pride

Kick Him Out of Church!

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Two Introductory Stories My mom and dad fondly tell the story of one of the first times my dad visited my great-grandmother’s old, back-country Oklahoma, Pentecostal church. My mom and dad were dating at the time, and my dad was not familiar with Pentecostal churches at all, so this event really stuck out to him. After the speaking in tongues and whooping had subsided, and the preacher had gotten into his groove, he was passionately talking about “…a man who comes to church on Sundays and greets people at the door and shakes hands, but on Saturday night he was … [Read more]

Why I Stopped Saying “I’m Proud of You”

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  I’m pretty picky about the words I use. I try to speak clearly and concisely, and choose my words precisely. There have been plenty of posts from me before talking about this sort of thing… from “His Name’s Not Lucifer” to “People Have Sex, Words Have Gender” to “What Does it Mean to BE Gay?” to “Yes You Are Black” to “The Dreaded A-Word” to “You’re Just Another Klansman” to “When I Criticize the Church” to “C.S. Lewis Was Wrong” to… it could go on. Yes. I talk a lot about how we use words. I think it’s important. … [Read more]

Sprained Ankles and Spiritual Pride

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I’m going to give you a few pieces of this puzzle before I put them together for you. Piece 1: 4 weeks ago I sprained my ankle… badly. Most people don’t realize this, but sprained ankles are often more painful and take longer to heal than broken ones. I sprained my ankle in as bad a way as you can. What’s worse is that the doctor who originally diagnosed it and told me my treatment (wearing a boot and using crutches) was overly optimistic in the healing time. The doctor said I would have 2 weeks on the crutches with … [Read more]