Celestial Lands The Religious Crossroads of Politics, Power, and Theology

Tag Archives: American

American Exceptionalism and American Irrelevance

One of the genre’s of Science Fiction that I love is what is called “near future Sci-Fi”.  These are stories set to occur in the next 200 years or so.  What I love about them is that they “forecast” out not into some far off fantastic future, but into the Read more →

The Real Meaning of the Thanksgiving Story

On this day, Thanksgiving Day, I think we are remembering the wrong message.   I think our society has taken the wrong meaning from the mythologized story of starving pilgrims, a coming hard winter, and Native Americans who shared.  We give thanks to God, or to some sense of the Universe Read more →

Gun Control, Militias, and the Second Amendment

I have chosen never to carry or use a firearm ever again. I made that choice not because of a fundamentalist attitude toward guns, but rather because I am entirely too good with them. I reached a place in my faith journey where I realized that I would rather die Read more →

Investigating Liberals for being Anti-American?

On the Sunday nearest 4th of July this year, I felt called to preach a sermon entitled “Being a Liberal Patriot”, on what I mean when I call myself a Liberal. I do not usually talk about my sermons on the Celestial Lands Blog, because the blog is my pre-writing Read more →