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- ben2297
- 5 days ago
First Sunday of Advent.
We light a candle of hope.
Not a soft, sentimental hope,but a stubborn, resistant hope.
Advent is God’s quiet protest against every empirethat tries to own Jesus, wrap him in a flag,or baptize cruelty in his name.
In Resist, I say that no politician, party, or nationgets to claim Jesus as their brand.Advent reminds us why:the King we’re waiting for comes as a refugee baby,born on the margins,building a kingdom of justice, mercy, and radical love.
So today, as we light this first candle,we’re not escaping the world.We’re refusing to give in to fear and hatred.We’re choosing hope as holy resistance.
Come, Lord Jesus.Teach us to resist with love,to wait with courage,and to live like your kingdom is already breaking in.
- Pastor Ben
- Nov 20
When the Church Pretends It’s Not Involved
Every year on November 20, we read the names of trans people murdered in the last twelve months.
We call it Trans Day of Remembrance.
We talk about “violence,” as if it just appears out of nowhere, like bad weather. We talk about “hate,” as if it lives only in the hearts of a handful of unstable strangers.
We almost never talk about the systems that trained that hate.We almost never talk about the pulpits.
- Pastor Ben
- Oct 19
Today I had the privilege of celebrating the 225th anniversary of First Baptist Church of Norwich, Connecticut—a community founded in 1800 that has quietly, faithfully practiced what I call sacred resistance for more than two centuries. Their story is not just a local history; it’s a living tutorial on how Christians persist in gospel-rooted courage through changing times...
