Steve Watson

The three-pronged sickness of faith in Amercia A first post for All Flesh Shalom

open.substack.com/pub/allflesh...

Image includes a picture of a large mustard bush with the word Pistis overlaying it.

What if faith isn’t certainty—but connection? This Sunday we explore pistis—faith as loyalty, as the last safe place, as the thread that still holds when belief unravels.

Don't forget to plan on staying for Thomas Talks and homemade peach ice cream after worship!
#Methodist #BeUMC

Trump may be a conman and a tyrant, but his budget is America (at our worst, at least) through and through - more cash in the hands of the rich, more weapons of war, less healthcare, all while piling up debt that will do harm to future generations.

@revmariama.bsky.social White-Hammond addresses nearly 200 people gathered @embraceboston.org, many of whom walked 12 miles from Lexington to pray for democracy & bear witness to our government's assault on human rights, civil liberties & due process of law.

#PrayersForLiberty @reveverett.com

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Good morning, beloved.

Today is a gift. Treat it like one.

Today is a great day to overcome evil with good.

Trump’s Corruption Hits Next Level With Shady $2 Billion Crypto Deal An investment firm backed by a foreign government just made a massive deal using the Trump family’s crypto firm. The conflicts of interest here are unprecedented.

The Trump family’s cryptocurrency business just got a $2B investment from a firm backed by the United Arab Emirates government.

With this deal, they will be enriched beyond most people’s comprehension—and they have the UAE government to thank for it.

In honor of Earth Day, I am pleading with everyone to not use generative AI and save about a bazillion gallons of water

(Yes, even if you think that a cartoon illustration will align with today’s trending news topics)

Good morning, beloved.

Every moment is a new opportunity to decide to stand for what is just.

Today is a great day to overcome evil with good.

The IDF attacked the Anglican-run Al-Ahli Hospital again. (Also sometimes called the Baptist Hospital bc it was formerly run by Baptists before we took over.) I don’t even have words.

80+% of both Democrats and Republicans believe America would be better off if more Americans worked in manufacturing, but < 30% say that about themselves.

The bipartisan belief that America would be a better place if *other people* worked in a factory.

www.ft.com/content/8459...

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

I learned this week that you can put our troops' lives in danger, compromise our national security, and violate the Espionage Act. And the government will do nothing.

But if you write an editorial for your school newspaper that Trump doesn't like, you will be abducted on the street and disappeared.

It is a war on children.

The age group with the most deaths in Gaza is 5-9 year olds. Yesterday over 100 more children were killed. Imagine if that happened in Jerusalem. Or Atlanta.

It will only stop when we make it stop.

[video by anasjamal44 on IG]

Cartoon by Kevin Necessary www.kevinnecessary.com

Good morning, beloved.

We’re not going to get it all right.

But keep trying.

Everyone needs a hand.

Today is a great day to overcome evil with good.

i dunno much but i know this person and i would be friends

Good morning, beloved.

Take a look in the mirror.

You’re looking at a masterpiece.

Today is a great day to overcome evil with good.

28 Days of Good News - Reading the Gospel of Matthew in February. Day 19, Chapter 19.

What do teachings on marriage, divorce, wealth, reparations, and status have in common? I wonder if our 5-year old kids have some wisdom many of us have lost by the time we're 50.

28 Days of Good News - Reading the Gospel of Matthew in February. Day 18, Chapter 18.

We mostly have things backwards, Jesus says. Most everything we think about important people, kids, how hard God is to find, our petty grudges..... we mostly have things backwards.

28 Days of Good News - Reading the Gospel of Matthew in February. Day 17, Chapter 17. Transfigured.

"In every human being Jesus discerned infinite possibilities. He saw humans as we might be, transfigured by grace." Ellen G. White

Trump: "he who saves his Country does not violate any Law."

I didn't realize that there was a fortune cookie company which promoted fascism.

For some reason, I keep thinking about how the Emperor Tiberius (the emperor who crucified Jesus) renamed the Sea of Galilee "Lake Tiberias" after himself as part of his brutal repression of the Jews.

Renaming things is a powerful form of colonization and oppression of subject populations.

28 Days of Good News - Reading the Gospel of Matthew in February. Day 14, Chapter 14. In which Jesus and his friends see their worst fears come true, and respond by cultivating a beautiful vision of what life can still be and the collective power to achieve it.

Vision and power, vision and power.

28 Days of Good News - Reading the Gospel of Matthew in February. Day 13, Chapter 13.

Don't despise small beginnings. They're all we've got.

And don't let the great be the enemy of the good. A thriving mustard bush makes spice and shade - that's pretty great. Same with whatever you can become.

28 Days of Good News - Reading the Gospel of Matthew in February. Day 11, Chapter 11.
"Come to me, all you who are struggling hard & carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves.” Gentle, humble Jesus

28 Days of Good News - Reading the Gospel of Matthew in February. Day 10, Chapter 10. What to Expect

Jesus gives his student interns a pep talk. Maybe God gives us all this pep talk: Life is going to be hard in 100 ways. But some people will have your back, and I always will too.

28 Days of Good News - Day 9, Matthew 9 - One of Jesus' core sayings: I want mercy, not sacrifice. Religion that's not kind and loving is trash. Government, education, family life, corporate cultures that aren't as loving and as kind as they can be are toxic. Mercy is the largely untried Way for us.

Trump orders U.S. to prioritize refugee resettlement of South Africans of European descent President Trump directed officials to prioritize the resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa through the U.S. refugee program, which he suspended on his first day in office.

American immigration policy has (almost?) always been racist & white supremacist. But when's the last time that the US has had such an openly white supremacist immigration stance? Or one so directly impacted by corruption (in this case Trump's leading donor Elon Musk's influence on Trump's policy)?

I’ve recently noticed when I pray the Jesus Prayer, I’m no longer asking Christ for mercy that will save me from a future hell.

My prayer is for mercy from myself—for I seem all-to-happy to lock myself away from the fullness of the Creator’s presence made available to me through Christ’s victory.

28 Days of Good News - Day 8, Matthew 8 - in which a curious, calm, and compassionate Jesus heals a social outcast, his enemy's best friend, a trauma survivor, even his mother in law. And this story of Jesus asleep in a boat reminds me of God's calm in our storms and maybe that heals me too.