Notes on Hope: When hope feels too dangerous.
As the years pass on and our calloused familiarity with death becomes ever more present, it becomes harder to find that hope. The callouses formed by our individual and collective pain and grief forms layer upon layer of protection over our the tenderness of our hope, creating increasingly difficult conditions for us to be ready for hope. As I survey the land, paying attention to what is happening all around, it feels as if the horizon of hope is shrinking into the distance, and I’m not identifying with Advent hope in the same way as I have in the past. I’m not sure I’m ready for hope.
WHY I’M HOPEFUL: A RESPONSE TO THE INSURRECTION AT THE CAPITOL
A reflection on the Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021 that was delivered for United Church. It was written as a diagnosis of what plagues the white Evangelical Church and a prescription for healing and change.
A Litany of Confession and Lament: Stop AAPI Hate
This is a litany of confession and repentance for the acts of racist hatred and violence perpetrated against our Asian siblings. It was created by UNITED Church and is free to be used by anyone.
My COVID Vaccine Side-Effects.
I got my first COVID vaccine dose on Friday. Here is the main side effect I wasn’t prepared for.
Pray For Your Enemies: Donald Trump and the Coronavirus
I have prayed for President Trump, even written about my struggles with praying for him, and how I’ve been praying for him. It has been a journey of struggle to pray consistently and regularly for him. And here, in this moment of diagnosis, calls are ringing out for people, pastors, Christians, to rise up and pray for President Trump’s full and total healing, becase: “Pray for your enemies.”
“Facebook: The place where white supremacists masquerading as Christians take off their hood.” A Response.
“My brother, why do these white pastors see me as less than a man? . . . . I'm so tired of being humanized as their ‘black friend’ only when it suits their agenda?” He said to me.
Addressing our Racist and White Supremacist Ideologies: Christian Leadership in Turbulent Times
“Where the scriptures speak, we speak. Where the scriptures are silent, we are silent.” This is one of the bedrock principles of our movement, and also the greatest crutch we lean upon for abdicating our moral responsibility to speak the truth in love, to see ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’
Letters from the CHAZ / CHOP
My experience as an interfaith chaplain inside the CHAZ / CHOP in Seattle.
I’m the Devil.
This was the craziest flight I’ve ever experienced.
Mass Shootings: A Communal Prayer of Lament
Our Communal Lament and Prayer for Mass Shootings.
The Prayer I’m Praying for President Trump
Prayer takes many different shapes and forms. This is one particular prayer I’m praying for President Trump.
The Invisible Pastor: Reflecting on 20 Years of Ministry
We try to do so much good, but often times find that we’re doing nothing more than fighting ourselves. We fight who God has created us to be and how he hoped we would interact with the world around us as ministers/pastors/clergy.
Jesus was a Zombie
Anti-intellectualism in the church and a Jesus who only wants to steal your brains… that about sums up what a lot of people think about the church.
A Litany of Confession and Witness: Believe Women.
A litany of confession and witness in the #metoo movement to wrestle with the misogyny at work in our culture.
Immigrants, Independence Day, and Racism
I Was Fired For Not Being a Christian
Sometimes things don’t go as you’d expect. Other times things come from so far out of left field that you’re left with nothing but total confusion… this was one of those moments.
Rejection and Silence: Our posture towards race in the Church
We continue to maintain our posture of silence on race and racism within the church. Will it ever change?
Guns. Guns. Guns. (Yes, guns.)
I was guided into my office where I was greeted by an FBI agent and a Sergeant from the city police department…
Ted Talks: My Single-Serving Friend
I’ve read some remarkable stories of the church being the church throughout history… where has our sense of adventure and risk gone? Why do we play it so safe? Where is our wonder?
Until We Meet Again
My grandpa left an amazing legacy in my life. Saying goodbye was a difficult experience.