ToddCena

"I wonder how many of us are also exhausted from the constant wrestling. Whether it's politics made personal, illness, or something else private, how many of us are exhausted from begging for relief?" My sermon from today:

Death Will Not Conquer Love: An Easter Reflection for 2025 open.substack.com/pub/toddcena...

If Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was only about what happens after I die, then I want no part of it. If, however, it is about transforming my life and the world around me in the here and now, then I'm all about it.

Those possessed by whiteness must recognize the power it holds over them and then look for and act toward a better way. The world is not ours to conquer, it is ours to steward. We are servants above all else. Drawn from the book How to Have an Enemy by Melissa Florer-Baxter.

There is no easy alliance between the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God, and all attempts to create an easy alliance between these two kingdoms are misguided and doomed to failure. The kingdom of the world is founded on greed and war—Mammon and Mars.

Macklemore's new song goes hard. Anthems like this, of people raising their voices and using their power to join with the oppressed, will see us through and be a part of raising every valley and tearing down mountains.

My Jesus does not need a task-force. He needs us to: make sure children are fed and not gunned down in schools ensure immigrants are welcomed and aid is given to the poor have empathy for our neighbors and courage to speak truth to power. #unitedstatesofamerica

Those who have power never have power enough. And those with power are loathe to lose it. There's a reason Jesus talked about service as the model for life. Power corrupts us, service heals.

"Just as Middle-earth could not be saved, only enslaved, by the Ring of Power, so Christianity cannot save the world by political power; it can only be corrupted by it." --Brian Zahnd in The Wood Between the Worlds. This chapter is potent in it's critiques and powerful in it's hope.

Someone needs to Venmo the Refs on behalf of the Commanders at halftime. These penalties are ticky-tacky af, all going against the Commanders.

This is why we hold that Jesus was Fully God and Fully Human. The Incarnation empowers divine empathy in a way that we will never fully understand.

For those of you who teach Scripture, I wrote up a resource that I hope is helpful for you. I welcome your thoughts: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Violence is a tool of the State meant to silence that which cannot be killed. Nonviolence is a tool of the people meant to amplify that which must not be silenced. ^a thought I had as I'm thinking about faithful living in the coming years. Idk if I agree or don't. I would love your thoughts.

In fairness, “you can make millions of individual molecules but there are 13 that you need but can’t make so let’s outsource their production to plants. Also, it’s actually 12…you can make one of the vitamins…as long as the sun’s rays touch your skin like you yourself are a plant” does sound fake.

The whole sermon is a manifesto on Christian Ethics. Please watch it, and remember.

Now, more than ever, pastors and priests and ordinary people must stand up to the powers that call us to bow down or pledge allegiance to anything other than the Cross of Christ.

"All we are saying to America is, 'Be true to what you said on paper.'" -MLK Jr. In "I've Been to the Mountaintop" Now, more than ever, we need to make the US accountable to what we said on paper.

I've been rewatching #Chernobyl on Max. What is striking me is just how much so many people lost to maintain the myth of Soviet Supremacy. And it makes me wonder how much US Citizens sacrifice to maintain their own version of that myth.

The Lions are beating themselves tonight, and it makes me sad to see.

Reposting so that I can hopefully find it later if I ever scroll back through my posts.

States with a smaller population than Los Angeles County

I'm rooting for the Eagles tonight, but I feel bad for all the Packers players getting hurt. Attrition is an important issue to keep in mind as seasons for sports get longer in the name of more money for owners.