I first saw Sarah McCammon on 60 Minutes on March 24, 2024. She was promoting her book, The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church. I was hoping for some insights into evangelicals. Sarah delivered. My first finding: The Evangelicals are more of a cult than a religion. One of their primary missions ... Read more The post New Insights first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more

Annie and I went to see the fiftieth anniversary of the professional stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar on January 20, 2024. The show was outstanding. The whole time I was tapping my foot and singing along with the music, which brought back many warm memories. In 1970, a concert version of this production was ... Read more The post Jesus Christ Superstar first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more

I have no idea why the book By All Means Available was even on my Kindle. I didn’t know the author or the title, which didn’t attract me. The only aspect that might have interested me was that the author was in the special forces. As a former Marine, I still seem to be intrigued ... Read more The post What Makes a Strong Democracy first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more

Thursday was probably a good day for Jesus until late in the evening. He celebrated Passover dinner with his twelve best friends, and then they went out to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. Good turned to bad when his “friend” Judas, the betrayer, arrived with soldiers, who arrested Jesus on the grounds of sedition ... Read more The post What’s So Good about Good Friday? first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more

He is a narcissist, pathological liar, misogynist, racist, cheater (on his wives, taxes, business associates, and employees for starters), vengeful and crude person, opportunist, wannabe dictator, conspiracist, insurrectionist (he even led one against his own country), and phony with ninety-one felony counts. Oh yes, he was the forty-fifth president of the United States and the ... Read more The post How? And Why? first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more

When I was a child, Ash Wednesday was a big deal. It was always preceded by the church’s annual Shrove (meaning “indulge”) Tuesday Pancake Supper. In New Orleans, it’s called Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras with parades and lots of loose lascivious living. Ash Wednesday (February 14, 2024) starts the Lenten season, a penitential time ... Read more The post Put Ash Wednesday in the Ash Can first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more

Almost on a daily basis I hear someone spout some churchy saying that makes me ask, “What does that even mean?” For example, some folks end a conversation with “Have a blessed day!” or “Have a bless’d day!” What does that mean? Is it better than “Have a good day”? Are they invoking their god ... Read more The post Enough Trite Sayings! first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more

On December 11, 2023, Annie and I went to the Kennedy Space Center to begin an unforgettable day of exploring space and theology. My deep thinking about my church’s theology and space began in 1958 the day after a very serious accident in which my best friend was killed and I was badly injured. The ... Read more The post My Trip into Space first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more

A couple months ago, I ran across a study—not scientific but still revealing—about retired clergy from mainline Christian ministries. There were three groupings: Those who affirm traditional theology and stay within the church. I was surprised that only 19 percent of retired clergy do this. Those who don’t affirm a traditional theology but participate in ... Read more The post What Happens to Retired Clergy? first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more

Impress your family and friends with this Christmas quiz. How many stories are there about the birth of Jesus? Some folks will say there are two stories of Jesus’s birth—Matthew and Luke—but there are actually three: the third (not in the New Testament) combines the first two and then adds new details (see below) not ... Read more The post Christmas Trivia first appeared on Peace Love Joy Hope ..read more