In this video I argue that a Christian church and a Christian pastor can be faithful Christians and authorize or perform same sex weddings, and include LGBTQ+ Christians in membership with out discrimination. Furthermore this is the Biblical position of scriptures. While many Christians today are probably fairly familiar as to why many churches reject this position, it is much less known why this is really a Biblical position and stands in the best tradition of both Jesus, and the early Church. Looking at both the inclusiveness of Jesus' ministry and both the teaching of Paul and Peter in Acts 10 and 15, I present the rationale for welcoming LGBTQ+ Christians into the church without discrimination just as the early Christians debated the inclusion of gentiles into their faith circles. Around the world, Q+ Christians have already been ministering, leading, working, teaching, officiating over worship, and shepherding the church, and its time that everyone in the church recognize their gifts, leadership, and contribution to the church. If you are a pastor and have not considered being an affirming pastor, a congregation that hasn't made a commitment to full inclusion, let me encourage you to prayerfully consider making that decision today.
Thursday, April 4, 2024
The Inclusive Church and the Good News of Jesus' Proclamation
In this video I argue that a Christian church and a Christian pastor can be faithful Christians and authorize or perform same sex weddings, and include LGBTQ+ Christians in membership with out discrimination. Furthermore this is the Biblical position of scriptures. While many Christians today are probably fairly familiar as to why many churches reject this position, it is much less known why this is really a Biblical position and stands in the best tradition of both Jesus, and the early Church. Looking at both the inclusiveness of Jesus' ministry and both the teaching of Paul and Peter in Acts 10 and 15, I present the rationale for welcoming LGBTQ+ Christians into the church without discrimination just as the early Christians debated the inclusion of gentiles into their faith circles. Around the world, Q+ Christians have already been ministering, leading, working, teaching, officiating over worship, and shepherding the church, and its time that everyone in the church recognize their gifts, leadership, and contribution to the church. If you are a pastor and have not considered being an affirming pastor, a congregation that hasn't made a commitment to full inclusion, let me encourage you to prayerfully consider making that decision today.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Death is never the last word
On Good Friday, the reality of death hit home to the disciples. Jesus was dead, and all their hopes and dreams had died also.
Death comes as a shock, it robs us of the people we love. Even for those of us that know life and death are related to each other, that it is intricately tied to the web of life, death still comes as a shock, the reality and sting of death doesn't take away the surprise and grief over the loss of the people in our lives.
The same is true of Jesus and those that loved Jesus. On Good Friday, and Easter morning, the reality of Jesus death began to dawn on them.
Dead were the hands that held and healed the lepers,
Dead were the fingers that touched the eyes of the blind,
Dead was the lips that prayed thanksgiving over the fish and the loaves,
Dead was the heart that beat with compassion for the outcast, the immigrant, and the foreigner,
Dead was the mouth that had called so courageously for all to be poor in spirit, to be meek, brokenhearted, peacemakers, thirsting after justice, to be pure in heart, to show mercy to others, to welcome the reign of God even in the face of suffering.
Dead was the Jesus that went out to eat with tax collectors and sinners,
Dead was the Jesus that reached out to the woman with six husbands who was getting water by herself because no one else would have anything to do with her,
Dead was the Jesus that forgave sins, and told people to love their enemies,
Dead.
The Roman empire and the religious elite thought they had won, they had put down another insurrectionist, another radical rabbi threatening the status quo, when Jesus' body was taken down from the cross, they thought, ah good, we put an end to this nonsense.
Until Easter...
On Easter morning, God had the last word. Death will never have the last word again.
On Easter morning, God declared in the words of the Danish theologian, Karl Barth, the divine "Yes" of God.
Humanity at its worst cannot put down the eternal unstoppable word of God; Jesus
God's word demonstrated in power, God's word demonstrated in glory, God's word demonstrated in victory, God's word demonstrated in love, God's word demonstrated in the empty tomb.
When Jesus loved ones arrived that day, Jesus wasn't in the tomb,
Jesus had risen again from the dead.
He wasn't finished.
Jesus wasn't finished holding the hand of the leper, Jesus wasn't finished bringing healing to the heart sick, Jesus wasn't finished being a friend to the friendless, Jesus wasn't finished standing up to the powers of the world that would oppress and deny our humanity, Jesus wasn't finished modeling an inclusive community of faith, one based on equality, equity and the diversity of the human family.
Jesus wasn't done breaking the chains of those held in bondage, Jesus wasn't finished clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, finding people that are at their ropes and and saying to them, here at the end of all things,
“I love you, I will never leave you, I died to let the world know that you are my child. You might be rejected by society, you might be rejected by people in your family,
but you will never be rejected by me, I know because I made you who you are, and I love you just as you are, and I will not leave you alone, in fact, I am going ahead of you to the Galilee. I'm waiting for you there.”
Galilee, where Jesus turned water into wine, where Jesus proclaimed the reign of God, where Jesus healed the sick, and preached the good news to the poor, where Jesus calmed the raging sea.
