To acknowledge the criminal as the image of God and advocate for his/her humane treatment as such is neither to condone or minimize his/her crime. It is far too easy to overlook this.

This flow chart is also valid for predictions of the precise date of Christ’s return…

Ellis: "It is difficult to see how an injunction ordering the government to comply with the Constitution can be harmful."

A Christianity that makes the ultra wealthy and powerful feel safe and supported while making the poor and powerless feel unsafe and unsupported is a Christianity that is following someone other than Jesus.

Not sure if it’s rule #1, but it’s close to the top: As a pastor, never evaluate Sunday before Tuesday. Monday is brutal.

This is how you get Jurassic Park. And Planet of the Apes. And 12 Monkeys. And Terminator. And The Matrix. And Soylent Green. And The Stand. And...

The reason I don’t want a “Christian nation” isn’t because I’m against Christianity. It’s because I’ve studied church history and learned about the horrors caused by the church crawling into bed with the empire. The separation of church and state helps keep Christianity Christian.

The work of the church is not the call to ministry. Our true work is that of manifesting likeness to Christ in all things, whether in success or failure, criticism or praise. If numbers, growth, and fame were God’s measures, then Jesus would be deemed a failure.

This is an amazing quote from Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, proud son of Virginia.

"Robert E. Lee and Me" by BG Ty Seidule (ret.) is an excellent reflection on the effects of growing up in the cult of Lee and then learning to see the truth. (www.pritzkermilitary.org/resources/bo...)

The national stain of chattel slavery wasn’t sufficiently shameful, apparently. The Trumpets think we needed to emulate the worst parts of the Third Reich, too…

5 years ago, after doing some genealogy work where I discovered enslavement in my family’s past, I wrote this reflection on the Declaration of Independence that shaped the destiny of our nation and the wills that shaped the destiny of enslaved persons. therodandstaff.com/2020/12/04/o...

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed...

“War does not determine who is right. Only who is left.” — Anonymous “You do not drift into peace: you drift into war.” — Jessie W. Sayre

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."  -Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

5. Wars are easy to start and hard to stop

It's probably a good thing I am on break from my church work right now. Who knows what I might say tomorrow morning. One thing I know, we must pray for peace.

Pray for peace.

"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me." Robert Murray M'Cheyne

"War does not determine who is right; only who is left." - Bertrand Russell

κύριος Ἰησοῦς χριστὸς — οὐκ ἐστίν ἄλλη

The church has always been at its best when it stands with the crucified, not the crucifiers.

“No King But Christ.” What does this mean? Read my latest article here: benjamin-cremer.kit.com/posts/no-kin...

Several years ago, the #PCAGA had the chance to declare that political violence was anti-Christ. A clear, well-written and -researched statement was presented to our national meeting for approval. It is deeply to our shame that we weren’t willing to pass it. We are not leaders, but captives.

A warning from the past––and maybe a prophecy for the near future. “The price we are having to pay today in the shape of the collapse of the organized church is only the inevitable consequence of our policy of making grace available at too low a cost. 1/6

Christianity does not look like praying and singing and giving money while ignoring the screams, unspeakable suffering, filth, and death of others. Christianity is not calling others *them*—somehow unlike us, not human, deserving of their suffering.

May we know Christ so well that we can discern what is unlike Him no matter the seductive or religious garb it wears.

I’m in favor of social security. But: correlation does not equal causation. The social security act was passed at the height of the Great Depression. Of COURSE there are fewer people living in poverty now!!

I’m dating myself with this, but… The house where I live recently had solid wood internal doors installed. Now, every time a door is closed I think one of my friends is signing off of AIM…

Theology 101: Your “this is the twenty-first century” rationale for altering doctrine and morality cannot stand against our “everywhere, always, by all” of apostolic and catholic Christianity.

Teach your church that any form of abuse is NEVER acceptable to God, no matter who does it or how important the abuser is. Call your people to holiness in all the corners of their lives.

In matters of God’s grace hyperboles are understatements. -Eugene Peterson-

May the mind of Christ, my Savior, live in me from day to day, by His love and pow'r controlling all I do and say. May I run the race before me, strong and brave to face the foe, looking only unto Jesus as I onward go. -Kate Wilkinson

When, in the COVID era, I said that I longed to live in “precedented times,” I did 𝙣𝙤𝙩 mean Smoot-Hawley and the Nazis.

Theology 101: “Everything is upside down, for after the fashion of the Theatre we desire numbers, not a select number.” (John Chrysostom)

I don’t know why we have to keep repeating this…but even if these people are MS-13… they still have the right to due process. 😒

Criminals deserve due process because due process is literally how we determine whether someone is, *in fact*, a criminal

This is a very hard week to be a pacifist. Lord, cleanse my imagination, and show me a better way.

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight" ~ John 18:36a The Kingdom of God does impact this world, but the methods employed for advancement are vastly different from the ways of the world Don't fall for cheap counterfeit methodology!

Theology 101: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and deleting obnoxious, unedifying posts upon reflection.

This is technically true, yet won’t matter. Tariffs make new things steeply more expensive (including those manufactured here using imported supplies). More expensive *new* things drives people to buy *used* things, creating higher demand, making prices go up. Tariffs make *all* more expensive.

here’s a curse word free version of “look it up” as requested by countless teachers and librarians 🥰😘

In the 1930s, Germany established some detainment camps within Germany proper, and others outside (typically Poland). The character of the camps inside Germany was significantly different than those outside. Those outside became Dachau, Buchenwald, etc. Let the reader understand.

Hey @scalzi.com — I think I found your alt…only thing missing is the burrito.

If anyone wants to help a pastor in my denomination who has been negatively affected by the new administration's immigration changes - gofund.me/e77e5b63

It was a perspective shift for me when I finally realized that the reason DOGE keeps focusing on “waste” more than ”fraud” is that many people hear them as functionally synonymous, but “fraud” is violations of current laws; while “waste” is spending with which the administration disagrees.

Robert Yarborough commenting on I Timothy 3:7 — “Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders…” I am grieved that this, the slander accruing to God’s name and the damage to the gospel and the credibility of the church, isn’t obvious to so many who claim His name.

This is excellent.