Blue Water Navy Vets

During 10 years of the war in Vietnam the United States sprayed approximately 20 million gallons of Agent Orange over Indochina. In 1991 Congress approved the Agent Orange Act of 1991 to provide full medical coverage for Vietnam veterans suffering from a litany of chronic diseases related to Agent Orange exposure. In 2002 the VA …

The path of peace

Follow the peace that conquers this world ​Thursday marked the 36th annual World Peace Day, a day dedicated to promoting peace among young people worldwide. World Peace Day was somewhat offset by the president’s speech to the U.N. on Tuesday, in which he threatened to “totally destroy North Korea,” and the redoubled efforts of North …

Harvest time

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38 NRSV From the beginning …

Happiness: a matter of balance and focus

What would make an entire group of people -- an entire state, even -- collectively unhappy? Conversely, what could be done individually to reverse this trend, and to find contentment and peace in an environment characterized by discontent and angst? I set out to answer these trivial questions yesterday after reading a report that listed …

9/11: Daring to dream of a better world

This post is a transcript of an address I gave this morning at my daughter's school, Emerson Middle School in Enid, Okla. I was reluctant to speak on this topic, but the topics we're reluctant to face are the ones we must face. I pray my words had some meaning for them, and that they …

Praise in surrender

“Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Mark 7:6-8 NRSV In this brief passage Jesus is speaking …

The sun shade epiphany

Sometimes the most significant revelations in life are made at the urging of seemingly insignificant events. Such was the case last year when I resolved a deepening depression and self-loathing with the sudden realization that I desperately needed to quit my job. An epiphany, an instance of sudden clarity, can happen to anyone, often at …

The most segregated hour

    ENID, Okla. — More than half a century after Martin Luther King, Jr. called 11 a.m. on Sunday the most segregated hour in America, eighty percent of the nation’s congregations still are made up of predominantly one race. That statistic is slowly shifting toward more diverse congregations — in 2012 all-white congregations made …

Poisoning the Body of Christ: The Nashville Statement

Much attention has been given this week to the Nashville Statement, a manifesto on sexuality published Tuesday by the evangelical Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW). I disagree with the CBMW statement. I affirm that all human beings, regardless of sexual orientation, are made in the image of God, all are loved by God, all …