Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

Am I a Conservative or Liberal? Am I a Republican or a Democrat? Am I Pro-Life or Pro-Choice? With all of the latest posts that are hitting the internet, some people may wonder where I draw the line that defines my stance. Well, I want to point out where my line is drawn. The easy answer to the questions above is YES. Let me give you some background. I was born to a family to moved due to my dad's Air Force stations. I was born in California. My sister was born in the Philippines. The first home I remember was in Wichita, Kansas. I grew up in southeastern Oklahoma. I saw a lot of the world early in life. I don't remember much about it. My memories don't kick in until we lived in Wichita. But I was exposed at an early age to different places and cultures and races. In Wichita, my parents divorced. My dad disappeared from my life. My mom worked hard to make a living for us. We weren't rich by any stretch of imagination. We always had a roof over our head and sup...

I had a funeral today. It was a celebration for a 96 year old woman who was loved by her family. I like doing services like those. I had never met the woman. She had not lived in this region of the world since I have moved here. But it was easy to do her service because her family loved her so deeply. They made it easy to find a life worthy of celebration. Since I didn't know her, I could tell you what her personality was or what she believed or how she lived. But her family took her life and painted a picture of who she was. And it was beautiful. It was so easy to see the Gospel through her life and proclaim the hope through faith of the Good News. I had a conversation with one of the funeral home employees about "difficult funerals". It reminded me of the hardest funeral I ever had to conduct. It was for a person who had no family who lived near. The closest family member was half the country away and was too feeble to make the trip. They couldn't afford to bring ...

This morning, I was apprised of an article of legislation that has come before the Oklahoma House of Representatives Public Health Committee. HB1441 was tabled previously, but now comes up for consideration in committee. The substance of this bill would make it a law in Oklahoma that a woman must seek permission from the possible father of an unborn child to be aborted. This bill would also allow a man who was named as the father of such an unborn child to require a paternity test be performed to prove his sirehood. Here are the points of HB1441: A. No abortion shall be performed in this state without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus. B. A pregnant woman seeking to abort her pregnancy shall be required to provide, in writing, the identity of the father of the fetus to the physician who is to perform or induce the abortion. If the person identified as the father of the fetus challenges the fact that he is the father, such individual may demand that a pater...

They stumbled through the cold night. The trees of the forest did little to stop the snowfall. The journey had been difficult because they could not keep the cold from their finger and toes. The suitcases they carried held the few belongings they were able to gather when they left their home. That was months ago. That was hundreds, thousands, of miles away.  It couldn't be helped. To live in their home would mean death. To escape into an unknown land offered more hope than the certainty they faced if they remained. Their suitcases held all that was left of their home and their life before. "Before" wasn't just a time. It was a way of life. It was a way of life without fear. It was a way of life with some measure of hope. In that time, they were not worried about who hated them. They had plenty of food. They even had jobs that supplied their needs. They had friends and family who could be called upon to laugh or cry together.  Now it was just this little family. ...

As I have been dealing with the current sermon series on prayer, I have had to learn some things that I hadn't known before. I have had to evaluate some things that I have held close over time. And I have found some comfortable assurance regarding what I believe about prayer. I felt that putting some of those thoughts down (the ones that I have made the effort to make note of) would help me move into the deeper understanding I have of prayer. So, in no particular order, here are some of my thoughts on prayer. Speak from the heart When I enter prayer, it is with a very clear assumption that God knows everything about me. The seeds of my thoughts, long before they become the fruit of my action, are known to God. God has already watched me hatch thoughts and conceive plans and execute deeds. So when I come to prayer, there is no reason to hide behind anything. Justification is hollow. Reason is noise. Speaking from the honest places in my life is the only authentic prayer to bring....

What makes you happy? I have a lot of things that make me happy. My children doing something that is funny or self-less or being good at what they do. My wife laughing or singing or living into her greater self. Figuring out a complex issue. Playing through a session of Dungeons and Dragons. Comic books, an new action figure, or finding a movie on television or Netflix that takes me back to a younger point in my life. Do you know what makes me unhappy? Those same things. I don't mean the things that are in that list. I mean that my children, wife, a complex issue, a session of Dungeons and Dragons, comic books, figures, and television are just as capable of making me unhappy. They are just as likely to flip the happiness switch either way. Happiness is fickle. Happiness depends upon circumstances that change. Some times rapidly. Yesterday I was cruising about the internet and found a number of articles that focused on being happy and the pursuit of it. I feel that p...

