2025
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We presently wrestle with the drone of constant and continuous content production for the sake of relevance and fame. Without content, we are sequestered to the wall of forgotten faces where nameless placards exist, blank plaques hang, and faceless frames are glued to remember the forgotten. Writers fight the never-ending thirst for the content monster…
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Broken Heart As I wade through news cycle after news cycle of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) operations in cities where immigrant populations abound, my heart breaks for two categories of people in this scenario. One, my heart breaks for the innocent immigrant who has spent the…
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People read books for different reasons. Some seek an escape (such as fantasy), some crave excitement (like true crime), and others look for self-improvement (like self-help books). My own intense reading started in 2020 because of the global discussions about race relations and police brutality against Black and Brown people. As I faced and challenged…
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People read books for different reasons. Some seek an escape (such as fantasy), some crave excitement (like true crime), and others look for self-improvement (like self-help books). My own intense reading started in 2020 because of the global discussions about race relations and police brutality against Black and Brown people. As I faced and challenged…
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The Terrifying and Necessary Theology of the God Who Gives and Takes Away “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17 NRSVue Kierkegaard has taught me that God is immutable. No.…
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A Religion of Fear One of the greatest challenges in life is attaching your existence to a faith that demands constant obedience. This mode of viewing the world can be deeply taxing on the soul. It’s worth noting the layered impacts it can have on the human psyche, which may also affect the physical state…
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Black Power Is Nat Turner “Black power is Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, or Gabriel Prosser planning a slave revolt. It is slaves poisoning masters, and Frederick Douglass delivering an abolitionist address. This is the history that black theology must take seriously before it can begin to speak about God and black humanity. Like black power,…
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The Purpose of “About Last Sunday” Occasionally, I reassess Sunday’s sermon message to determine if my capacity for learning and understanding is still present the following day or two. I began this process as a way to remember the outpouring of God’s word received on Sunday, which is often forgotten about by Monday morning. The…
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Paroxysm French philosopher René Girard’s Violence and the Sacred and other works are required and recommended reading for anyone struggling with the cyclical nature of human violence in general. In this difficult-to-follow book, Girard guides us through his Mimetic Theory, which provides an interesting origin story or theory of human paroxysm (spontaneous acts of violence). …
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The Navigators The Bible has a rich history of prophetic utterances. Jewish scholars list a section of the Old Testament, or rather, to them, the Tanakh, the Jewish Canon, as the Nevi’im, a compilation of writings by prophets. This section is broken into two categories: major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.) and minor prophets (Amos, Zechariah,…
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Adolescence Netflix’s new hit show Adolescence plays a vital role in reintroducing why it is essential to know what your children are watching, streaming, entertaining, and discussing with their social circles. The narrative of helicopter parents has resurfaced as well, namely, how some parents become totalitarian overlords controlling every facet and thought their children have,…
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The Message This Sunday, minister Rohan of Freedom Life Church imparted to the church proper what can be considered a message for the age. A delegation of words that have historically sustained the body of believers in times of great sorrow, emotional drain, and social upheaval. The existential question arises and the existential dread consumes…
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The Passage “‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’ Well, here’s why: The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but…
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I’m writing from a place of temporary defeat. Discouraged by discouraging headlines. Weakened by the lack of empathy from fellow believers. A sense of dejectedness has crept into my mind. The human heart is corrupt and its capacity for empathy has been nearly if not completely exhausted as a select few people in power catapult…
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The Passage “1 Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3 In the course of time…
