The People’s Revival
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Dead Babies and Me: a Study in Duality
I launched a ministry in South Dakota in the early 2000s between the Yankton Sioux area and Pine Ridge. I didn’t launch a ministry to the Native folks, or to “save the rez”, I just reached out to people, people who are overlooked. I ended up doing a lot of revival meetings in South Dakota… Continue reading
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The Integrity of His Intentions
We all know the Lord’s Prayer, right? Jesus begins with, “Our Father…” Not a Father. Not the Father. Our Father — personal, intimate, direct. The whole force of the prayer starts with belonging. That matters, because a lot of us were raised on the idea that Jesus loves everyone in general, which somehow made it… Continue reading
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An audience of one
In 2005, I preached a three-day revival at a big church in Houston. The meetings started on a Friday, and afterward I took any interested church folks out on the streets to learn real ministry. That night we headed down to Westheimer to talk to the runaways and gutterpunks who lived out there. I arranged… Continue reading
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IMPOSSIBLE PEOPLE, HOLY TEACHERS
There’s a hard truth most folks never learn because they spend their whole life trying to avoid it: The people who bother you, trigger you, and make your blood boil are often the very teachers sent to sharpen you. We don’t grow because life is easy. We don’t mature because people are kind. We grow… Continue reading
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JAMES 2:5 AND THE DANGEROUS FAVOR OF GOD
“Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom He promised to those who love Him?” — James 2:5 James didn’t whisper this. He thundered it across the early church because the people needed to hear a truth the wealthy hated… Continue reading
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AMERICAN SKIN & THE SOLIDARITY OF GOD
How Being a Traditional Skinhead Shaped My Christianity Recognition — The Roots Run Deeper Than the Rumors Let me say it plain, without apology: I came up in the traditional skinhead world — the real one, the working-class one, the anti-racist one, the boots-on-the-ground brotherhood that predates the hijacking of the look by fascists and… Continue reading
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American Sodom
Luxury and Selfishness Have Defined the American Church Principle Luxury has become our liturgy. Selfishness, our creed. The American church, once the outpost of mercy, has become the mall of self-congratulation. What we call “blessing” would have been called idolatry by any prophet worth his sandals. We have built a nation of sanctuaries lined with… Continue reading
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Forgiveness Isn’t About the Offense
Forgiveness was never about the weight of what someone did. It’s not about scales of right and wrong. It’s not about who deserves what. Forgiveness is about reciprocity. It is the gate you open so mercy can reach you next. Jesus wasn’t poetic when He tied your forgiveness to how you forgive others. He was… Continue reading
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Why is the Gospel good news to the poor?
Because it was addressed to them first. Not spiritually ever-after. Not metaphorically broke. Not “poor in spirit” as a poetic euphemism for everyone. The actual poor. The overlooked. The overworked. The underpaid. The stepped on. The always last. The first exploited. The first blamed. The last resourced. Jesus didn’t open His ministry in Rome, the… Continue reading
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This is why we don’t see revival.
The problem isn’t Heaven. It’s follow-through. Jesus didn’t begin His ministry in secret or symbolism. He began it in public, in His hometown, in front of people who assumed they already knew Him. Nazareth got the first sermon. The carpenter became the Christ, stood up, unrolled Isaiah like a legal decree, and read, “The Spirit… Continue reading
