Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

A few days ago, in the midst of a contentious Presidential election year, candidate Donald Trump decided to voice opinion about comments that were made by Pope Francis. The Pope commented on Trump's campaign promise to build a wall to slow the movement of illegal/undocumented persons into the United States through the Mexico/U.S. border. In the course of those comments, the Pope stated that anyone who builds walls instead of bridges is not a Christian. Trump fired back at the Pope. Trump called the comments disgraceful. Specifically, Trump felt that as a religious leader, the Pope had no grounds for claiming that Trump is not a Christian. Since that time, Trump has backed away from the heat of an argument. He responded to Anderson Cooper about the remarks by saying that the comments may have been softer than the news media had reported. He even made the claims that he liked the Pope and complimented the Pope's work. Here is where I need to step in. As I read it, Donald ...

It sounds like a sinister plot device from an action movie. But it was a very real declaration within United States history. But it was not a sinister plot device. It did, however, represent a decidedly unjust reaction by the Federal Government toward an entire race of people. And it justified widespread racism, fear, and hatred toward people who were natural-born and legal citizens of this nation. On December 7, 1941, the day that President Franklin Roosevelt called a "day that would live in infamy", the Empire of Japan launched an attack on Pearl Harbor Naval Station and the various air fields across the island of Oahu. The response to that attack was to declare war on the Empire of Japan. It brought the United States into World War II. Two months later, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. The declared purpose of that order was to provide for the security of certain regions along the west coast of the United States. Following the events at Pearl Harbor, the...

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to participate in a meditation on the opening verses of the Gospel According to John. The lectio divina is a Christian meditative practice that is quite ancient. The process of meditation involves a focus on a portion of Scripture. The invitation to focus on the 4th Gospel was timely: I was beginning a sermon series on that book that next Sunday. The preparation for the series had already taken me over the opening verses. And the verses are so familiar, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God," "the Word took flesh and tabernacled among us...". As I confessed in the opening sermon of that series, I am sometimes guilty of skimming over the familiar. But the invitation to meditate on those so familiar words, to slow down and truly let them soak into my mind, heart, and spirit, brought me to a moment where a clear thought floated to the surface. John 1:3 - All things came into being through him...