Good morning. “What difference does belief in God make in such a time as this? Belief in God is not a comfort in affliction; if anything, it makes injustice and suffering more acute. Belief in God is not a special talisman that will keep you safe, or a miracle weapon that will save the day. 1/4

If I submitted a manuscript where an evil regime murdered a Mrs. Good, my editor would raise an eyebrow. But then when the next murder victim was Mr. Pretti, I would be told to rewrite because I’m treating readers like they are idiots. 1/2

“It’s trying times. And I’m… you know… I’m trying.” (Saw this in an uncredited reel and it rolled me. Feels quite REAL 😬😳)

Good morning. “On the cross Christ’s body becomes the site where Rome’s pretensions to dominion are overwhelmed by the power of God, a power which is revealed in weakness.” #LiberationTheology 1/2

Good morning “God, in a world full of injustice and enmity, is in a special way the God of the destitute, the poor and the wrong . . . the church, as possession of God, must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice, and with the wronged.” 1/2

Good morning. "The aim of divine rage is not vengeance but to reorder the world. It is precise and purposeful . . . It points us to the humanity of even those who we are fighting.” 1/3

Good morning. “The more a society develops structures of interaction in which human beings, in private and in society, can find their lives and their hopes promoted and set free, the more it will reflect the Trinity... 1/3 #LiberationTheology

"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. “Salvation that needs the destruction of another is too small of a salvation.” - Carlos Padilla, Rediscovering the Forgotten Man: The Election Without Scapegoats. Saint Macrina Press. 2025. 88.

"No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." - The 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Good morning.🌤️ "The Jesus way of the cross . . . is just this: 'active, voluntary, self-offering love which is the life of God himself.'" - Fr. John Behr, quoted by Dr. Bradley Jersak.

Good morning. In 1947, when the atrocities of the Third Reich were finally faced, and the ways the church had collaborated were coming to light, there was a movement of repentance. It started with the Stuttgart Declaration. But some felt this confession didn’t go far enough. 1/3

Good morning. “You will have to distinguish all the things: God from idols, faith from ideology, violence from true power, the quiet of fear from true peace, noise from threat. The differences are clear for those who keep their eyes on the cross. 1/3

Good morning! “Looking at the history of salvation and the way in which the Son and Holy Spirit came into the world, we have to recognize that they exalted the way of obscurity, of kenosis. What we see is not the dazzle of glory, but simplicity and humility." 1/2

Good morning. “The Christ we see in Scripture can hold tenderness for the outcasts and othered while simultaneously acknowledging when the wicked and powerful are culpable.” A timely reminder from @jenaiauman.bsky.social (Auman, Jenai. Othered. Kindle Edition. Pre-release ARC. Location 400.)

Good morning. "When Jesus told the disciples that their story would be shared in Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, and then the ends of the earth, he was not offering a blueprint for colonization or building a global organization. 1/5

Good morning. “The cross is not eternalized along with the Trinity; the cross, product of human sinfulness, is taken on, not because it represents a value, but because it allows him to show the radicalness of a love that accepts self-sacrifice rather than break his communion with others, 1/2

Read and reflect. Every authoritarian wants to control your emotions. This is why they stoke fear and tell you empathy is toxic. Being emotionally reflective is an act of resistance. (Pics are a short chapter from Hanna Reichel’s book For Such A Time As This: An Emergency Devotional)

Again, the poet @nikitagill.bsky.social comes through with the right words for the moment.

Good morning. "The only thing I ask of God is that I may never become indifferent to injustice that arid death may not find me empty and alone, without having done enough." 1/2

Good morning. I've been thinking about this one for a long time as I watch what is happening in Christianity in our country. 1/3

Good morning! "The dragon rules through the violent power of the beast, but God rules through the nonviolent, co-suffering love of the Lamb." - Zahnd, Brian. The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross (p. 183). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Good morning. Sharing my morning prayer with you. This one written by theologian C. Baxter Kruger. Lord Jesus Christ, beloved, eternal, and faithful Son of the Father incarnate, thank you for sharing your knowledge of the Father's heart with us. Come into our darkness with your light. 1/2

"For the children of noise, silence is both unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but it is in this quiet that we discover the voice of Spirit and the truth of our own hearts." 6 Weeks to Build a Habit that Fosters Spiritual & Emotional Maturity, updated! https://bit.ly/4lmLPCw

Good morning. “In both John and Paul, Jesus’s death is the revelation of the love of both the Father and Son. It is not only an act of generic love, but also of enemy-love. Such self-giving love, including even enemy-love . . . is expected of those who have received God’s love in Christ’s death.”

