Good morning. The cross is "counterintuitive, countercultural, counter-imperial." American imperial Christianity is not an improvement over Roman imperial Christianity. All Imperial Christianity is anti-Christ. 1/5

Good morning. "The church of Jesus Christ must make nonviolence a more central dimension of its life and teaching and a central corollary of its creedal affirmation that God raised the crucified Jesus from the dead, thereby ending the case for violence as the modus operandi of God and... 1/4

Worth your time as we approach Christ the King Sunday. Written by Pastor Elle Dowd. elledowd.com/2018/11/25/a...

Good morning! “Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is.” - Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5, trans. John Anthony McGuckin.

Good morning. “If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.” 1/3

Good morning. For churches that follow the liturgical calendar, this week marks the end of the liturgical year with Christ the King Sunday. This is one of the latest feasts to be added to the ancient church year. 1/6

Good morning. “Through Christ’s love, everyone is made an inseparable part of our own, eternal existence… For the Son of Man has taken within himself all mankind.” Silouan of Mt Athos. Quoted by Jim Forest in The Ladder of the Beatitudes, (Orbis Books, 1999). 84.

Good morning. This excerpt was written in 154 CE. Note what remains the same and what is different. ”On the day called Sunday, all who live in the cities or in the country gather at one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits. 1/5

Good morning! “It is not demonstrably un-Christian to crown the rich as convenient rulers of society. It is not...un-Christian to rebel against the rich or to submit to the rich. But it is quite certainly un-Christian to trust the rich, to regard the rich as more morally safe than the poor.” 1/2

Good morning. “Many people do not set out to do harm in the name of God; they simply want to do more big things for God. And when they do, we laud them for it. The real allure of power is often in being identified as a powerful person. 1/3

Well, I finally bit the bullet and checked. With the loss of the ACA subsidy and the increase in premiums, my monthly cost tripled. So I'm either not gonna have insurance or I'll have a ridiculous high-deductible plan that is nothing more than bankruptcy insurance. 1/2

Good morning. May it bring comfort to those in need of comfort and conviction to those who deny comfort to others. “Christ is ever and always a challenge to the aspirations of empire, but when we get too cozy with Caesar, our willingness to take a prophetic stand quickly evaporates... 1/4

The longer I study this morning, the more it seems that Psalms 17 could be titled "A prayer for the victims of ICE."

UPDATE: Reached out to the Rev. Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist minister who was there that day and has been active in religious demonstrations at Broadview. “They are making it clear that they are scared of prayer … it speaks the truth that what they are doing in that building is evil.”

Studying for church tomorrow. Psalm 17 is a prayer from one who is surrounded and harassed unjustly. In this psalm, the people who do evil are defined this way: 1/3

Good morning. “Christ crucified is Christ glorified. The cross was not shame; it was...glory. It was not defeat; it was and is victory. It was not failure: it was and is the salvation of the world. Jesus Christ not only saves the world through the cross, he also rules the world from the cross. 1/4

Good morning. “If we sit long enough with Christ crucified, it will become the place from which the god of this world who rules through accusation and violence is driven out. This is the exorcism we need . . . The cross is where Jesus does nothing less than re-found the world. 1/2

Good morning! “The kingdom that Jesus brings into the world is not from Caesar’s world of violent power. Jesus was never going to raise an army to establish the kingdom of God. He plainly tells Pilate this: “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting.” 1/2

I know a bunch of Christians are worried today about a muslim winning an election. As a Christian pastor, I tell you: The idea that Islam and the Koran are intrinsically violent is only a fair reading if you also admit the Bible is intrinsically violent. 1/2

Good morning, beloved. Truth is liberation. Today is a great day to overcome evil with good.

Good morning! “Love God. Love one another. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. That about covers it. In Christ‘s meticulous census, the community exempt from the love of Christians has a population of exactly zero.” 1/2

Good morning. This is a long one, but important for us Christians to seriously think about. “If someone receives money, power, or political gain from injustice, then demonizing justice is the most effective way to ensure the perpetuation of those benefits. 1/6

Good morning. “Jesus and the early Christians taught something different: each person is made in the image of God, God does not pay attention to status, he has no favorites, all will face judgment, and all have equal access to divine grace and mercy . . . 1/3

Good morning! “Monarchical monotheism justifies the church as hierarchy, as sacred dominion. The doctrine of the Trinity constitutes the church as a community free of dominion. The trinitarian principle replaces the principle of power by the principle of concord. 1/3

Good morning The only way to read scripture accurately and faithfully is to read it with utmost humility. “The notion that we read the New Testament exactly as the early Christians did, without any weight of tradition coloring our interpretation, is an illusion. 1/2

Good morning! Jesus doesn't say, "Here is the truth; believe it." He says, "I am the truth; follow me" (see John 14:6). Being a Christian is not primarily about checking all the right doctrinal boxes or defending the correct dogmas. Being a Christian is about following the way of Jesus. 1/3

Good morning! “We must find better ways to read the Bible than as a caste system starter kit… 1/4

Good morning! “Empires create their own theologies to justify their occupation . . . This is why biblical interpretation is critical. The one who interprets assumes power.” -Mitri Raheb, Faith in the Face of Empire Quoted by Zach Lambert, Better Ways to Read the Bible, Brazos Press, 2025. 96.

