Movies of 2012: The Good, the Bad & Ugly

As I sat on the couch with my daughters last night night we got onto the subject of movies of the past year.  So just what were the the best movies of the year? What were the ones we thought were ok? And which ones just plain stunk ... here is a list between two teenage girls and myself.The Best Movies of the Year 10) Brave9) Men in Black III8) Cowboys & Aliens7) Batman - The Dark Knight Rises6) Hunger Games5) Red Tails 4) The Hobbit: Unexpected...

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Shepherds & Trough's: Looking at Christmas with Luke's Eyes

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Blessing God? Very Brief Thoughts on Ps 103

Christians, and Jews, often sing "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name" (Ps 103.1, NRSV).  This is in fact not an uncommon train of thought in Scripture.  The entirety of Psalm 134 revolves around blessing God."Come, bless the LORD all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night int he house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the holy place,and bless the LORD!May the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth,bless...

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Christmas is Made for BOOKS!! A 2012 Reader's List

"Give me a man or woman who has read a thousand books and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a man or woman who has read perhaps three and you give me a dangerous enemy indeed." - Anne Rice"We read to know we are not alone" - C. S. Lewis"Books are to be called for and supplied on the assumption that the process of reading is not a half-sleep; but in the highest sense an exercise, a gymnastic struggle; that the reader is to do something...

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Love: The Road Less Traveled, Jn 13.1-17

A word about this post.  The following is the text of a sermon I was invited to preach at the Bell Flower Missionary Baptist Church in Grenada, MS on February 14, 1999.  The occasion was a "Community Praise & Worship Service" in the middle of the month of love and Black History Month. Belle Flower M.B. Church is a historic church in Grenada, MS.  It is the oldest historically black church in the city, it was host to Martin Luther...

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American Empire: A Very Brief History of Our Imperialism

Opening Quote"The history of the United States shows that in spite of the varying trend of the foreign policy of succeeding administrations, this Government has interposed or intervened in the affairs of other states with remarkable regularity, and it may be anticipated that the same general procedure will be followed in the future." (- U.S. Marine Corps, Small Wars Manual, 1940)Entering Where Angels Fear to TreadI realize at the outset, that my...

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A Black Intellectual Writes to Thomas Jefferson

The Colors of LibertyOn July 4, 1776 explosive words from Thomas Jefferson captured the hearts of men and women, white and black, in the British Colonies in America.  Those words read, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." These words set the world ablaze not only with war...

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Embracing Differences for the Sake of Unity: Some Theological Reflections

The ancient philosopher, Aristotle, was quoted as saying "Birds of a feather flock together."  This seems to be his way of saying that people of similar ethnic, racial or class backgrounds tend to congregate together.  Even in the church of God, whose members in theory are "neither Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all" (Col 3.11), tends to be the most segregated...

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