A Recap of Faith on the Fringe September 2024

Posted on October 1, 2024 by jim

Welcome to the monthly Faith on the Fringe update.

A few reminders. . .

I’m very active on Faith on the Fringe on Facebook. Follow the page to join in the daily conversation.

I’d love to speak with your group or church. I can speak at an evening event, worship service, or other program, virtual or in person. Feel free to contact me to discuss options.

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Oct. 1 saw the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Jimmy Carter. I published this blog about the conversation he and I had in a church restroom.

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Sept. 28 Kris Kristofferson died at age 88. An award-winning song writer and country music “outlaw,” Kristofferson was also a Christian.

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Also on Sept. 28, I published The Christian Response to Trump. In his life, values, ethics, vocabulary, behavior, public policies, and in every other way possible, Trump is the opposite of the message of Jesus. To support Trump is to reject everything Jesus teaches. The blog post offers many scriptural reasons to oppose Trump and Bible-based memes. Please download and share the memes and share the link.

If you have Christian friends supporting Trump, show them the memes and remind them of the many Bible verses they ignore to support Trump.

You get the idea. Follow the link for more scripture and memes that demonstrate Trump is the evil that the Bible warns against. I’m not cherry picking random verses, the totality of the Bible is clear on what good and evil look like. Jesus is good and Trump is evil.

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Sept. 23 I posted:

Notes From a Sermon: Earthly Wisdom and Godly Wisdom

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On the Sept. 15 anniversary of the white supremacist terrorist attack in Birmingham, Ala. I asked the question do Christians Need to be Reminded That Racism is Bad?

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Sept. 13, I shared my thoughts on the scripture during a Facebook live post. I’m trying to post more live videos. Let me know what you think.

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Sept. 7 I published Notes From a Sermon: Mark 7: 24-37, “Going to the Dogs.”

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God is the color of the people you hate.

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The Serenity Prayer, by Reinhold Niebuhr. Follow this link to support Faith on the Fringe by shopping Amazon for his writings.

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Follow this link for Christian cartoons.

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Thanks for following Faith on the Fringe. Keep the faith.

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It’s MLB’s post season and my baseball novel, Faith, Hope, and Baseball is available on Amazon:

Faith, Hope, and Baseball novel cover

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Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. earned his M.Div. from the oldest HBCU seminary in the United States. He’s the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball, available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.

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Mid-month update, Sept. 15, 2024

Posted on September 15, 2024 by jim

Here’s a mid-month update:

I just published this post on Faith on the Fringe:

Do Christians Need to be Reminded that Racism is Immoral?

I created these memes this past week.

Feel free to right click, download, and share these socially.

For other articles, visit:

The Civil Rights Struggle Continues, so Others May be Free

The Clark Doll Study Documenting the Damage of Segregation

Martin Luther King. Jr. and the Original Black Lives Matter Movement

A Blood Red Line of Racism Flows Through the United States

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Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. is the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball, available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.

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A Recap of Faith on the Fringe August 2024

Posted on September 1, 2024 by jim

Welcome to the monthly Faith on the Fringe update.

In this month’s update, you’ll find links I published on Patheos in August and a few of the new memes I posted on Faith on the Fringe on Facebook. I also share my conversation with Famous Amos.

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I don’t publish my sermons every week, but I did for the Sept. 1 sermon.

Notes From a Sermon: James 1:17-27

I shared my thoughts on the scripture during a Facebook live post.

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Aug. 28 was the anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. How much has changed in 61 years? Not much.

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Aug. 20 marked the murder of Civil Rights activist Jonathan Daniels.

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Wally Amos, the Famous Amos cookie creator passed away on Aug. 14.

When I was writing my second book, Soar to Success the Wright Way, I used a lot of motivational quotes from well known public figures. I tried to track down the origins of as many as I could, but it wasn’t easy.

Had an enjoyable conversation with Famous Amos about the veracity of quotes found in books like ours.

“The actual words don’t matter,” Famous Amos said to me, gesturing with his hands to make his point. “What matters is the truthfulness of the words.”

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A brief Aug. 12 news story about convicted felon Donald Trump was worth noting. I wrote about it here.

