The Nonviolent Christ? I wrote my D.Min. thesis on: “Nonviolence: Will of God”. I argued that the foundation of God’s ethic is nonviolence. What messes up the world is humanity’s choosing to do violence, not God willing violence. Well, I earned my D.Min.…
Jun
19
THE NONVIOLENT CHRIST?
“For everything, there is a season….” Ecclesiastes 3 speaks of all things having their time on the stage. Stuff happens, good and evil, love and tragedy, war and peace. This is not a list of justifications and professing that all things are all…
GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION KEYS Playing football and running track required strategies to provide maximum opportunity for success. In football, a “flip right” or a “cross buck” at the right time, or in track, sprinting the first 100 yards, striding and holding for the…
May
29
The Challenge of Discernment
In Solomon’s prayer for wisdom, we read: “Give your servant therefore and understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?” (I Kings 3:9) Decision-making to promote gun violence prevention (GVP)…
May
16
Time to grow up
Time to grow up Gun violence prevention needs to move forward. The rate of gun violence in the United States compared to other Western developed countries, as well as the statistical human cost are beyond well documented. I urge you to look at…
In his sermon on 15 January 1933, Dietrich Bonhoeffer preached on Matthew 8:23-27, saying: “…the Bible, the gospel, Christ, the church, the faith- all are one great battle cry against fear in the lives of human beings….Learn to recognize and understand the hour…
And [Jesus] said, “No prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.” ….When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on…
Jan
10
My gun story
I grew up in small town Climax, Minnesota. I loved playing guns. I had six shooters, cavalry holsters with a six shooter cap gun, an army “burp” gun, a plastic Thompson sub machine gun. The creme-de-la-creme was a rubber gun constructed of laths…
What words can drive us forward, into the future, engaging the new year? In my devotions today, I read Isaiah 9:2-7. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light…. For the yoke of their burden…you have broken…. For a…