Good morning. "There is a way in which the Christian story is often presented that comes across as a neatly wrapped package with no loose ends. If this story is told correctly, we sometimes assume that it will convince any right-minded person. 1/7

Good morning. "Those devoted to the Beloved sing the virtues of the mystical name. If someone maligns them, they do not lose who they are." This line from Sikh sacred song moves me and challenges me. 1/4

Good morning! “Jesus' practice is what brings the Kingdom about because it consists of fellowship with the poor, reconciliation with sinners, sharing his life with all, particularly with outcasts, and service without discrimination to all he meets.” 1/2

Good morning! "In the opening lines of Jesus’ prayer at the end of the upper room scene, Jesus defines eternal life in a tantalizing way. The context of this prayer—Jesus about to undergo the Passion—further sharpens these words. This is what Jesus has been attempting to communicate all along. 1/6

Good morning. This, from the towering African theologian, Athanasius, writing approx. 330 CE: 1/6

Good morning! "For those invested in the world system or whose religion is a comforting blanket of self-justification, Jesus’ behavior is disturbing, even threatening . . . 1/6 #GoodTheologySavesLives

Good morning. This morning, I am grateful for Jenai Auman's clear language and wish more of my extended Christian community would understand this implication of their baptism: 1/3

Good morning! Athanasius, writing in the early 4th c., on God's response to human suffering and sin: “What then was God to do? Or what should be done, except to renew again the 'in the image,' so that through it human beings would be able once again to know him? 1/5

Oh Buttered Toast, why are you lovely?

Good morning. "Line by line, Jesus upended the disciples’ expectations of God. Serving rather than expecting to be served. Bringing the sinful to the table rather than turning them away. Available to all, rather than only to elevated insiders. 1/4

Good morning. “If the divinity [of Christ] is true it is certainly terribly revolutionary. That a good man may have his back to the wall is no more than we knew already: but that God could have his back to the wall is a boast for all insurgents forever.

Love a book person? Buy them one of mine for Christmas! 6 weeks to a sustainable habit of journaling for spiritual & emotional growth? Or maybe 40 days on following Jesus' other-centered, co-suffering way of love. 1/2

Great convo with Brent Siddel at the God's Story Podcast, all about Journaling for Spiritual Growth. Brent asks direct questions, gets right to the point, and wraps things up quick! 😂 This isn't one of those 4-hour bantery bro-casts. open.spotify.com/episode/0lPs...

Good morning. “It is God who, by a simple act of His will, cleanses you. For what God chooses to make clean not even the great Apostle Peter can condemn or call unclean. For he is told: 'What God has cleansed, do not call unclean' (Acts 10:15). For has not God in His love acquitted us? 1/5

Good morning. “The Trinity cannot be understood outside this liberating context; it is not a theological curiosity with its own intrinsic interest; it is always a reality of communion which redeems us, sets us free and gives us back our humanity enriched and full... 1/2

Good morning. “The cross is many things. One of the revelations of the cross is the divine repudiation of systems that seek to dominate a minority [group] through force. When the powers that be justify their actions with euphemisms like 'appropriate use of force,' the cross calls them to account.”

Good morning. Yesterday, I saw live video of a Gresham police officer telling people who were protesting an ICE abduction to disperse because the ICE agents were “just doing their jobs.” The warrantless abduction was going on in the back of the video. 1/8

How can Advent be an act of resistance in this moment of division and rising authoritarianism, when so many of us feel cynical and numb? @rickpidcock.bsky.social has me on his show, Highest Power. A great 30 minutes that I think is worth your time. highestpower.podbean.com/e/ep80-how-a...

Good morning. “Protect the weak. For Christians, this is not about self-preservation in the long run. It is about following Jesus, who went to the outcasts, and died as one. It is a commitment to remain with those who suffer and to embrace the suffering that might come with it . . . 1/3

Good morning. “You will have to distinguish all the things: God from idols, faith from ideology, violence from true power, the quiet of fear from true peace, noise from threat. The differences are clear for those who keep their eyes on the cross… 1/3

Good morning! Wisdom about the overwhelm of events: “The storm is not an illusion; its dangers are real. Even so, it is also a distraction. No one can pay attention to all the things all the time. The highest waves raise your alarms— and may hide more inconspicuous but forceful blows. 1/3

Curtain opens on me, logging into my bank’s website. My phone: *ding* Me: Ooh! Who is texting me! 🧐 And scene.

Good morning. “Christ is with us, Christ is for us, and in Christ we are a new creation.” (Spoiler Alert: The "Us" is all of us. Humanity. Everyone.)

Good morning. “At the common table of bread and wine, prejudice, intolerance, and alienation are to pass away. The God whom we love and adore is in communion with everything and everyone. We do not love God by Godself, but in loving God we embrace all creatures, past, present, and future. 1/3

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