We survived another weekend! I don't mean politically. I mean Super Bowl Sunday. I watch the game, but mostly I hang around for 5 hours watching the commercials. This year, I had 1 all around favorite, 3 favorite funnies, and 1 that I want to speak more deeply about. My favorite all around commercial was the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 trailer. I'm a geek and GotG was one of my favorite teams and comics from my early days. The movies have not been faithful to the original storyline (or even the second volume of stories). But the first movie was a lot of fun. I am hoping the trailer is proof that the second movie will be just as fun. My 3 favorite funnies were - the Melissa McCarthy Hero commercials. She attempts to become an environmental activist, trying to be an "eco-warrior" saving whales and trees and polar ice caps, and such. It is full of physical comedy. And being raised with the Three Stooges in the background of my youth, well this was a sure hit for ...

What qualifies someone to speak publicly about their opinion or beliefs or criticism? I have been wondering this in the face of cries for "celebrities" being told to stay out of the political debate. Numerous stars in various entertainment industries are using social media to express frustration, anger, anxieties, and opinion about politics. That seems to be a platform of expression for all people. Even the President chooses to "vent" on Twitter, a limited but widely embraced channel of expression. The pushback against the opinions of celebrities tends to fall into the attitude that they are unqualified to speak into politics. The tone that I have seen used is usually marked by offensive language or examples of behavior that would be unacceptable in civil discourse. Honestly, can you say that you have watched anyone in normal conversation say to the other in that conversation, "Shut up and go back to your own area of experience"? I really don't kno...

The thing that has honestly bound me to a disagreeable disposition is the blind follower-ship of conservative Christians to President Trump. And I mean that in the most critical way. As a pastor who is charged to enter into a community and see to its spiritual and moral development, I am struggling to find a way to justify the complete acceptance of the man who was elected President by a people defined by their self-identification of Christian. I established in a previous post that I could not allow myself to be considered evangelical any longer because of the overwhelming number of self-identified evangelical Christians who accepted Donald Trump's candidacy. I have continued to struggle with the overwhelming fan-boy like acceptance of his speeches and comments, especially when he utters the word "God". I have fumed and raged at the reaction to people who are standing up for justice and rights of the forgotten, forsaken, and downtrodden. I am struggling to maintain comp...

My current sermon series is focused on offering realistic guides to improving the prayer life of people who feel that it is important. The last sermon was on models of prayer. It was grounded in the model of prayer Jesus taught the crowds on the side of mountain and taught the disciples when they asked. We have come to call this The Lord's Prayer. And it is repeated throughout churches and homes on a regular basis. I drew the implication out of what Jesus says in those passages relevant to the prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4) that this was not THE prayer that followers were to pray, but a model to prayer. That is my take on that passage. It can be read in the sense that this was the prayer that they were supposed to pray. The disciples seemed to take it that way and commend early Christians to pray that same prayer (plus the line "for yours is the power and glory forever) three times a day. The point I wanted to make is that models of prayer are useful guides in enteri...

I have been dumbfounded over the turn of events in the last few days. This weekend saw the unfolding of a dramatic political catastrophe as President Trump issued an executive order halting refugees and immigrants from certain nations. There are various stipulations and exceptions included, as is the case with most actions of government officials. But the issuance of the executive order has led to the most chaotic of weekends. The primary means of entrance to the United States for refugees and immigrants is by air. The international ports of entry have been doing the job of following the order the President has executed. That has turned the major entry port airports of the nation into hubs of chaos, protest, and confusion. Those persons and families that were leaving their country of origin when the ban went into effect were not allowed to fly to the U.S. Those who were on planes and landed were denied entrance and detained or were forced to return to their country of origin. Some wh...

I am sitting here working through the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. It is the foundation for my sermon Sunday. I am cruising along doing some work in Greek (yes, I still have a little functionality in the language). I am working down through some alternate translations to squeak out subtle meaning that is lost in the rote recitation we sometimes fall into. There is some interesting things for study and preaching. The one thing that is stopping me to write this is one little word: epiousios. The familiar phrase is "give us this day our daily bread". Every word in that phrase is common and easily understood except for epiousios - daily. All my life I have visualized and understood this phrase to mean that God is providential to the level of taking care of our daily needs. And it is a refreshing thought to know that our creating God is also compassionate toward our insignificant needs of daily providing. That is the kind of God we have. The word, though, is strange. It app...