Jn Luke 4, we see Jesus at a synagogue being praised and admired by his fellow Jews as long as Jesus presented himself as an especially gifted teacher who affirmed their sense of being exceptional in the eyes of God. But watch that adulation turn on a dime when Jesus points his listeners to some…

The story of the Samaritan woman in John 4 is a powerful testament to God’s inclusiveness, that God will take people who have been relegated to outsider status and open the door for them to become saints. The scripture itself underscores how boundary-crossing Jesus’ encounter with the women is. “Jews do not share things in…

The God of the Bible is both just and merciful. God holds us accountable for how we live our lives, but also shields us with love to give us the opportunity to repair the consequences of our wrongs and choose a better path. That to me is the overarching message of Psalms 103, which includes…

Jesus in Matthew 21:33-34 is sharing a parable with a group of chief priests and scribes in Jerusalem: A landowner prepares a plot of land and leases it to a group of tenants. In exchange for being able to live on the land, the owner expects a share of what the tenants successfully grow. But…

Today I am drawn to a quote from LILLa Watson, an Australian Indigenous scholar and activist: “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” Luke 16 contains the story of a wealthy…

This capitalist system that we live in has it backward: In most workplaces, the people who are most valued are the ones who have succeeded in placing themselves above the day-to-day work that enables that organization or business to fulfill its mission and thrive. The CEO of the burger joint gets celebrated and gets all…

In Matthew 23, Jesus told his listeners that they should listen to and observe the teachings of their Jewish religious leaders, “but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” These religious leaders were caught up in the trappings of their power and privilege, and in the process forgot…

What do we do with the homophobes, the race-baiters, the people passing legislation to literally White-wash the Black history taught in our schools, keep transgender people from getting the surgery they need, and even bAn drag shows? Former First Lady Michelle Obama gets a lot of criticism for saying, “When they go low, we go…

How is it that I can say that I am queer and a born-again Christian? Because Christ’s invitation to be reborn as a child of God is not an invitation only to a certain set of people, but to “whosoever.” This video is an introduction to what Jesus’ call to be “born again” means to…

We don’t celebrate changes of heart enough. We all know why: It’s hard to know the difference between a person being truly sorry for the harms they have done and a person who’s merely sorry they got caught. Being in the center of a repentance and redemption story is catnip for the narcissistic; it’s just…