Category Archives: For the Bride

​A Basic Affirming Bibliography On Human Sexuality Below are books which have shaped my theology of human sexuality.  The list began as an attempt to gather biblical references, but in the course of doing so, I realized that a full orbed … Continue reading →

​If I were asked to name the #1 struggle that LGBTQ+ people have, I would say it is their struggle to believe God loves them.  If I were asked to name why they have this struggle, I would say because … Continue reading →

I begin new posts for this occasional series with “Holy Sexuality” because it is a broad topic in our society, and it is a particular topic under consideration at The General Conference of The United Methodist Church that begins today … Continue reading →

Here is a synopsis of my journey since 2014 of to being an ally with the LGBTQ+ community… I met some of you last evening at First UMC Orlando for the first time, and you asked about my journey to … Continue reading →

Here is the link to my presentation last evening at First UMC in Orlando, Florida on.the subject, “All Means All: The Bible’s Affirmation of LGBTQ+ Persons”… https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CyHF3CCRvPs Here is the handout/outline given to those who were present… “All Means All: … Continue reading →

Following last night’s event at First United Methodist Church in Orlando, I am resuming posts in this “For the Bride” category. Previous posts were essentially expansions on things I wrote about in my book, ‘For the Sake of the Bride’ … Continue reading →

August is one of the months that I cease posting and take a break from writing.  “For the Bride” will resume on September 11th.

Today, I end my comments on the practice of non-judgment.  Like the earlier posts on the principle of love, I am sure there is much more that could be said about this important topic, but I will let what I … Continue reading →

The early Christians recognized they were stewards of a great Mystery–the Mystery that had within it power to give life or to deal death.  Whether the Mystery did one or the other depended on how they used the Law. In … Continue reading →

Douglas Burton-Christie calls the early Christians’ refusal to be judgmental  a “hermeneutical act” (The Word in the Desert, p. 280).  He means that the early Christians took Matthew 7:1 with utter seriousness.  To refrain from judgment was to trust the … Continue reading →

Jesus lamented that too many people had eyes to see, but did not see (Mark 8:18).  The early Christians believed that one manifestation of spiritual blindness was judgmentalism. When healed by grace, restored spiritual eyesight would see possibilities in other … Continue reading →

In his book, The Word in the Desert, Douglas Burton-Christie notes that the early Christians realized how easily they could deceive themselves into thinking they could know the condition of another person’s heart, and thus accurately pass judgment on them. … Continue reading →

The church’s perrennial call to repentance is rooted in our belief in God’s willingness and ability to forgive sin.  Judgmentalism was, however, eschewed by the early Christians because they believed it was a diminishment of that belief. One of the … Continue reading →

The early Christians linked judgmentalism and hypocrisy.  They did so because they observed that those who became judgmental became increasingly less self-aware.  They could fancy themselves as being righteous while pointing out another’s unrighteousness.  It is the attitude we have … Continue reading →

Early Christians believed that being judgmental put them in the lowest level of spirituality, so they went to (what seems to us today) extraordinary means to avoid it. An old monk named Nau told his community what to do: “If … Continue reading →

The title of today’s post is often found at zoos, public parks, and other places where animals are found.  The sign could have been placed in the hermit caves and monastic communities of early Christianity. These Christians believed that judgmentalism … Continue reading →

Continuing our exploration of early Christianity, we move from the principle of love to the practice of non-judgment, which is the application of love in situations and toward people who do not seem to deserve it.  When we read the … Continue reading →

When Paul wrote that love is “the more excellent way”–that it “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things”–and that it is greater than faith or hope, he was doing all he could to say … Continue reading →

We have spent an extended period of time considering the way of love in early Christianity, revealing that it was the virtue which defined and directed the inner life and outer witness of the desert fathers and mothers. I will … Continue reading →

Rarely do all three weekly writings here on Oboedire revolve around the same theme, but they do this week.  The theme of freedom has woven its way naturally into each post, quite apart from any advance or deliberate plan on … Continue reading →

A look at the early desert mothers and fathers reveals that the kind of love we are describing came at great cost.  Far from being quick and easy, it was prolonged and challenging.  And far from being cheap grace, it … Continue reading →

The desert Christians were earthy folk, perhaps in large measure because of the environment in which they worshipped and worked.  While some of the Church’s best theology comes from the early-Christian era, it is almost always expressed through a tangible … Continue reading →

An emotion-driven concept of love draws back from thinking of love as a commandment.  But the withdrawal is based on two false assumptions:  that we love (or not) on the basis of how we feel, and/or that love is a … Continue reading →

The shadow of the Cross has cast itself into this week, reminding us that love is a struggle.  We have so sentimentalized love that we view it almost exclusively as an emotion.  So, if we feel like loving someone, we … Continue reading →

