Author: lloydlandry

When Saints Seem Like Sinners, You Can Bet There’s a Change Coming

Following are excerpts from an article a friend wrote for Relevant Magazine. Michael Hidalgo is lead pastor/teacher of Denver Community Church and author of Unlost: Being Found by the One We Are Looking For, and Changing Faith: Doubts and Choices about an Unchanging God.

The highest vision of most churches is “safe.” We focus on making church predictable, comfy, typically full of people who think and live as we do. But, from time to time, God wants things to change, which, for whatever reason, means trouble, which won’t happen without troublemakers.

Troublemakers are the people who help God’s church make the changes He wants. They’re folks who have nothing to lose, and a clear vision of where things need to go. But because change can be so painful, these troublemaking servants of the Lord are often seen as “sinners.”

Change may be the only constant, but it is a terrifying idea for many. Many of us resist change, and are just fine with the way things are. Something in us knows change is a form of loss, and loss is painful. And change brings something else that few people like, the unknown.

When things stay the same, life is comfortable, predictable and familiar. And when that is threatened we become uncomfortable, uncertain and confused. We often find ourselves reacting against change, and we think of those leading change as troublemakers.

Continue reading When Saints Seem Like Sinners, You Can Bet There’s a Change Coming

When Bad Theology Meets a Caravan of Homeless People

There’s a large group of people heading towards our border, seeking shelter and a new home. As a friend helped me understand, we can’t process so many via our legal immigration system, so, unless we make drastic changes, there’s nothing we can do.

And let’s say we bend our rules a bit. What if we let them in and set up a compound of sorts, just within our border, providing food and shelter while we process these people. Can we handle such an influx? What about all the criminals and “known” terrorists in this caravan? And if we help them, wouldn’t that incite another caravan? Wouldn’t the poor and homeless of the world say, “Boom! Pack up, we’re heading to America!!”

We’d be screwed, right?

There’s a lot of anger here, especially from my Evangelical brothers and sisters. Listening to my camp, fielding their thoughts about all of this, I’d say that fear is driving the anger. Check out a few comments from my Facebook feed:

“Refugees don’t wave their nation’s flag while marching toward’s another country. Invaders do!”

“Massive caravan of illegals.. soon to be terrorists …headed toward the US.. knowingly going to break the law to enter the country.. with their children….WTF!!!!”

“No one has the right to march across our border, or into our homes, unannounced, uninvited, or unvetted. No one!”

“Heaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders. Let that sink in.”

Why are so many of the caravan’s future victims Continue reading When Bad Theology Meets a Caravan of Homeless People