Carol Service - Birmingham-Southern College Alumni Choir

 In case you missed it, here’s a link to the Carol Service this year, featuring the Birmingham-Southern College Alumni Choir.

It was televised on APT. It is my joy to sing with this esteemed choir.

Open Letter

I’m sending this to those who represent me as well as sharing this with you as an open letter.

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Dear Senator/Congressman,

I am writing to express my dismay regarding the military strike on the “drug boat” from Venezuela this week. This was clearly illegal and immoral.

I am certainly not defending drugs or their transport.  But as a nation, we have a moral obligation to tackle problems in ways that are better than this. These men were human beings, and my faith teaches they were created in the image of God. They were not given any sort of due process such as being arrested, tried, and convicted for their alleged crimes. In addition, an effectual death penalty enacted by the military is not at all an appropriate level of punishment for drug transportation.

Ethically, this constitutes murder, not casualty of war. Even war has rules, and this was indiscriminate killing. A better alternative would have been to arrest them. If we can go to the trouble and expense of drone strikes, we can do something more ethically sound to deal with the problem.

Please do whatever you can, as our Alabama representative, to confront the atmosphere of violence and hostility created by the present day populism and disregard for human beings whether they be immigrants, people of other countries, political foes, and yes, proposed criminals.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Steve West

Minister, chaplain, and citizen of Alabama

Dear Phobic Christians …

(Reflecting on a post by John Pavlovitz reposted below)

It’s amazing how people can be so obsessed over culture war issues that the gospels never even mention … except of course Jesus’ reminder that there are people who are born queer:

“For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth.”

Matthew 19:12a

(A couple of people questioned my scholarship and one said “eunuch” refers to either someone who is castrated or who is “unmarried or impotent.” My responses are below.)

A eunuch in Jesus’ time could refer to a man who had been castrated to serve in positions of trust (such as a harem attendant or royal official) but also could refer to a man who lacked sexual desire for women or had ambiguous sexual characteristics. This is supported by the text itself, otherwise Jesus saying some are “Eunuchs from birth” makes no sense especially when you read the rest of the text around it.

Yes, I am using the word queer properly. Most of your scholarship is accurate, except the idea that the word eunuch here refers to either castrated or “unmarried or impotent” men. This fails to consider that they were guards of the royal harem, so that is whitewashed linguistics. They would have to be completely disinterested in women, otherwise they could not be trusted with this task. “Unmarried” men is who they were protecting the harem from! Assuming they are “unmarried or impotent” doesn’t cut it because Jesus is saying some people are born that way. All people are born unmarried, not some, and impotence develops and is not a term used for a condition from birth. The only explanation, then, of what Jesus is saying (since you can’t be born castrated) is that some men are disinterested in women from birth. Hence, queer in some way. I stand by my scholarship.

The original article from John Pavlovitz is below:

https://johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/dear-phobic-christians-love-lgbtq

Thoughts from 2 Timothy Chapter 1

13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.

The older I get, the more I have seen that if you follow Christ the best you know how, somebody’s not going to like it!

As a young pastor 30 years ago, I was shocked when I encountered opposition! . How could this happen if I just preached the Word and loved people?

While I was naive about this, over the years I have seen the Bible is not naive about this at all. The Bible is an honest book. I began to see it sprinkled throughout the New Testament. Whether it’s about a person’s personality or politics, it’s real. Sometimes I need gentle correction, sure. At other times, it says more about “them” than about me.

The remedy? It’s right here when Paul was coaching young Timothy and talking about his own examples of those who deserted him vs. those who stayed with him. He starts,

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.”

Stick to the apostle’s teachings, with faith (trust in the grace at work whether you see it or not), and most of all deeply immersed in the love of Christ. Somehow, it all seems to work out. And when it’s tough, the good news is we’ve got plenty of company in the Bible and among the saints. Our struggle puts us in touch with the bigger picture of how the Spirit is moving in the world.

Bless you all.

The Lord’s Prayer Misused

 I’ve just confirmed with my own eyes that the “Secretary of War” of our nation released a video on social media of himself praying the Lord’s Prayer, with dramatic music and U.S. militaristic and nationalistic images (bombs, planes, salutes, etc.) playing in the background.

I thought it must be some kind of AI generated hoax. I wouldn’t believe it if I had not watched it myself on his social media. It’s for real and it sickens me.

This is a complete abomination to isr this prayer dear to Christian faith for such purposes as to exalt the military. I must speak out with the strongest protest possible!!!

Do not assimilate Christian liturgy, set forth by the Prince of Peace, for militaristic purposes. Ever.

It’s not okay. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, just Google it.

God Changes His Mind

Did you know God changes his mind?

Exodus 32:12, 14

“Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people … And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.”

This text makes us uncomfortable, frankly, because we’re so conditioned to think of God as an immutable and unchanging. Yet the witness of scripture is clear that God changed his mind.

The people had been fickle. They had built golden calves while Moses was up on the mountain, establishing a covenant with God. God had every right to be angry.

Yet Moses was the great intercessor of intercessors. He reminded God of God‘s promises. And God changed his mind.

God didn’t change his mind because he’s fickle, or because he’s forgetful. God changed his mind because he is faithful. God is faithful to God’s promises.

What does this say about the possibilities for our prayer lives? May we pray like Moses. Prayer is not about manipulating God. However, there’s something about lifting before God the things God already knows that gets us in touch with the blessings of God’s promises.

One lady once told me that when she prays, she reminds God that God promised never to leave her or forsake her. By jove, I think she’s got it. 

Have a blessed day.

Remember

I’m aware today’s 9/11, and we will see all sorts of reminders to REMEMBER.  Here’s a text and thought for you today.

Genesis 8:1-4 reads: 

“But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.”

God remembered Noah? Had God forgotten? What?!?

The Old Testament word translated “remember” is “zakar,” a term that signifies more than just recalling a memory. It is bringing something to mind with the intention of taking action and acting in accordance with a promise. When the Bible uses “zakar,” it involves engaging in an activity that remembrance requires.

God “remembering” Noah doesn’t mean his family had slipped God’s mind. It means God intentionally brought it to mind in order to act on his promise, in keeping with God’s grace.

As Christians, we celebrate communion “in remembrance” of the risen Christ. The Greek word is “anamnesis,” a different word entirely. But it’s also about more than recall. It’s about experiencing Christ anew, bringing the story to life in our present reality. It’s not just a reminder, or just some object lesson about sin and forgiveness. It’s about bringing the self-giving love Christ to mind in a way that becomes a means of grace.

Remembering is not just about “never forgetting.” It’s about bringing things to mind in a way that calls us to action, and more importantly, allows grace to wash over us.

So let us remember who we are, and whose we are. Have a great day.