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Blind Trust
Read more: Blind TrustThere is a man in our congregation who is blind and he is a sweet old man (we’ll call him Jerry). I often see him getting dropped off on Sunday morning by public transit or walking down the sidewalk after church. Sometimes he is alone and oftentimes, there is a member of our congregation walking…
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You’re Going to Die
Read more: You’re Going to DieA few weeks ago, TIME magazine published a series of articles on aging, found here, and the race to cure it. The stories ranged from the different drugs scientists are researching that seem to reverse aging, the connection between mind and body in longer life, and what you can do to increase your own life…
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The Youth Leader’s Greatest Gift
Read more: The Youth Leader’s Greatest GiftLast year, I started “Girl Time with Calvin” on our High School’s Winter Retreat, which was basically a fun way for me to sit down with the female senior class and hang out with them. Girl Time with Calvin consists of me talking with them and answering any questions they have about life, love, and God. Much…
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He Said Transformed?!?
Read more: He Said Transformed?!?A few months ago, while sitting in church listening to the sermon, there was a kid in the pew behind me who was struggling to pay attention. He was fidgety, kicking the pew in front of him, drawing on the bulletin, and whispering constantly to his parents. I recall trying to listen to the sermon, but…
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Why I Don’t Say the Pledge of Allegiance
Read more: Why I Don’t Say the Pledge of AllegianceI’ve debated writing this post for months out of fear of being misunderstood. So before I get into the gist of it all, and before you write me off completely, hear what I’m NOT saying in writing this post. I’m not saying that America is evil or that it is the worst country in the…
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Don’t Kill the Baby Jesus
Read more: Don’t Kill the Baby JesusMy uncle is a pastor. A few years ago, on Christmas day after sharing an enormous meal and opening all our presents, I asked him what he had thought of our Christmas service. His reply stuck with me. “It was good, other than the fact that they crucified the baby Jesus. You don’t kill the baby Jesus.”…
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Ferguson, Racism, and Advent
Read more: Ferguson, Racism, and AdventI feel very unqualified to even write on Ferguson and racism and yet I think to remain silent would be even worse. As I wrote in an earlier post, I do not have the best track record when it comes to awareness about issues of race and privilege. And in that blog, I noted that…
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What Are We Singing?
Read more: What Are We Singing?A few days ago while driving, I was listening to a few hymns I hadn’t listened to in quite some time. I was singing along to the songs, trying to remember which words went with which verse. My mind was drifting and I wasn’t really thinking about the music until I heard myself mess up…
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Halloween and the Christian
Read more: Halloween and the ChristianToday is Halloween, the day in which spirits haunt their forgotten remains, men howl at the moon, and millions of children do whatever they can to eat as much candy as possible before their parents take it from them. In the last few years, I’ve heard arguments from numerous people as to how Christians ought to…
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The Power of Dreaming
Read more: The Power of DreamingA few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending our church’s Global Church Conference, which was an opportunity for us to hear from the majority world. We had speakers from Egypt (Anne Zaki), Guatemala (Pablo Villeda), and the Philippines (Athena Gorospe). One session of the conference was a “question and answer” segment, where attendees…