I have heard lament described as a language of prayer. Have you ever been in a foreign country and you didn’t speak the language? If you tried venturing away from your interpreter, guide, or the comfortable confines of your English-speaking resort, you quickly find yourself baffled and bewildered. You need a common language to connect and communicate. God gave us the language of lament when we are suffering and everything is falling apart around us. A language that acknowledges the state of the world we live in. If we don’t know this language, mostly because our church tradition has neglected it in favor of products that sell better, we will be baffled and bewildered when suffering hits us.
Psalm 9 Devotional – The God of the Oppressed
Oppression and injustice happen when a person or a group of people is deprived, usually by law or by force, of basic and equal rights that are allotted to others. Often oppression and injustice use categories of people to afflict their damages. For example, our country was founded and built on laws that allowed for the brutal killing and enslavement of blacks and Native Americans, with many laws explicitly benefiting white people by name. This is oppression and injustice. Refugees are oppressed by something going on in their home country that they are fleeing from in order to save their lives. This is often religious or ethnic persecution and is often related to wars or guerrilla warfare dangers. The oppressed are the ones under the boot of those with power. We get less comfortable talking about oppression and injustice when we start looking at the vast inequities in the United States between whites and people of color. It’s a lot easier to talk about oppression of biblical times and the distant past, but much more uneasy when it’s right under our nose and we may or may not even be aware of it or acknowledge it.
Podcast Ep. 10 (or 72) (Looking at all the facets of…) David Platt Prays for Donald Trump on the stage of a worship service
Episode 10 discusses the June 2nd scenario of Pastor David Platt praying for President Donald Trump from the stage of a McLean Bible Church worship service. You probably already have lots of predetermined feelings about this, so rather that write something that will make you listen (if you agree), or dismiss this (if you disagree), go ahead and listen and see if there’s a different way to approach topics like this than you are used to.
Serious Concerns About the Funny Babylon Bee
I’d be honored if the Babylon Bee made fun of me someday. That’d be a more meaningful “you’ve arrived” moment that the elusive blue check mark on Twitter. The concern I have with the Bee is they are recklessly making fun of and running over marginalized people in a way that dishonors Christ.
A Lament for a Church that Preaches Jesus
A lament My heart is heavy from a Bible that says defend the oppressed and a Church that says just preach Jesus. Just preach Jesus, but don’t preach anything he stood for or taught. I will leave your church if you do. Don’t preach about touching lepers or loving the poor or proclaiming liberty to […]
Gently Addressing 4 Misconceptions About Immigration & Refugees
I didn’t grow up around immigrants or refugees. When undocumented immigrants started coming across my news radar a few years ago, I was confused. I figured a person could just go to the Secretary of State’s office and apply for citizenship and be on their way, so why weren’t these immigrants doing just that? I […]