"Any spiritual practice that doesn't allow gracious flexibility for the unpredictability of life is too brittle to survive." 🤩Available now! 🥳 Journaling for Spiritual Growth, 2nd ed. 6 Weeks to Build a Habit that Fosters Maturity, updated! 🎉 https://bit.ly/4lmLPCw

Good morning! "The kingdom of heaven is wherever mercy rules rather than vengeance.” Forest, Jim. The Ladder of the Beatitudes. Orbis Books, 1999. 34.

Preparing for a class and reading again this passage from Paul. This is what I hope the church can be. And this is what tells me when the church has stepped outside the way of Jesus: 1/7

Today's No King March in Portland #PDX. 2025-10-18. Many people (40-50K), no violence (except for some later in the day caused by federal officers at the ICE center), a lot of people asking for the government to be better. #NoKings #Resist #Democracy 2025-10-18 1/5

Good morning. Another wise insight from @jenaiauman.bsky.social: “Living resurrected means I not only fight for flourishing for my own community; I seek the flourishing of the nations — of everyone. I turn away from and no longer live a life of control, coercion, colonization, or conquest.” 1/2

Good morning. When I was a little kid, in church school, we sang a song about letting the flag fly high in the sky to let the whole world know "that the king is in residence" in us. Turns out this metaphor is way older than church school. Here's Athanasius, writing in the early 4th century. 1/6

Good morning! Note this commentary from Ambrosiaster on Philippians 2. "He indeed was taken captive, bound and driven with blows. His obedience to the Father took him even as far as the cross. Yet throughout he knew himself to be the Father’s Son, equal in divine dignity. 1/3

Good morning. "If the crucified Christ is the glory and image of God, what does that say about God, and what does it say about the process of becoming Godlike? . . . God is like Christ crucified. To become like God is to become like that kind of God. . . . 1/2

Good morning. A warning from Orthodox peace activist, Jim Forest. “For most of us, peace is not the kingdom of God, but a slightly improved version of the world we already have. We would like to get rid of conflict without eliminating the factors, spiritual and material, that create division.”

Good morning. Listen to the wise @jenaiauman.bsky.social when you notice how you feel about the world right now: “Anger is an often unrecognized expression of lament. But like sorrow, our righteous rage also says, “The world isn’t working in the ways it was created.” 1/2

Very good morning to you! “Jesus's death is a participatory phenomenon; it is something all are called to share in experientially. The logic is not: Jesus died so we don't have to. 1/6

Starting this one today. I’ve been told it’s really good. But I gotta say even the Foreword floored me. If the rest of the book is even half as good as that, this may be one of the most important works of theology of recent times. 👀🤯

Good morning! "When we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we are also ultimately praying for the empires of this earth to be wiped away. This is because these two things cannot ultimately exist at the same time. 1/4

Good morning. The circumstances in our world, our nation, my city bring to mind Brueggemann's declaration about hope. “Hope...is an absurdity too embarrassing to speak about, for it flies in the face of all those claims we have been told are facts.

Good morning. “Light is the property of a star, as simplicity and humility are the property of a holy and God-fearing man. Nothing distinguishes more clearly the disciples of Christ than a humble spirit and a simple way of life.” - St. Hesychios of Sinai (8th century)

Good morning! Continuing to find Joash Thomas', new book, The Justice of Jesus, quite provoking: "Despite being divinely qualified to teach, Jesus did not come solely to dwell among us as a teacher. He came first as a learner. 1/5

Good morning. Something to reflect on for this moment we find ourselves in. Grateful for Joash Thomas's clear vision on these things: 1/5

Good morning. Another searing challenge from Joash Thomas's new book, The Justice of Jesus: Reimagining Your Church’s Life Together to Pursue Liberation and Wholeness. Here we go: 1/6

Good morning. This week I'm reading a pre-release copy of Joash Thomas's upcoming book, The Justice of Jesus. Whew... It's a banger. Here's a bite to start with: 1/5

Good morning. “You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of him who gives and kindles joy in the heart of him who receives. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemned each other. 1/3

Good morning. “And what was the first sin, the primal flaw, the tragic mistake of Adam and Eve? Maybe it is only that they grasp at wisdom and life . . . So maybe the original sin is something like grabbing for power, like Prometheus. . . . 1/4

Good morning! “In answer to the common question: Who is God?, Jesus did not provide a doctrinal exposition. He shows who God is by showing how God acts.” Boff, Leonardo. *Trinity and Society*. Theology and Liberation Series. Orbis Books, 1988. 28.