Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’
Do We Have Blood On Our Hands?
The liturgical readings for Palm Sunday are: Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24; Philippians 2:6-11; and Luke 22:14-23:56. You can access the texts of these readings by clicking here. “What evil has this man done?” An exasperated Pontius Pilate asked the crowd this question after he judged that Jesus was guilty of no crime. But,…
Read MoreA Religious Utopia Turned Nightmare
The last time an African American lesbian was the protagonist in a novel was in Ann Allen Shockley’s 1982, “Say Jesus and Come to Me.” What shocked and awed readers about this main character is that she is also an itinerant minister. While crusading against street vice in Nashville the Reverend Myrtle Black meets world-famous…
Read MoreHow This Bisexual, Catholic Eagle Scout Found A Path Forward
My childhood was defined by conflict. This conflict was only sometimes visible. Internally, however, the conflict was seismic and ever-present. As a young boy and teenager, I was constantly grappling with what it meant to be a faithful Catholic, an aspiring Eagle Scout, and someone who had same-sex attractions. This was hugely problematic. I was…
Read MoreA Trans Ally In A Tennessee Pew
ADD YOUR NAME: Tell Tennessee Lawmakers to Block Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill Five years ago, I was a member of a Southern Baptist Church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, listening to the same sermons as my Old Hickory Representative Susan Lynn. One Sunday, as our preacher dug deeper into Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, I was struck…
Read MoreWhy This Catholic Is Standing With Transgender Students
It may seem like a cliché but as a Christian I often find myself often asking that age old question, “What would Jesus do?” Last Tuesday, I asked myself this question after learning that HB 1008—an anti-trans bill that forces trans students to use restrooms and locker rooms that do not correspond with their gender—was…
Read MoreComing Out…Again
It seems that my last 40 years has been about coming out. And each time I come out, I’m filled with awe by the courage of those that have come before me. I’m afraid that those who have professed to love me will change their minds. I’m certain that I will again be “too much.”…
Read MoreStrength To Be Faithful
The sun is setting a little later in the evening, but it sure is cold out. It must be Lent. Given that, I think that we, as LGBTQ Christians, need to take some time to examine our theology of loss. Let me give you a thought exercise: You are thirty years old. You have been…
Read MoreI Am #FaithfullyLGBT
I am a gay christian. There are times that I say or write those words and pause. I look at them and reflect on the journey that they represent. The years of hiding, the years of shame, the years of struggle. These days, I say them with a nonchalant air. Yet, there was a time…
Read MoreIt’s Ash Wednesday: Time to Indulge!
Today’s Ash Wednesday. Wait! What? Already? I still have to put some boxes of Christmas decorations back in the attic. Lent begins early this year—probably about the earliest that it can be. But, truth be told, Lent always kind of creeps up on me. I never seem ready to begin 40 days of fasting, prayer,…
Read MoreHow LGBTQ-Affirming Christians Can Help Conservatives Walk On The Water
The dust is settling from the cultural upheaval of the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision that established marriage equality across the United States and, in my Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the almost simultaneous adoption of a description of marriage as “between two people,” which permits pastors to preside at the weddings of two people…
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