It is there, in the Galilee, that Jesus is waiting for us. To welcome us into God's realm, and journey with us into the new world of God's new creation.
This Easter, remember that the women were terrified and afraid, that they initially didn't say anything to anyone. The ending of Mark is v8, and it is with this honest ending that we often find ourselves on Easter, along with the women. But that is ok. Jesus meets us where we are. The important question, is whether we are willing to follow to Galilee.
To continue Jesus mission. There will be opposition. There was for the early followers of Jesus, and there is today, often among others that claim the name of Christ. This Easter, respond to Jesus call to follow, even though we may be quite fearful of where the journey make take us.
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
We All Have Our Courtyards
Poem: “We All Have Our Courtyards” by Ann Weems
We all have our courtyards,
those times and places we face
like Peter
when we must decide
to stand up and say
whether we know him or not.
Those crossroads in our lives,
when we go along with things as they are,
or we say, as Luther did,
Here I stand, I can do no other.
We all have our courtyards …
Lent is a time to prepare for our courtyards,
the time to listen to who he says he is.
And he did, you know,
He did tell us who he is.
He is that one who brings good news to the poor,
freedom to the oppressed,
sight to the blind …
that Holy One who said,
Follow me.
Feed my sheep.
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Sticks and Stones by Nina Wilson Jones
Sticks and Stones...and Comforting Hypocrisy
by Nina Wilson Jones, Washington Shores Presbyterian and CFP Anti-Racism Committee Member
“What’s in a name?”
“It’s not what they call you, it’s what you answer to.”
and “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
These phrases often soothe our feelings when called out of our names, described harshly, or facing threats. Your familiarity with each indicates that you may have affirmed yourself with one of them during hurtful moments in arguments or life overall.
But today, words are used to misinform, manipulate, scrutinize, and abuse others with such frequency that most believers are unaware of how far this pulls us away from our daily walk with Christ. We have been conditioned to accept some phrases as acceptable, and if someone uses other phrases in a manner that disturbs our usual language, we are defensive. We like to believe we are unsusceptible to this, but we are.
Try listening to how you speak from the perspective of another gender, ethnicity, faith, or age. “Kiss me, I’m Irish!” is harmless, right? If so, why is “Black power!” scary? “Kung flu” or “old fool” is just kidding, OK? “The only good Indian is…” is an outdated movie line! Except they continue to cause certain people harm, even violence. Do you carefully choose your words before speaking or don’t ever give any consideration to the origin, audience, or impact of your words? Do these words – immigrant, queer, Muslim, Jewish, or feminist – cause you to feel threatened? If you are even slightly disturbed by these words in conversation, consider what you’ve been conditioned to believe about the term and learn more to be better informed. Because different audiences may hear what you say differently. (Look up the origins of terms like picnic, cakewalk, paddy wagon, and peanut gallery to really begin to understand the corrosive impact of common language.)
Believers should be genuinely concerned about personal hypocrisy, especially worldly language that we internalize in our hearts. God’s Word warns us against it (1 Peter2:2) and society sorely needs us to set a positive example for resolving differences and building His Kingdom in the earth, in our congregation, and our families. Because what we say shows what we honestly think and believe about others.
“It’s not what they call you, it’s what you answer to.”
and “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
These phrases often soothe our feelings when called out of our names, described harshly, or facing threats. Your familiarity with each indicates that you may have affirmed yourself with one of them during hurtful moments in arguments or life overall.
But today, words are used to misinform, manipulate, scrutinize, and abuse others with such frequency that most believers are unaware of how far this pulls us away from our daily walk with Christ. We have been conditioned to accept some phrases as acceptable, and if someone uses other phrases in a manner that disturbs our usual language, we are defensive. We like to believe we are unsusceptible to this, but we are.
Try listening to how you speak from the perspective of another gender, ethnicity, faith, or age. “Kiss me, I’m Irish!” is harmless, right? If so, why is “Black power!” scary? “Kung flu” or “old fool” is just kidding, OK? “The only good Indian is…” is an outdated movie line! Except they continue to cause certain people harm, even violence. Do you carefully choose your words before speaking or don’t ever give any consideration to the origin, audience, or impact of your words? Do these words – immigrant, queer, Muslim, Jewish, or feminist – cause you to feel threatened? If you are even slightly disturbed by these words in conversation, consider what you’ve been conditioned to believe about the term and learn more to be better informed. Because different audiences may hear what you say differently. (Look up the origins of terms like picnic, cakewalk, paddy wagon, and peanut gallery to really begin to understand the corrosive impact of common language.)
Believers should be genuinely concerned about personal hypocrisy, especially worldly language that we internalize in our hearts. God’s Word warns us against it (1 Peter2:2) and society sorely needs us to set a positive example for resolving differences and building His Kingdom in the earth, in our congregation, and our families. Because what we say shows what we honestly think and believe about others.
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