What's Tony Thinking

Advent and Grace

November 28, 2022 — Advent, the four Sunday season before Christmas, brings grace in two ways. First, it reminds us that we aren’t yet in full-on holiday mode. Advent is a time of preparation, though that preparation has a different quality than the world around us now observes. Following Thanksgiving, it is as if a switch has been flipped... Read More

First Sunday of Advent from San Miguel

November 27, 2022 — Can We Really Believe In a Second Coming? Matthew 24: 36 – 44 November 27, 2022 The First Sunday of Advent Can we, do we, really believe in the Second Coming? The liturgy for Holy Communion includes these words, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” Do we believe it? It is... Read More

Fast Takes Before the Holiday

November 23, 2022 — Maybe we should all go to a gay bar this weekend? There have been some excellent and thought-provoking stories related to the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs. One that appeared in the New York Times was an eloquent and outraged lament titled “This Holiday I’m going to a Gay Bar.”Maybe we all should, as... Read More

From A Distance, America

November 21, 2022 — Sometimes when you’re right in the middle of something, it can be difficult to see it with clarity. When you get some distance on a situation you may be able to see it more clearly. For now, life has given me some distance on my native land. As regular readers of this blog know I... Read More

My November 20th Sermon in San Miguel

November 20, 2022 — What King Is This? Texts: Colossians 1: 11 – 20, Luke 23: 33 – 4 (If you prefer to view the video of the sermon, here’s the link) After I sent my draft of this week’s Order of Worship to Luke Rich so that he might prepare it for the printer, Luke sent a message... Read More

Here Come the “Nons”

November 17, 2022 — In recent years a lot of the reporting on patterns of religious affiliation in the U.S. has focused on “the Nones,” the growing number of people who check “none” for religious affiliation on the U.S. Census. But the other group that is growing, and is now the largest group of Protestant Christians in the U.S.... Read More

You May Be Wrong

November 16, 2022 — One of our family stories is of my maternal grandfather, Clarence Booth, stretched out on the couch at the family cabin laughing uproariously at the results of the Truman/ Dewey election in 1948, the year I was born. Everyone was certain Dewey would win. He didn’t. Grandad roared. So another election that defied predications, prognostications... Read More

My November 13 Sermon in San Miguel

November 13, 2022 — Stewards of the Gospel Luke 21: 5 – 19 November 13, 2022 (If you would prefer to watch the video you can find it at this You Tube link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NclY7lj5G0) It was great meeting so many of you last week as we shared in worship together for the first time. I did note that quite... Read More

From Mexico No. 2

November 12, 2022 — Our second week in Mexico draws to an end. The colors — des colores — are everywhere so bright and vivid. Of course, the fact that every day, at least so far, is sunny helps. Here’s a photo from a nearby park that shows the orange of a stucco wall, with a little grey of... Read More

Why Christians Should Be Against Christian Nationalism

November 10, 2022 — “Christian Nationalism” is a term that is cropping up more often these days. It is identified with politicians like Majorie Taylor-Greene, Lauren Boebert and Ted Cruz, as well as clergy like the pastor of Dallas’ First Baptist Church, Robert Jeffress, who preached at a service for Donald Trump’s inauguration. Jeffress recently said, “If ‘Christian nationalist”’ means... Read More

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