Posts Tagged ‘church’
The Problem with 'Church'
We have a problem. “Church.” I hear this word a lot, but lately it seems that we’re mostly talking past each other. Words only work as long as we can agree on a shared definition. The problem with “church” is that it means so many different things: The global body of believers in Jesus through all…
Read MoreCenterfold Church
Sometimes you forget you are a Bride. On Sunday mornings you trade your wedding gown for the perfect skin of a magazine model. Produced, choreographed, airbrushed, packaged, sold for consumption. The countdown timer signals the bass drop and with a practiced smile you self-consciously raise your hands (for maximum visual impact). Sometimes you forget you are…
Read MoreSafely To Arrive At Home
“Here I raise my Ebenezer, Here by Thy great help I come And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.” I can’t think of any better words to begin this story. This morning I was thinking about that old hymn while I was getting ready for work, about raising an Ebenezer to remember the work of…
Read MoreWhy I Can't Say Love the Sinner / Hate the Sin Anymore
I thought we just needed to try harder. Maybe we needed to focus more on loving the sinner, and less on protesting his sin. But I’m done. I can’t look my gay brother in the eye anymore and say “I love the sinner but hate the sin.” I can’t keep drawing circles in the sand. Even…
Read MoreWhen We Criticize One Another
We love to argue. With a thousand words and sarcastic asides and 140 characters slung around like projectiles in the air, we draw battle lines and come to blows. When I made up my unofficial resolutions at the start of this year, I included “don’t argue on the internet”. But I can’t seem to get…
Read MoreDrawing Circles in the Sand
This week the Boy Scouts of America voted to no longer exclude Scouts from their ranks “on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.” In the circles of Christianity that I often frequent, the defining mantra for interaction with the LGBT community is “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” We talk of how sex…
Read MoreWhen We Criticize the Church
We were sold a package deal. Truth and lies, hope and despair, real and fake – all tied up in a neat package with a bow and sold to us with the label of “Christianity”. The men in the suits with all the words told us that what they taught was true. They said it…
Read MoreI Don't Want to Be a Christian Anymore
“I think I don’t want to be a ‘Christian’ anymore. Because in the middle of trying to think, talk, and act like a Christian it’s easy to forget to love God and be loved by Him.” – from my journal (2008) Christian. It’s just a word, and words only have meaning because we agree that they…
Read MoreIf My Voice Is Heard At All
If my voice is heard at all, let it be heard whispering hope to those longing to hear. Let it be heard by those who have been sold lies disguised as truth. Let it be heard by those broken hearts who have searched for the Healer for too long. Let it be heard in the hallways…
Read MoreA Letter to the Applebee's Waitress
Dear Chelsea, You’ve had a rough week. First, there was that pastor who visited your restaurant and decided that, because she gives God 10%, she should be excempt from the 18% gratuity on her bill. Even though you weren’t Paster Bell’s server, it’s infuriating to see that kind of disrespect from guests. When she was…
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