Apprentice 2 Jesus

  • The difference between social media “action” and action

    It is one thing to teach theology (like Niebuhr, Barth, Tillich, and most theologians) in the safe environs of a classroom and quite another to live one’s theology in a situation that entails the risk of one’s life. (Martin Luther) King agreed fully with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Christian pastor hanged in 1945 by the Nazis… Read more

  • Moderates and the South

    James Cone recounted the support Blacks had from Reinhold Niebuhr, possibly the greatest theologian of the 20th Century. Niebuhr wrote of the plight of the Black American with fair consistency. But Cone is critical of Niebuhr for holding back when it counted. Read more

  • Lynching, suffering, and the cross

    Because of their experience of arbitrary violence, the cross was and is a redeeming and comforting image for many black Christians. If the God of Jesus’ cross is found among the least, the crucified people of the world, then God is also found among those lynched in American history. Read more

  • Refusing to go down in despair

    Unlike Kierkegaard and Job, however, blacks often refused to down into that “loathsome void,” that “torment of despair,” where one “struggles with death but cannot die.” No matter what trouble they encountered, they kept on believing and hoping that “a change gonna come.” (The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James Cone) Read more

  • Black History IS American History

    I am reflecting on mentors from Black Cultures (mentors who are no longer with us yet I am still learning from) the first part of 2024. While we’ve relegated “Black History” to one month, and yes, I’m posting these in February, I am concentrating in a space and place to stay focused. And to remind… Read more

  • The simplicity of pursuing Christ

    God take us back, the place we began The simple pursuit of nothing but you The innocence of a heart in your hands God take us back, oh God, take us back Read more

  • Beautiful worship

    I came across this video looking for some songs and I couldn’t help it. I let it play. The worship… when the band quit playing and the voices just kept going… when the leader read from Revelation 1… my soul, O MY SOUL! rose up and cried out. Just let it play. Skip through and… Read more

  • Epiphany and the Feast of Thomas Aquinas

    In this season I have had sense of the Lord unfolding his glory to me, and his longing to keep unfolding his glory to his people. I noticed on a calendar that today is the Feast of Thomas Aquinas. I was reading a short biography of him here and this story jumped out to me: Read more

  • Racism and white moderates

    The problem of Dr. King’s day and our day, as pointed out by James Cone in The Cross and the Lynching Tree, is the silence of those who might have something to say, but don’t. Read more

  • The elements of care

    We are in a harsh dualistic age. It has sharp edges. Ideologies are in combat and the stakes are this: “It has to be exactly like this or not at all.” This particular piece shows that tension. Read more