Ask The Thoughtful Pastor: Do I have a Right to Feel Hurt by My Mother’s...
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: I am a 53 year old childless single female with two younger siblings, both with children and spouses. I live about six hours from them. About a month ago, my mother mentioned...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: Inerrancy or Relativism; My Journey Out
Dear Thoughtful Pastor, In 1978, around 300 evangelical leaders assembled to write and adopt the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. I believe this gathering in defense of biblical inerrancy...
View ArticleSex, Punishment and Power–is That Really Good News?
Apparently, the Good News group, who unofficially represent the evangelical branch of The United Methodist Church, is all about sex, punishment and power. How do I know? They state it clearly in their...
View ArticleOur Interconnected and Tragically Divided World
The Interconnection On Sunday, two cousins, Gene (we’ll call him Gene One) and Gene (Gene Two), who also share the same distinctive last name and who had not seen each other in over fifty years, met...
View ArticleWhy the Upset? After All, Marrying Off Children Is Biblical
I used to tell my sons, “Just concentrate on your studies and becoming well-rounded young men. I’ll pick your wives for you and then present them to you when it’s time.” They properly ignored me and...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: Jesus–Divine or Human?
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: On Sunday we talked about whether Jesus had a running itinerary going all the time while he was busy doing all his seemingly random acts of healing and good teachings. You know,...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: Does God need blood sacrifices?
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: Why did Jesus die? I have always believed the very traditional story that I was born sinful and until I accepted Jesus as my saviour, God could not accept me, no matter how much...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: Dan Patrick and the now infamous tweet
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: Can you tell me the background for Dan Patrick’s tweet? This verse comes from the New International Version (NIV) translation of the Greek Bible. The NIV is a less scholarly and...
View ArticleLord and Lady Peter and Marriage Equality
The long-pursued Harriet speaks with Lord Peter, the man who loves her and now wonders if he has done good for her by finally convincing her to marry him. From this conversation comes my favorite...
View ArticleWhat will the church do about the Intersexed? Shall we just call them mistakes?
The world is ever so much easier to deal with when everything divides into two neat categories. This is good, that is bad. This is heaven, that is hell. This is day, that is night. This is right, this...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: burning questions about cremation and interracial...
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: I have been reading both sides of the argument and praying about it and I’m just a little stumped. Is cremation frowned up? The opposed side says it’s a desecration of God’s...
View ArticleA Biblical Case for Hitler
In a blatant act of plagiarism, I have lifted some words from an extraordinarily popular blog post which was written by an anonymous woman who sees herself as a highly educated, theologically...
View ArticleWhen an “anyone but Hillary” is married to an “anyone but Donald” part five
We have a 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter visiting for a while with her parents. Keep in mind that this blended couple claims eleven children and twelve grandchildren, so having relatives visiting is a...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: how do I practice Sabbath today?
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: You know how the Jews in the Bible were forbidden to work on the Sabbath? If I want to practice the Sabbath today, what is considered “work?” Would folding laundry be work? What...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: Did the UMC really elect a lesbian Bishop? A...
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: My question: I have been an active member of the United Methodist church for years. I know that the discipline is supposedly BIBLICALLY BASED but the recent appointment in...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: how did you escape your right-wing religious past?
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: To say the religious right wreacked havoc with my spiritual life would be an understatement. It has been several years since my wife and I made our exit from that world and we...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: Am I supposed to let someone hit me?
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: The Bible says to turn the other cheek when I am affronted. How do such words apply in a world full of radicalism, threats, rampant murders, bigotry and hate? How many...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: Can I use the Bible to convince my friends to vote...
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: Religion has a very unifying effect on its followers. Is it even possible to separate religion and politics (that govern our everyday lives)? The Bible is used to justify...
View ArticleEvangelicals, Trump and the Apostle Paul
It suddenly made sense to me. Evangelicals love Trump/Paul because it gives them an excuse to behave badly. I started reading Paul Behaving Badly: Was the Apostle a Racist, Chauvinist JERK? shortly...
View ArticleAsk the Thoughtful Pastor: Would Jesus give to panhandlers?
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: I have often wondered how we should handle panhandlers? Mostly I feel like it’s my job to be generous and let God sort it out but sometimes I feel like a schmuck when I give...
View Article