PERSPEKTIV | Bradley CB
Thoughts on God & Things that Matter...SometimesThe Upside Down | Relationships
The upside down world is this strange place where the powers and principalities no longer have control over you to assert their worldview, priorities or expectations. In the ancient world, Christians were oppressed by a power that shaped every image of the world they encountered. This week at Open Door Church, we looked at relationships through the eyes of Jesus and the upside down world…
read moreSojourners
We have a tendency to get bogged down and distracted by the great amount of negativity surrounding the biblical texts in our culture and society. Maybe it’s the way Christians use the Bible to devalue women or to promote hate, or maybe you’ve been sucked into the...
read moreTransformational Forgiveness
In March 2010, 19 year old Conor shot and killed his 19 year old fiancée, Ann. Conor had never been in serious trouble before that day. It was the final moment of an argument and fight that had stretched over the course of three days. It ended with Ann on her knees...
read moreBradley CB
Bradley is the Pastor at Open Door Church in Vancouver, BC. He’s engaged in his community as a theological practice of living and expressing God’s love. He’s a self-proclaimed thinker, feminist, progressive, and his own personal comedian.
Redefining Jihad
We have a way of organizing our experiences, memories and thoughts that produce some pretty prejudiced outcomes. It prevents us from listening to what someone has to say when we disagree. It prevents us from treating people as individuals with dignity and respect. It...
There’s a Lot of Book Choosing Going On
"There seems to be a lot of book choosing going on here." expressed one of my church members in a recent conversation. I knew exactly where she was headed, because it's a common sentiment among evangelicals, especially those out of the Restoration Movement, of which...
God is a Mystery
While talking with the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu commented on the greatness of God, saying, "The glory of God is a mystery." In a world where lives, families, communities and nations have been built upon our knowledge of God, where this information determines our...
Catholics Come Home Campaign Off Target
The Catholic Church is running tv ads in the Vancouver area targeting former Catholics, asking them to return if they've been away. One included a testimony from a man talking about the feeling he gets when the priest forgives his sins. His story also implied that...
Peculiarities of the Fiscal Cliff Deal
We’ve watched repeatedly as the conservative right sheds concern for the “least of these” to improve the lives of wealthy Americans. Like any other financial bill making its way through Congress, there are a few items that we should take note of in the “fiscal cliff...
When in Texas…
In Fort Worth, Texas for the Christmas season, we found ourselves sitting in the midst of the heightened gun control debate following the recent Newton shooting. We were trying to get to a pajama party at a museum with a special Omni screening of The Polar Express for...
Is the Church Radical? Jesus Was
Reposted from my Maple Ridge News article July 27, 2012. Jesus was radical, but you wouldn’t always know that by looking at his followers. I am consistently amazed at how Jesus re-envisioned the heart of the scriptures. Radicals are scorned, hated, attacked and...
Pastors Are Searching for the Same Thing You Are
My article from the local paper, Maple Ridge News, reposted here: The church is in crisis mode, as the number of people leaving church each Sunday continues to outnumber the number that return. The crisis, however, isn’t about the numbers, an increasingly ‘secular...