"We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour."

These words were the stirring zenith to my Independence Day sermon. They give me red, white and blue chill bumps every time I utter them.

I arise at 5:30 a.m. every Sunday that I...

Inside Khive Thol's home, a few boards separate the single bedroom from the main living space. The corrugated iron roof leaks light onto the dirty floor. But the 60-year-old woman is drinking clean water from the tap.

Khive used to boil water from containers she bought from a truck...

"The problem of mass poverty, mass starvation, the mass deaths of children and infants every year from a simple lack of proper nourishment is not normal, is not 'life'... It is a condition traceable solely and specifically to patriarchal religion."

This analysis is from a thick volume I read...

Hear this as the Spirit of Freedom that resides richly in the heart of every human soul.

"He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give...

Life will never be the same again. United we stand. These colors don't run. 2/11 has changed the world forever. We now live in a post 2/11 world. All of our assumptions of global reality are in line for a fearless inventory.

The wind of the Spirit has blown. The...

A Jewish elder speaks during the Passover seder:

"At each table there is an empty chair, an extra cup of juice, and one remaining piece of matzoh. Jewish history tells of a beloved prophet by the name of Elijah, who appears in times of trouble to bring promise...

Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet asked President Bush if he had permission to use "enhanced interrogation" techniques including waterboarding on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Bush writes in his memoir Decision Points:

"I thought about my meeting with Danny Pearl's widow, who was pregnant with his...

I have core differences of belief with the North Austin Muslim Community Center.

I disagree on a core level that submission is the primary path to holiness. I disagree on a core level that Prophet Mohammed is the final teacher from God. I disagree on a core...

"Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off." (Ezekiel 37:11)

My God, I relate to this! I am weary to the bones of making statements protesting the brokers of intolerance in America.

Their verbal AK-47s are spraying out fear and falsehoods...

Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There's no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center.

If you have attended a liturgical Christian church, you know the drill:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,...

I am sickened by the BS going on by the religious & political right with the center in NYC & Mosques across the country. I wonder if we can get some Austin religious leaders together and make a statement, do a service project together etc. to counter this. This is...

"Subjects."

We found out on the eve of our nations birthday a few weeks back that Thomas Jefferson first referred to our forbearers as "subjects" in an early draft of the Declaration of Independence.

Upon reflection Jefferson made a monumental edit that deeded us with a revolutionary identity. It...

(This is the second piece in a series. The first one is "A Consumer Is a Subject, A Citizen Is a Verb.")

Check out this headline: "Corporate profits up, but consumer optimism sagging."

The conclusion of this headline doesn't bother me as much as the...

"This reporter from Rolling Stone, he was a rat in an eagle's nest." - Geraldo Rivera on FOX

"I mean, to end a career like McChrystal's? I mean, Michael Hastings has never served his country the way McChrystal has." - Lara Logan, chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News

I doubt I will ever be rich in the material sense of money and things. As a minister I make a modest salary, which I am grateful for and content with.

From time to time I hear about people like Manute Bol who have possessed large sums of money and...

I have to say, I get the keyboard blues from being constantly compelled to call out "Christians" who practice tribal religion in lieu of Jesus-infused Christianity. We've got legions of 'em here in the Lone Star State. They populate and dominate our death penalty industry.

Led by Governor Rick Perry,...

New money religion:

"Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the value of total production of goods and services in a country over a specified period, typically a year. How much GDP grows from one period to the next is an indication of a country's economic health."

Old...

To be completely candid, when I hear about violence and killing between Israel and Palestine I zone out and turn off. I wonder why it even makes the news anymore. I thought "news" was the unusual, things out of the norm. I am sickened to say this but recounting Middle...

I am torn.

The Pastoral Minister part of me wants the BP oil spill to cause as little damage as possible to the environment and to the livelihoods of the good, decent people of the Gulf. For their sake I want the pain to be minimal. Yet my short-term compassion...