To “eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil” can be interpreted as trying to grasp everything without obtaining the necessary wisdom and experience required to have or be in proper relationship with anything. Continue reading
Equality and fraternity (the common good) have never enjoyed the same emphasis and evolution as liberty (defined as the right and ability of individuals to do whatever they choose.) Equality and the common good require restraints, justice, fairness, the experience of authentic community, and basic human decency to survive and thrive. Continue reading
(31 minutes) I was invited to deliver the sermon at Downey Avenue Christian Church on July 30, 2023. It is based on the vision and ministry of Clarence Jordan, who in 1942 led in establishing Koinonia Farm, christened with a Greek word meaning “a community that is united by common… Continue reading
Within the Gospels, there is evidence that Jesus himself understood “the now and the not yet” of the new kind of existence God was bringing through him. That new kind of existence included self-giving, unconditional, indiscriminate love, liberating truth, deep compassion, lavish forgiveness, profound trust, and costly discipleship. Such a radical transformation takes time. Continue reading
(8 minutes) (In Part One of this series on shalom, I gave the Hebrew background to the concept of shalom as well as presenting its economic dimension focusing on the indispensable role of justice in the Jewish faith. In Part Two, I want to consider a definition of shalom which… Continue reading
1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; 2 he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of… Continue reading
Whenever I hear this passage, I think of that song I was taught as a child and with which many of you are familiar: “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” But there is a major problem with that song-especially if it has this passage in… Continue reading
In some ways the Whistle Stop Café became church for people who would not have been comfortable or welcomed in the traditional churches in that community. Continue reading
According to a Jewish folktale, there were once two brothers who farmed together and split their profits right down the middle – half to one brother and half to the other. Each brother had his own granary. One brother was married and had a large family while the other remained… Continue reading