Today, we see the apex of love–the Cross.  In what was for many of us one of the first  verses we learned after becoming Christians (John 3:16) we saw that God “gave his only-begotten son.” This includes the entirety of … Continue reading →

Years ago, I heard Richard Foster say that prayer is to the spiritual life what experimentation is to science.  In early Christianity, the monastic communities understood this, and they practiced prayer in an “ask, seek, knock” spirit.  We have come … Continue reading →

The schools of love established by the early Christians made the curriculum of love concrete.  While they could engage in deep studies about love and participate in inspiring conversations about love, eventually they had to love a real person. Love, … Continue reading →

The early Christians made love the essence of holiness, and practicing it in community meant there were almost unlimited ways to express love to others: gestures, facial expressions, simple acts of charity–what Brother Lawrence would later call “little things for … Continue reading →

The last time I was on retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky, I noticed the community had published a new brochure about themselves, their ministries, their daily schedule, etc.  It was entitled, “A School of Love.” When I … Continue reading →

In early Christianity the synonymn for love was perfection.  Far from being a psychologized word (which could become pathological perfectionism), it was deeply theological–the best synonym the early Christians could find to describe when our lives are most like God. … Continue reading →

When we turn the last page of the New Testament and move from the biblical era to the early Christian period, the next page in the book of history is not blank.  The first page of the Didache reads thus… … Continue reading →

When we move into early Christianity (from the close of the New Testament to roughly 550 a.d.), we discover that the three pillars were embraced to give shape to the spirituality of the early Christians, who would soon evolve into … Continue reading →

The pivotal passages have opened the way for me, and others, to look at key biblical passages concerning human sexuality with fresh eyes, but when new interpretations emerge, the almost-immediate outcry is to accuse those holding them of accommodating the … Continue reading →

Today, I share those passages which have led me to advocate the process of holy conversation… –passages that refer to assemblies –Jesus’ conversations with his disciples –Acts 1:12–2:1 –Acts 2:42 ff –Acts 10:1–11:18; Acts 15 –Paul’s epistles as examples of … Continue reading →

Today, I share some passages which have led me to advocate the practice of non-judgment… Ps 62:3-4 Ps 75:7. (and the host of related OT passages) Mt 7:1 Mk 9:42 Acts 10:28 Romans 2:1-5 Romans 14:10 1 Cor 4:5 2 … Continue reading →

No matter where you stand on the agreement/disagreement spectrum relative to my book, it is essential for you to know that I have come to my position based on the revelation of Scripture. I have established my emphasis regarding love, … Continue reading →

As we carry this theme into the new year, it has been nearly nine months since I wrote ‘For the Sake of the Bride: Restoring the Church to Her Intended Beauty.’  As I watch the conversations among Christians remain contentious, … Continue reading →

This post resumes next Friday, January 9th.

“For the Bride” is on Christmas Break.  It returns next week, January 9th.

“For the Bride” is on a Christmas break.  It resumes on January 9th.

Buildings stand because of their infrastructure, what Jesus called “the good foundation.”  As we conclude our brief look at the place of hermeneutics in the human sexuality debate, I will stay with Wesley’s sermon “The Catholic Spirit” one more time. … Continue reading →

I want to continue to use Wesley’s sermon, “Catholic Spirit,” to shed further light on our continuing exploration of honoring and being the Bride of Christ today. I repeat that the basis for all this is orthodoxy.  Not everyone will … Continue reading →

Hermeneutics enables us to claim the key distinction necessary for fellowship–the distinction between doctrine and opinion–between what is primary and what is secondary.  Until we are willing to do this, we have little hope for charitable discourse, or a fully … Continue reading →

Since last April, when I wrote ‘For the Sake of the Bride,’ I have read more on the subject of human sexuality than during any comparable period in my life.  Maybe it is the scholar in me, but I have … Continue reading →

Continuing our exploration of hermeneutics, we come to realize that our concept of God largely determines how we view the Christian message.  If we view God as essentially angry with us (even if it is righteous indignation), we will almost … Continue reading →

Last week, I introduced the theme of hermeneutics–an indispensable topic if we are to understand the basis of our contemporary debate regarding human sexuality.. What hermeneutics rightly tells us is that the issue is not about who is “biblical,” but … Continue reading →

I grew up before Legos were around, but when I was a child, I had wooden blocks.  They came in different colors, with letters, numbers, animals, and symbols on the various sides.  It was easy to spend long amounts of … Continue reading →

I have to admit there are days when the candle for preserving unity in the Church burns low in my soul.  Some appear to have already concluded that schism is the only way forward.  Others seem to yearn for continuing … Continue reading →

Like many of you, I am following as carefully as I can the situation currently existing between Dr. David Gushee and notable colleagues within and beyond the Southern Baptist Convention.  I am doing this, in part, because it is good … Continue reading →