love your neighbor Archives

Am I Still A Christian?

Over the years, I’ve had people ask me, “How can you call yourself a Christian with some of the things you believe?” It’s a fair question, seeing as I don’t put much stock in a lot of orthodox beliefs anymore. The short (smartass) answer comes in two parts: 1) I’m a progressive Christian, which means I’m […]

Angels Without Wings

On occasion, the staff at College Park Baptist Church will ask members for stories about our lives. At the beginning of Advent, they did it again, this time asking stories about times we might have been visited by angels. Being that CPBC is a rather progressive church, these stories are about people who have come […]

Does The Church Have Its Head Up Its Ass?

Recently, my brother sent me the following Facebook message: “I was thinking about why there are so many assholes in Christianity. It occurred to me that Christ attracts broken people. Just because they accept grace doesn’t automatically make angels out of assholes. No excuse for behavior Jesus would cringe over. But it does explain some […]

Smokescreens

This week has been a good one for The Progressive Redneck. The last two posts have generated some interesting conversation and Wednesday’s piece about modesty is my most popular post yet (if you haven’t read it, go here and see what all the shouting’s about). At the risk of beating a dead horse, I’m going […]

All Things Being Equal Pt. II

Update: This morning, the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, declaring it unconstitutional. It also held that the proponents of California’s Proposition 8 had no standing to defend the law in court and sent it back to the Ninth Circuit Court with instructions for it to dismiss the case. This is a […]

Love God, Love People

Sometime before the year 30 CE, a lawyer asked Jesus “What is the greatest commandment”. Jesus answered “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being,and with all your mind.” This conversation is recorded in all three synoptic Gospels with some variation. In both Matthew and Mark, the lawyer […]

It’s a Control Thing

Conservative Christians, evangelicals, fundamentalists or whatever you want to call them claim a moral high ground in their arguments about sex. According to them, the Bible says no sex until marriage. But, it doesn’t. Not anywhere. While it may celebrate marriage in multiple places, it never says “Don’t do it!” (it meaning sex, not marriage) So, where […]