Prayers for My Black Son

I can’t believe it’s already been three weeks since you came into this world and changed my life. You were ten days late, but right on time with a head full of curly black hair and big, beautiful brown eyes. I must admit, I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. Although …

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In Light of Jodi Arias – Revisioning Our Justice System

Have we come to rely too narrowly on retribution as the only legitimate form of justice? I reflected on this question as news outlets covered the Jodi Arias trial over the last few days. Earlier this month, Arias was found guilty of killing her boyfriend Travis Alexander.  After convicting her, a jury determined that due …

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Enough Moments: What Do You Do When You Can’t Stand ‘It’ Anymore

We all reach a moment in our lives when we have simply had enough. For far too long, we have tolerated pain, injustice, heartache, or whatever else and are simply ready to do something about it. In that moment, we are ready to act, ready to be a catalyst for change, ready to make a …

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Addressing the Sins of the Past in Four Not Quite So Easy Steps

In a post that I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I asked what is the process in which we are to address wrongdoing in the past in order to bring about reconciliation. I want to follow up that post by pointing to 2 Samuel 21, hoping it will shed some light: "Now there was a famine …

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Addressing the Sins of the Past in the Present to Move Forward in the Future

One of my dearest and oldest friends grew up in a home where she was verbally abused and emotionally neglected by her father. Though her father never laid his hands on her, I don’t think she has even received a spanking in her life, the words that he used against her over the years affected …

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Reflecting on My Pentecostal Heritage (and Remembering Brownsville, too)

One of the most poignant scriptures in all of the Bible (for me) lies in Matthew 7. It says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did …

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