Liminality

As Christians we have the joy and responsibility this Advent season to take that which we were made for (heaven) to all that we meet. We get to bring heaven to those who need it. This, however, is very hard for us because we are not trained to think of heaven. Instead, we think about Sunday afternoon naps, football, buying new electronics on Black Friday, watching the sunrise with a blanket and a cup of Joe, or eating ice cream on the beach. But heaven, well that is strange for us to think about. I guess it is because we are so removed from the notion that Jesus might actually come back – we look to meet our needs elsewhere. If Matthew 24:36 tells us anything . . . it tells us that we as Christians should be the most concerned about heaven. For it could appear in its entirety any day. Yet this is the problem with Western Christianity. We’ve lost sight of heaven. We don’t think about it. We don’t treat our days with the abandonment it deserves. We don’t a...

Over the past semester I have been consumed with different voices of nonviolence. This past month I came across an advocacy group known as Two Futures Project. Their mission is to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and to get states to disarm the current ones. Their website is http://twofuturesproject.org/ . Here is a synopsis from their website on why it is important for Christians to care about the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons: There are an estimated 20,000 nuclear weapons in the world today. Russia and the United States of America share roughly 95% of them. The United Kingdom, France, and China have several hundred while Israel, India and Pakistan come in a close third. North Korea is next with a handful of nuclear weapons and about three dozen countries have adequate, manufacturing facilities. In short, planet Earth is full of pointed bombs that contain life-altering, world-ending power. A nuclear bomb is relatively small by modern measurements. But its size h...

In the late 1300s Geoffrey Chaucer coined the phrase, “All good things must come to an end.” This phrase means more to me right now than it ever has before. This week is my last week as pastor at Union Baptist Church in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Out of all my accomplishments, opportunities, and memories, pastoring UBC has been one of, if not, the best. For three years I have traveled alongside this community of grace through celebrations such as birthday parties, weddings, worship services, homecomings, Fall Festivals, baptisms, and so much more. I have also traveled alongside more sincere moments of pain, tragedy, and anguish; for I have counseled families through deaths, hardships, work-related problems, spirit-related inquiries, sadness, depression, anger, surgeries, confusion, and even wonderment. Collectively, these shared stories, these real and emotionally significant memories, have shaped who I am and how I see myself in the world. This decision to leave UBC do...

It was my junior year at Belmont. All of us baseball players just got out of practice and were coming out of the locker rooms when we decided to go into the basketball arena to watch the Atlantic Sun Women’s Volleyball Tournament. Belmont was hosting the tourney and we knew that our girls were playing. We walked in and sat right on the floor. I noticed that Belmont was up and it was game point in the third game (best out of five) and Belmont had taken the first two games. This meant that the upcoming point was match point, and the opposing team was serving. And a time-out was called on the court. I found a roster for both teams lying on the ground; I picked it up and began to look over the names for the opposing team. I found who I was looking for. Somebody’s precious little daughter was serving. And she was a senior. I realized at that moment if this little sweetheart loses this point the match and her career are both over. A hush fell over the crowd as the sw...