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Aug. 12 was the anniversary of the racist riot in Charlottesville. Charlottesville. Jan. 6. Racist traitors.

Remembering Civil Rights Activist Heather Heyer

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Aug. 8 was the anniversary of the 1945 mass murder in Nagisaki, Japan.

Nagisaki: Christians Killing Christians

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A reminder that I’d love to speak in person with your group or church. Feel free to contact me.

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Follow this link for Christian cartoons.

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Thanks for following Faith on the Fringe. Keep the faith.

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It’s still baseball season and my baseball novel, Faith, Hope, and Baseball is available on Amazon:

Faith, Hope, and Baseball novel cover

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Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. earned his M.Div. from the oldest HBCU seminary in the United States. He’s the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball, available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.

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Aug. 28: 61 Years Since the March on Washington

Posted on August 28, 2024 by jim

Aug. 28 marks 61 years since Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and announced to the world that he had a dream.

March on Washington organizers Bayard Rustin and Cleveland Robinson on Aug. 7, 1963

Today, King’s dream remains far from a reality.

Follow this link to read my blog post published on Patheos.

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A Recap of July 2024

Posted on August 1, 2024 by jim

Welcome to the monthly Faith on the Fringe update.

You’ll find links I published on Patheos in July and memes I posted on Faith on the Fringe on Facebook.

You’ll also find new memes and a few favorites from the past.

A reminder that I’d love to speak in person with your group. I enjoy the opportunity to travel and see more of the country.

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We lost icon Richard Simmons in July, and on July 15 I published this remembrance.

The Day I Met Richard Simmons

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It’s baseball season and my baseball novel, Faith, Hope, and Baseball is available on Amazon:

Faith, Hope, and Baseball novel cover

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On July 27, I posted the question, “Is Your God too Small?” based on the sermon that week.

God’s gift to me, when she was a year and a half, boldly setting off on her own.

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Coming in August, the anniversary of the murder of a Civil Rights activist you need to remember, as well as the anniversary of the March on Washington and King’s “I have a dream” speech.

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In June I followed in the footsteps of Thomas Merton, from the Trappist monastery outside Bardstown, Kentucky, to the streets of Louisville.

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“It's very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.” – Donald Trump, Fortune magazine, 2000.

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Follow this link for Christian cartoons.

peanuts clouds

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See you next month and thanks for following Faith on the Fringe.  

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Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. earned his M.Div. from the oldest HBCU seminary in the United States. He’s the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball, available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.

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A Recap of June 2024

Posted on June 30, 2024 by jim

I wrote this preview of the June 29 Poor People’s March on Washington D.C.:

Poor People’s March on Washington June 29, 2024

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June 27 was the debate between President Biden and Donald Trump, so I published this post:

Christians Must Reject Donald Trump

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June 21 was the 60th anniversary of the murder of civil rights activists in Mississippi.

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It was announced on June 17 that Paul Pressler died on Jun 7.

 “Paul Pressler, Disgraced Christian Conservative Leader, Dies at 94,” read The New York Times headline.

In addition to destroying the Southern Baptist Convention, Pressler personally abused and damaged young men, including minors.

In seminary I took Baptist Heritage and Culture from the Rev. Dr. Cecil Sherman, the moderate who led the break-up of the SBC in 1990, and the first moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. (Follow the link for a wonderful book by Dr. Sherman, where he shares some of the stories he told in class.)

Dr. Sherman fought Pressler, Paige Patterson, Al Mohler, Adrian Rogers, and others as they took over the SBC, destroying the lives and careers of good Christians. They took over churches, then the seminaries, then the denominational committees, until finally as the last moderate leader, Dr. Sherman was the chair of the “Peace Committee,” and they forced him out.

They took over the churches by rewriting the Baptist Faith and Message of 1963, where scripture moved from being interpreted by Jesus to scripture being interpreted by the male pastor.

The conservatives ignored decades of Baptist history that affirmed women ministers and began denying women ordination almost as soon as they took control of churches, one after another. Today they deny the Baptist tradition of intellectual independence and instead focus more and more intently on polity and procedures.

Pressler politicized the SBC and the damage he did is permanent. There are no “moderates” in the SBC, just various levels of politicized extremism that ignores the teaching of Jesus.

