Bil Aulenbach In my sixty-three years of ministry, I have encountered dozens of different Jesuses. In my own life, the Sunday School Jesus was white with well-coiffed brown hair and a brilliant white flowing gown, looking like he just got off the boat from Sweden. My young adult Jesus appeared human but was really God. Seminary’s Jesus … Read more
Mark (14:7), Matthew (26:11), and John (12:8) all claim that Jesus said, “The poor will always be around.” I have never liked that statement. It’s defeatist, and I want to prove it wrong. In the 1960s, when Lyndon Johnson was president, he led a war on poverty and was about 40 percent successful. Then Nixon … Read more
About six months ago, my editor and some friends suggested that I write more positive, inspiring blog posts. I thought that was a good idea and gave it a try. However, a few weeks ago, I realized I was back to my old ways. I’m going to try again. My first idea was to do … Read more
When I was a history major in college, I was intrigued by World War II. I always wondered how Adolf Hitler convinced the Lutheran Church that he was a good guy. Fast-forward to February 2022, when the Russians started a massive buildup on the Ukrainian border. I was surprised that the free world just watched … Read more
If you want your baptisms to be invalid in the Roman Catholic Church, say, “we” instead of “I” during the rite. This nitpicking fact made international news when an American Roman Catholic priest, between 2005 to 2022, said “we,” meaning the body of believers, as he baptized folks. Canon law lawyers have ruled that a … Read more
Is the historical Jesus real? The short answer: yes and no. Jesus left no autobiography. None of the Gospels portray a biography about Jesus. Rather, they are interpretations by the authors of who they wanted Jesus to be. This resulted in the many versions of Jesus. He is God, his Son, part of the Trinity: … Read more
In 2022, Lent started on Ash Wednesday, March 2, and terminates with the celebration of Easter, April 17. During this time, there will be a great deal of talk about Jesus, a cross, and his crucifixion. The Holy Week story is filled with lots of myths but little reality. The first time one sees a … Read more
As long as I can remember, the Christian Cross has been a part of my life. The Episcopal Church taught me that every time I walk by the Cross I had to stop and bow my head. I never thought twice about it. When I was an acolyte, I would often carry the processional Cross … Read more
For almost eighty years, my life centered around the Episcopal church. During my first twenty years in the ministry, the church was a powerful and positive force in our nation. Today, I see much of the institutional church as a negative presence, sometimes even trying to destroy democracy with its theocracy. In 1945, 75 percent … Read more
I have quit Facebook three times in the past year because I don’t like how it does business. I always felt like quitting was the right thing to do. Then, someone sends me a message that I want or feel I need to read. Sheepishly, I open the message and see myself as weak, wishy-washy, … Read more