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Off The Fence – A Quest For God

by Patricia Spencer, taken from her book How to Survive Suicide: What nobody told me about how to survive losing my son to suicide, available on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com Note from Mary: This article, written by my dear friend Patty Spencer, is from the above-mentioned book. It presents such excellent concepts re God and science…

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The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief

July 19, 2020, Note from Mary: I listened to this broadcast in my car today (CBC Radio: Tapestry) and felt the content was so powerful that I wanted to share it with any who might be questioning whether there is “a God”.  This is about faith and science, and has nothing to do with being…

Tempted

Original Article Posted on Journey With Jesus Webzine Used with Permission and Much Gratitude By Debie Thomas. Posted 23 February 2020. For Sunday March 1, 2020 Lectionary Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, Year A) Genesis 2:15-17, 3, 1-7 Psalm 32 Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11 On this first Sunday in Lent, we follow Jesus into the wilderness,…

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The Inevitability of the Rise of Liberal Christianity

It is inevitable that Christians who would now be described as “liberal” will be the overwhelming majority of Christians in America. That sea change, the waters of which we already feel swelling everywhere around us, can no sooner be stopped than can the moon passing across the night sky. Today’s conservative evangelical Christians who are…

Queering Luther

Note: The son of two Lutheran pastors, Vaughn Roste is a Canadian who has worshipped and worked in Episcopalian, Presbyterian, United and Christian Reformed Churches, but his current employment is teaching at a United Methodist College. He has visited five continents and lived on four of them, holds three degrees in two different areas (theology…

James Dobson Slammed By Professor For Distorting Her Research In Time Magazine Article On Mary Cheney’s Pregnancy

‘I was mortified to learn that you had distorted my work,’ NYU Professor Carol Gilligan Tells Focus on the Family Leader in Blistering Letter. Miami Beach, FLA. – New York University educational psychologist Carol Gilligan, PhD, today slammed Focus on the Family leader, James C. Dobson, for “twisting” and “distorting” her research in a guest…

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Thoughts on Hell and God’s Grace Part 1 – H.E. Double Toothpicks

Maybe I should ease into this post by doing my usual schtick of rambling around the edges before getting to the point, and there are times, believe it or not, when opinionated and straightforward me taps lightly around my beliefs because I know for those located in, or coming from, a conservative Christian tradition as…

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Thoughts on Hell and God’s Grace Part 2 – The Long and Winding Road that Leads Absolutely No Where!

Part 1 if you missed it As mentioned in my last post, my initial experimentation at blogging on my new bright and shiny iPad was less than successful, at least in addressing the topic of “Sin, Salvation and A Savior” as I had originally intended. On the other hand, had my goal been to make…

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Thoughts on Hell and God’s Grace Part 3 – Sin, Salvation, and The Savior

Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them Memo to Self: Skip the witty lead-in. Pass on the relevant but lengthy personal anecdote. Don’t bother with an introduction that ends up longer than the actual post. For once would you just get to the point. These people have other things to do, you know….

“Coming Out”

“Coming out of the closet” (very often shortened to “coming out” in winking reference to the public introduction of debutantes) describes the voluntary public announcement of one’s (often homosexual or bisexual) sexual orientation, sexual attractions, gender identity, or paraphilia. Being “out” means not concealing these characteristics. Being “outed” refers to having these characteristics made public…

Can Men Breastfeed?

Odd as it seems, men can lactate. In their 1896 book, Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, Dr. George Gould and Dr. Walter Pyle recount several occurrences of men breastfeeding their young. The stories include a sailor who put his son to his breast to quiet him and started producing milk; a South American peasant who…

Interview With Archbishop Bruce J. Simpson

Recently I had the pleasure of having a virtual chat with Archbishop Bruce J. Simpson of the Old Catholic Church, a known champion for the reconciliation of the GLBTI community with an inclusive faith. This interview coincides with the release of his first book, an autobiography of sorts, The Gay Face of God.  The book itself…

This Gay Teacher Had The Best Response To A Christian Mom Who Pulled Her Kids From His Class

Michael Neri is a drama teacher in England, and he’s pretty popular. His Talking Props Theatre School that he set up in 2014 had a good enough reputation for a Christian woman to sign her kids up. But when she learned that Neri is gay, she texted him to pull the kids out. Her reason?…

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University Offers a Free Ride to Gay Teen Abandoned by Parents

Jacksonville, Fla. student Seth Owen, 18, had a 4.16 GPA and all the promise of the future. He just had no money to make it a reality. After his parents kicked him out of the house for being gay, he was on his own. That’s when the town chipped in to help fund his college…

Wine and Wafer as Weapons? The Politics of Holy Communion

Seems that every election cycle, there’s an unholy alliance of politicians and fundamentalist religious leaders who unite to attack the LGBT community. Well, here we go again. In its latest incarnation, there’s a movement – an epidemic, actually – of religious leaders who have lost sight of religion’s most noble goals. This time they’re using…

Ten Reasons Why the ELCIC Should Accept LGBTQ Clergy

(or all mainline Protestants, or all Christendom, for that matter) Yes, indeed. There is a strong possibility that the ELCIC (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada) will be voting on this possibility at its annual convention this summer. What is this church coming to? An understanding, I hope. I hope the church is coming to an…