To my white evangelical brothers and sisters in Jesus, this post is primarily for you.  Please don’t dismiss it.  I ask that you read it with prayerful humility as I attempt to write with the same posture.  This morning looking in the mirror I realized I am a white evangelical.  Although I did not choose this label, it describes who I am.  A caucasian of predominately European descent.  A believer in the authority of the Bible, the Lordship of Jesus, and our need to be reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Christ.  I never anticipated that a commitment to the scriptures and the message of Jesus would put me at odds with so many of my Bible believing brothers and sisters. But it has.

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Since the Paris terrorist attacks I have not been surprised by the shift in American opinion over admitting Syrian refugees nor the corresponding political posturing that both feeds and responds to the fears of many.  What surprises me most is the response of many who identify as Bible believing Christians where believing we should welcome  Syrian refugees places you squarely in the minority.  Many of my brothers and sisters in Jesus agree  Christian churches are called to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus in the midst of a messed up world and God desires Jesus-followers to live as ambassadors for Christ- representing His interests and not our own.   Many of us agree our lives have been redefined by who Jesus is, by His example and teaching,  and what He accomplished through His crucifixion and resurrection. We even agree following Jesus means taking His commands to heart- listening and responding to what Jesus taught. Unfortunately what Jesus clearly taught and modeled remains alarmingly absent from many of our conversations.

One word that I’ve heard since I was a young child that defines how Christians should respond to Jesus and His commands is faith.  Continue reading →

The last few weeks have proven a trying time for our nation as we wrestle with how to best respond to the Syrian refugee crisis.  The discussion and debates have increasingly intensified since the terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut.  Even within Christian churches we find a disparity of views on how best to respond with much of the discussion rooted in a fear being fed by both the media and politicians.   Most of us aren’t surprised by the idea that “fear sells” and our media (both conservative and liberal leaning) knows fear is good for business. Continue reading →

I  like statistics… especially when they mean something.  Below are some random Vermont stats that popped up on my radar. Continue reading →

Last week I came across a USA Today Opinion column by Kirsten Powers detailing the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell and how “there has been precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page.”  Warning: reading this article made my stomach churn.  Since that April 11 article, news coverage has significantly increased.  The best article I’ve read on this issue from a Christian perspective is a post by Justin Buzzard titled, The Abortion of Abortion.  Continue reading →

Today the 7 Days Newspaper, known as Vermont’s independent voice, published an interesting article on finding God in Vermont.  Here’s an excerpt from the article Continue reading →

This venn diagram has proven useful in explaining Santa to the uninitiated.

This afternoon I stopped by to see a Nepali couple, Suman and  Prim, who are some of our new friends.  Suman recently became a follower of Jesus and always has intriguing questions.   Here’s an excerpt from our conversation. Continue reading →

A little something to help you get in the Christmas mood…