Open Blogging
If I dare to check the news in the morning (and I do) I invariably begin my day with feelings of anger and utter contempt for the current administration and all that support it.
“Cruel” and “stupid” are the favored descriptors in my mind.
My cats keep me able to still be somewhat gentle and remind me I’m capable of love…they also join me in quiet judgment of all that we encounter…that’s what cats are best at.
My problem is that I also pray and study first thing in the morning.
““You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.”
(Matthew 5:21-22 NLT-SE)
I could be in deep trouble…
I have a theory…
There is no doubt in my mind that God is displeased with the current state of affairs…the cruelty and the stupidity.
I think I’ve named both correctly.
My theory is that instead of simmering anger and contempt, God is calling on us to” lament”.
“Lament” involves;
- Turning to God – Even in despair, lament begins by addressing God directly.
- Bringing complaint – It names the pain honestly: injustice, loss, silence, or confusion.
- Asking boldly – Lament pleads for God’s intervention, healing, or justice.
- Choosing to trust – It ends with hope, affirming God’s character and promises.
Lament isn’t as emotionally satisfying as cursing or punching…but it is the way we’re called to hunger after righteousness.
What lament accomplishes;
- It forms community: Shared lament unites people in grief and hope.
- It invites healing: By naming sorrow, we open ourselves to God’s comfort.
- It shapes spiritual maturity: Lament is how faith grows in the soil of suffering.
That’s my theory…now, it’s all yours today
Thank you, Michael, for this reminder of lament. Each day, as I hear of the latest manifestation of evil, I utter words which I cannot type here. May God help us all to turn to Him rather than what simmers not far beneath the surface of our lives.
Amen,CK…I tend to peel the paint off the walls with my own verbiage…
One of the teacher/authors who helped me broaden my theological perspectives 10-15 years ago was Steve Gregg. His youtube videos contrasting views on both Hell and the book of The Revelation answered questions I had been struggling with.
As he started his work with CC ministries in the San Jose area, I was wondering how he is received here. I attended his morning Bible study a few times back in 2016-17 and found him a gracious and humble teacher of scripture.
He’s definitely unique, as he seems to hold views that are thought of as progressive (hopeful universalist and partial Preterist) alongside more fundamental ones (creationist/young earth). I’m pretty sure his political views would not align with this site, but I’m hopeful he sees the reality of what is happening.
I know, my comment has nothing to do with your post. I hope Open Blogging allows. I’m not trying to be controversial or stir the pot.
Terry,
I have some friends that are big Steve Gregg fans.
He seems to be humble and accessible…
One question…when do views become political instead of biblical?
I understand that my biblical interpretations touch the political…but they are grounded in Scripture and tradition.
There I go again, getting really angry at something Trump did or is threatening to do, when what is necessary first and foremost is cherishing and lamenting the time when president’s of the U.S. would never dream of threatening celebrities like Rosie O’Donnell — or ordinary citizens — with revocation of citizenship JUST BECAUSE HE DOESN’T LIKE WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT HIM AND HIS REGIME AND WHAT HE AND IT HAVE DONE TO THIS COUNTRY! For years the radical right has claimed they are the last protectors of free speech in America, but the truth is that, like their dictator and his regime, the only speech they want to protect is their own. They are liars and offspring of the Father of Lies. We need Willam Stringfellow to come back and perform a public exorcism of the entire regime…. and, at this point, the entire country, for that matter.
God help.
Michael – I only bring up politics because I’ve seen Steve get into some back and forth with people on social media. That, and because most of the guys at his morning study loved DJT and wouldn’t stop talking about him at the time.
Like you, I consider myself intentionally independent. But being in the middle usually means taking fire from both sides in the culture war. Also, people who align progressive or conservative theologically seem to align the same way politically as well. I can only think of one person I know who seems very left theologically and right politically. (They promote LGBTQ pastors and also support Trump!)
Marvelously prescient column from Easy McCauley on Xn resistance to ungodly and evil machinations from the current regime.
” The Christian Backlash Taking Hold”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/opinion/trump-republicans-christians.html
Esau not Easy!
bob1 – In the 50s-60s their was an NBA player named Easy Ed McCauley…
(I’m blocked by paywall to NY Times)
I sometimes wonder what and who I would be without all the accumulated and festering anger, fear, uncertainty, and self-deception of a lifetime hanging from me and living in me. What of me would be left if that stuff were stripped away? It’s not just the times we are living in, though they have done much to intensify and highlight all of that. But who am I without all of it? Who am I as a truly free person, free from all that death? I can’t imagine it, nor can I imagine the world similarly freed. Whatever I imagine always has that death clinging to and disfiguring it. I suppose I’ll know in the resurrection, but the waiting is so very hard, so full of more of the same I’m tired.
in a desolate corner
of the sleeping city —
bright desert flowers
“From these things therefore it is clear that the city-state is a natural growth, and that man is by nature a political animal, and a man that is by nature and not merely by fortune citiless is either low in the scale of humanity or above it … inasmuch as he is solitary, like an isolated piece at draughts” Aristotle
A SBC pastor I once worked with told me, “the church growth plan was a split.”
Some think the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy are laws leading to salvation. Even the 10 commandments are often seen in the same way. But when one spends time in these early books of the Bible one will find they are the building blocks/laws of a new Nation and world community. They are a constitution for people who came out of Egyptian rule to live and die under. Besides faith in God they help we evil and disorderly humans live with each other with grace and the ability to prosper as a Nation.
There really is no separation of politics and walking with God.
Hate Trump? I get it? Hate politics? I do too, but it is part of who we are.
Terry — I recently started listening to Steve Gregg, on YouTube. I got a notification from him a couple days ago that he plans to debate Michael Brown in November. The problem is that Brown is a scoundrel. So commenters are begging him not to do it. Apparently Steve either doesn’t read or doesn’t respond there. Do you see anything on other social media?
The fact that Rosie O’Donnell (and her parents) was born in United States means Trump cannot strip her of her citizenship. PERIOD. No matter how much this bully spews his bull**** and how much his cult followers say amen. I say we should strip Melania Trump of her citizenship since she came to the US under false pretenses and worked while not being authorized.
I guess cruelty is the point.
But it’s gotten really old. And wearying.
Let’s give him the anti-Nobel Prize.
“Why the Trump Administration Is About to Set Fire to 500 Tons of Emergency Food”
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-administration-destroy-500-tons-emergency-food-1235386525/
That’s enough food to feed 1.5 million children for a week.