CONFESSIONS OF A STARBUCKS PASTOR

A politician making headlines the past two years is a man I had never heard of...until news of his "selfies" hit the fan. In 2011, this New York state congressman was caught taking photos of his privates with his smart phone and sending them to women who were not his (then pregnant) wife. Public outrage forced him to resign and presumably his career trajectory crashed. According to a People Magazine interview in July 2012, the ex-congressman went through therapy after his resignation. Photos show a happy family holding their baby son who had worked hard to overcome what he had done. They had put that past behind them. A few months later, this rehabilitated family man threw his hat into the ring for the upcoming New York City mayoral race. Over 8,300,000 people live within its 469 square miles, making it the largest city in the United States. Thousands of major corporations make their headquarters there. Its annual operating budget is $70 billion dollars. That's quit...

This sentence has been said to me hundreds of times in the past 15 years. It refers to a person's experience at a church. If we were to be honest, we've all probably said that at one time or another for any number of reasons. The music was too loud. The songs were too long. The sermon was too short. The sermon was too long. They had a band. There were drums. There weren't any hymns. There were hymns. They collected money. They met in a school. They didn't have an organ. They had an organ. The pastor didn't wear a robe. The pastor wore a robe. There were women in leadership. People dressed up. People didn't dress up. The band wore jeans. The pastor wore jeans. They showed a movie clip. The teaching was from the Bible. They didn't talk enough about the Bible. Someone had a beard. They danced. They had communion. They didn't have pews. Children were in the service. Children weren't in the service. You could bring your Starbucks mocha in with you. They...

Bet it's been awhile since you've heard this phrase. If you are under 30, you might never have heard this so let me explain. In the old movies that I adore (from the 1930s-1950s) there were distinct differences between men and women. How they dressed, what they did and how each was treated. Something you always see is the man holding the door for the lady, or pulling out her chair for her. When a lady would rise from the table to visit the loo, all of the men would briefly stand before she left. Men lit the cigarettes, walked along the street side of the sidewalk and helped the lady on with her coat. When she was pregnant, her husband wanted her to be careful and get her rest. The lady was never allowed to carry something very heavy. Ladies were highly esteemed by the men. Endearing terms were on the tips of their lips. There was even certain language and behavior that simply wasn't conducted in their presence. Think of the men retiring to another room with their cigars...

While the media has focused us on recent Supreme Court rulings, another big news item went unnoticed. The other day I learned that the Christian organization Exodus International had shut its doors. Its president no longer believes they can do what they have promised for over 25 years. In case you haven't heard of them, Exodus International was one of the power players in the evangelical world. Their mission was to bring people out of homosexuality by way of  Christianity. Serving generations, they ran conferences, trainings, inspired support groups all in the name of changing homosexual orientation. Churches referred people to them or created their own sub-groups. They were a very big deal for a long time. Two weeks ago its president pulled the plug. Exodus had not been successful. Some people were still attracted to the same sex, including the president who was faithfully married in a 16-year heterosexual relationship. The organization no longer believed in wha...