the odds aren’t in our favor

There’s a scene in Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games in which the lead charachter performs the most subtle, yet revolutionary act. A young tribute named Rue has been killed and Katniss, who recelently allied with her is beside herself in the moment. She can’t cope with what has happened, but in the moment sees the…

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revival

A couple of years ago on Pentecost Sunday my priest Kira delivered the best sermon on the birth of the Church I have ever heard. She talked about the movement of the Holy Spirit, the giver of life and how the Spirit gave birth to the early church through its breath; the word pneuma literally…

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dignity

I’ll never forget the first time a person came up to me in church to tell me how I should vote in the upcoming election. Yes, the way to vote had been suggested before and it was quite obvious growing up in the South as to who the “Christian” party was. But while I was…

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they’ll know we are…

I still remember the day very clearly. We were so convinced for our cause. Standing down the road from Chattanooga’s only operable abortion clinic we linked hands in silent protest against the practice of abortion. We were part of the Life Chain and our witness was there to show people that we cared about the…

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not fair

When you have multiple children you experience something that those who either have one child or no children rarely experience on the daily. I suppose if you’re a school teacher or work with children you probably experience it a lot as well. It’s the “that’s not fair” mantra. It’s almost as if they think by…

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close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

In her 2010 book, Almost Christian, Kenda Creasy Dean coined a phrase to describe what she and her colleagues were seeing in their research in American youth groups at the time. The phrase, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, pointed to the fact that teens they observed were practicing a form of “Christianity” being modeled for them that…

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used to

I used to feel like I had something to say. I used to think my voice mattered. I used to stand in a place of honor every Sunday and recount what I had studied and measured from the week before thinking that it was important enough to impact the lives of those listening. I used…

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hitler’s girlfriend

It’s weird how a memory sticks with you sometimes. I can’t remember the name of the venue (although I think it was Metro Cafe), but I’ll never forget seeing one song performed by the band Dime Store Prophets. I honestly couldn’t tell you any of their other songs, but I can still hear this one…

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wolves

I’ve always been fascinated by predators. I mean, maybe it’s the caucacity (white people audacity) in me, but I feel like they all want to be my friend. Whether it’s a big cat at the zoo or a shark in the ocean, I’m fascinated and drawn to predators. And wolves are the same way. I’ll…

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the way home

I did something a couple of days ago I hadn’t done in quite some time. I opened up my Bible. Now I know this probably comes as a huge shock to many of you, especially if you knew my previous vocation. But honestly, the last couple of years have been filled with a lot of…

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