is 99% of the time talking about money/wealth. Newsflash, we don't get to keep it and there is no decision to make. Jesus is pretty clear, " Sell your possessions, and give it to the poor. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven..." (Luke 12 - there are a bunch more, I just like this one. ok?). "J...

Today is one of the days in the church calendar where we celebrate St. John the "Golden Mouth" Chrysostom. His golden mouth led him to be a favorite of the people. Soon, he was whisked away from his church to become a bishop by political leaders based on his amazing speaking, but they were in for more than they bargained. He began a series of reforms where, it is described, that "he swept the stairs from the top down." He called out political figures for corruption. He whippe d his clergy into place. He refused to host the usual lavish banquets and preached against the wealthy as thieves of the poor. With the money he saved from a simple lifestyle, he opened a string of hospitals for the poor. Then he turned his sights to his congregation. The common people absolutely loved him.  As you might suspect, this made him unpopular with the rich and powerful. Ultimately he was exiled from his position for some trumped up theological charges. But the support and lov...

Mother Mary, after reflecting on the coming birth of Jesus, sings this song. This is what the birth of Jesus means according to her: "God has shown strength with his arm;    the Lord has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,    and lifted up the lowly; The Lord has filled the hungry with good things,    and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1). The social order before Jesus is one where the biggest, strongest, and richest are in power and most valued. The birth of Jesus, Christmas, begins the process of flipping that on its head where now the lowly are lifted up and the hungry are filled. God's economy, God's heart, will become the new norm - THIS is the promise of the Gospel. God's Kingdom, God's economy, is coming and it will be "without end." Which economy are you supporting? Are we taken with confidence, power, and wealth? Or are we invested in the humble, meek, lowly...

Luke 17 contains one of the toughest parables. I have never heard a sermon on it. I did hear one theology professor mention it one time. "Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table?' Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink?' Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'" Today's lection contains this passage - Luke 17:1-10. I haven't done any study on it, but the context gave me more than enough for my own meditation. The slave parable is in the context of forgiving our kin disciples as many times as they are repentant. The disciples, who react accordingly to any one who takes Jesus...

One of my favorite artists' rendition of Martin giving his cloak - El Greco c. 1598 During the 4th century there lived a man, son of a soldier, who became a soldier at age 15 in Constantine's wars. He was considering being a Christian but wavered some. One day a beggar, freezing in the cold, caught the eye of this young soldier. The soldier had compassion on the man and cut his cloak in half so that they each had relief from the cold. That night, as the soldier slept, Christ appeared to the soldier in a dream wearing the half cloak he had given to the beggar. The soldier immediately gave himself to a life of faith in pursuit of the Way of Jesus. The soldier demanded that he be released from the military saying, "I have faithfully served Caesar. Let me now serve Christ" and "I am a soldier of Christ, I cannot fight." He was persecuted, thrown in prison, and somewhat threatened with death. When momentary peace came he was released. This man became a ...

This song is hauntingly good. I loved this song even before I dove deeper into the meaning. Incredibly sad, but it has stuck with me even if I don't feel the same way the author did when writing it. There are no chords on the internet for it so I tabbed it out. Here you go internet Sufjan fans. At the bottom is a jpg for formatting assurance. It also has helpful tips like key and playing with a Capo: Arnika Surfjan Stevens C             Dm      Bb                   F                      C                       Bb Arnika might take out the throes that I threw in my head Bruno, your wife shakes her bedclothes as she makes up ...