To believe in the God Jesus shows — who joins those who suffer in solidarity, and whose mission is to bend the world toward justice — DOESN’T require you to feel optimistic.
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What does it mean to be fearfully and wonderfully made? (Psalm 139) From a lens of judgment, scriptures like this are a weapon for controlling marginalized bodies. From a lens of love, they speak to God's companionship in the complexity of our embodied experiences.
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Formed by things like reality tv, religious legalism, and even a little too much self help, we can often automatically take on a lens of judgment when looking at ourselves and those around us. Instead of falling into the trap of comparison, can we adjust our vision to see more clearly through a lens of compassion?
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This is Vince's last Sunday on the mic for a month. He offers some pastoral comments for the moment.
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For our Easter reflection this year, Hayley is struck by the opening line from the Gospel of John's telling of Mary Magdalene's visit to Jesus' tomb on Easter morning: "While it was still dark..." (Art: "42. Resurrection" by He Qi)
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Any uncomfortable feelings and thoughts you may be carrying are NOT distractions from you observing Good Friday; they are the reasons to observe it. We hope this brief reflection and prayer in consideration of Jesus on the Cross helps you to experience the Cross as “solidarity” and “breaking cycles of blame and revenge” (rather than as “substitution” or “punishment”).
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You are not alone if you find it inconsistent, problematic, or shaming the way Jesus’ crucifixion is presented as “substitution” in the vast majority of American churches (as though God needs someone to be punished, and Jesus “substitutes” himself for us, who really deserve the punishment). As we begin Holy Week this Lent, we offer some ways to shift your consideration of Jesus’ crucifixion away from “substitution” and toward two other things: “solidarity”, and “breaking cycles of revenge”.
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60% of American adults believe in the idea of soulmates, according to a recent YouGov poll. But romance can be a fickle, crappy, unforgiving thing to put one’s trust in. Unfortunately, much of American religion reinforces the belief that to be single is to be incomplete. How can a community like BLC counter such beliefs?
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Purity culture (making "acceptance from God" dependent on White American Evangelicalism's specific ideas on sexual ethics and gender identities) peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s, and still has a massive impact today. Is there a way outside of purity culture to find God's help in developing a healthy sexual ethic? We believe so!
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Christian supremacy is very much linked to the other supremacies our world is talking about (white supremacy, national supremacy), but it’s sometimes given a pass because of an interpretation of Jesus’ words: “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Is there another way to interpret Jesus’ words? Is there a way to wholly give oneself to the tradition of Jesus and not end up a Christian Supremacist? We think so!
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