that's not exile
Exile invites me to humbly bless my adopted home through a life established in courageous and irresistible love. Today I visit my previous home church for the first time in 3 and a half years, and the pastor speaks about exile. Oh the irony. I love being able to connect with some old friends, but it is also hard. Hard to be in the place associated with a deeply challenging season in my life. A season where I dug in and refused to distance myself from the people I love, and as I did so there was a quiet and gradual distancing from the leadership of the church. I may have it wrong, but I suspect my love for my gay son caused some reluctance for the church leaders to acknowledge my ministry among the church family at the time. An exile, of sorts. As the pastor steps into the pulpit, an opportunity arises to be invited into the experience of God's people -- but it feels more like a mechanism to present the man's interpretation of culture wars. Isaiah's warning of the thre...
