and cruelty. Hence this administration’s braggadocio about death, its officials’ memes about suffering, their promises to inflict pain on America’s enemies followed by scant rationales for their own policies.

sorrows over war, indulges in no bombast, accepts that both sides in a conflict have sinned and declares that we must fight “with malice toward none, with charity for all.” For a nation devoted to the lust for domination, a president needs to foster a citizenry that thrills in displays of dominance

Here’s mine from Thanksgiving. Basically just removing the backbone and laying it flat.

He is our friend who stays closer than a brother and who ministers to us in our deepest need.

"is sick" - simple acknowledgment of what is broken.

How often do we irritably present our requests as though Jesus were a customer service rep who clearly got the order wrong?

Mary and Martha consider Jesus a friend. They humbly ask for help. Jesus is not a vending machine for what we want.

Bonus: Paid subscribers get further opportunities throughout the year as members of the 🌎 Ends & Means Community.

Yeah, it does seem plausible as a scenario. But when the SBC rep denied that a meeting took place that pretty much negates the anonymous pastors. And it's hard to imagine this one reporter got 3 DOJ anonymous sources from different New England states.

I haven’t found confirmation of this story anywhere else. And the journalism is suspicious to me. Read with caution.

Really interesting. I agree with you on MT Esther. I’ve written on how to harmonize languages and cultures in one church rather than assimilating. Assimilation maintains the cultural blinders of the dominant group and erases the identities of the minority group. Thanks for sharing your work.