Tabula Rasa means “blank slate.” And that’s what it’s like when you share an experience for the first time with someone new. It’s like watching the colors unfold on top of a blank slate. It just pours out in a brilliant rainbow of moments and you get to experience the world through fresh eyes, see things in a brand new way, or maybe just start … Continue reading Tabula Rasa
All are welcome at Christ’s table – unless you’re gluten-free. Add them to the growing list of people who are not welcome at the table. As of June 15th, the Pope announced that all bread at the communion table must be made with at least some element of gluten. According to the “rules” the bread must be “unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made.”[1] No … Continue reading Communion 2.0
I love Chris Tomlin’s music. But this song worried me. Not because it wasn’t beautiful, because it is. Not because musically it wasn’t well done, because it was. Not because Tomlin has lost a step, because if anything he is as good now as he has ever been. It’s the ambiguous message of the song that bothers me. I believe in this amazing place waiting … Continue reading Why Chris Tomlin’s “Home” Is Dangerous
Jesus can be such a downer. Not that it’s his fault. He had a pretty tragic life. Died at the age of 32 for a crime he didn’t commit. Brutally punished and mocked while his closest friends and allies denied even knowing him. Might have been spared but for a bunch of power-hungry, fearful religious leaders and the sheep who followed them. Sounds like the … Continue reading Happy Puppy Sermon
As a boy, my dad used to take me fishing. Sometimes we’d take a half-day boat out of Long Beach and try to catch some barracuda. I loved that. They had a tank of sardines you could use for bait and I would just sit there and play with them when I wasn’t trying to, you know, catch fish. That was a lot of fun. … Continue reading The Fishing Hole
Sometimes it’s just too late. By the time we decide to do what needs to be done, sometimes it’s just too late. I was watching a video about climate change while I was earning my MA in Poli Sci at Long Beach State, and this guy was explaining how reversing the damage we’ve been doing to the earth for all of these years is like … Continue reading Seven Last Words
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along … Continue reading What You Leave Behind