“The evil that men do lives after them,” Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, “the good is oft interred with their bones.”

So let it be with Paul Pressler.

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June 9 I attended Mass at Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, the Trappist monastery outside Bardstown, Kentucky. Follow this link for a visit to Merton’s Kentucky.

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I published this post on June 14: Five Reasons why Christians Should be Pro-Choice.

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June 3 was a state holiday in Alabama to honor the birthday of traitor Jefferson Davis. As a reminder, most who defend the Jan. 6 treason probably defend the treason of 1861. 1864, 1964, 2024 like-minded racists carry the exact same flag, making it easy for us to recognize them.

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June also marked the 15th anniversary of my graduation from seminary.

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A reminder I publish blog posts on Patheos.

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Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. earned his M.Div. from the oldest HBCU seminary in the United States. He’s the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball, available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.

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A Visit to Merton’s Louisville and Abbey of Gethsemani

Posted on June 30, 2024 by jim

On Dec. 10, 1941, the week of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Thomas Merton entered the monastic community of the Abbey of Gethsemani near Bardstown, Kentucky.

I visited June 9, 2024.

The Abbey Church renovated in 1967. The church that Merton built.

I attended Catholic mass at the Abbey Church, along with a few dozen Trappist brothers and around 70 of the faithful.

As a committed Protestant, I remained at a respectfully distance.

In 1948 Merton published his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the first year on the way to becoming an international best-seller.

In Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, Merton writes about a transformative moment he experienced in downtown Louisville, in 1958.

Here’s a live video from the intersection of Fourth Street and what is today Muhammad Ali Boulevard, renamed after the Louisville native in 1978.

A live broadcast at Fourth and Walnut, following in the footsteps of Thomas Merton.

“In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness… This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud… I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.

“Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts, where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time.”

According to The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University:

“This moment marked a pivotal moment in the monastic life of Thomas Merton as he turned from the world denying monk of The Seven Storey Mountain to the world embracing monk of the sixties as he began addressing many of the major issues of that time, some of which are as relevant today as when he penned them, if not more so.”

Today the intersection is called Thomas Merton Square.

On Dec. 10, 1968, the 27th anniversary of his entrance into Gethsemani, Merton was accidentally electrocuted in Bangkok, Thailand.

A video view of the grave of Thomas Merton, June 9, 2024.

Follow this link to shop for Merton’s writings on Amazon.

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Pastor Jim Meisner, Jr. earned his M.Div. from the oldest HBCU seminary in the United States. He’s the author of the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball, available on Amazon, or follow this link to order an autographed copy. He created and manages the Facebook page Faith on the Fringe.

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Bring Faith on the Fringe to you

Posted on May 24, 2024 by jim

Faith on the Fringe creator Jim Meisner Jr. is available to speak at your church, group, or gathering.

Follow this link to read more about having Jim as a speaker.

Follow this link to send Jim a message.

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Day by Day, Oh, Dear Lord, Three Things I Pray

Posted on May 22, 2024 by jim
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With God on Our Side

Posted on May 9, 2024 by jim

By Bob Dylan

Oh my name it is nothin’
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I’s taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that the land that I live in
Has God on its side

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side

Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
l’s made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side

Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don’t count the dead
When God’s on your side

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side

I’ve learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It’s them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we’re forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God’s on your side

Through many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side

So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God’s on our side
He’ll stop the next war

Copyright © 1963 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1991 by Special Rider Music

Follow this link to shop for Bob Dylan’s music on Amazon.

Click this link to follow Faith on the Fringe on Facebook.

Read the Faith on the Fringe blog on Patheos.

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A Faith on the Fringe Update

Posted on March 20, 2024 by jim

Thanks for joining the Faith on the Fringe Group or interacting with the Faith on the Fringe Facebook page, or joining my mailing list, or reading my writings.

The Facebook algorithm has recently changed and the page and group and blog are reaching many more people.

You’re welcome to post in the group, but this isn’t the place for you if you want an argument.

What is taught in mainstream Christian Sunday School is probably wrong. Many Christians are well-intentioned, but probably ill-informed and lacking in self-reflection or an acknowledgement of their current culture or the historical context of the Bible.

Faith on the Fringe is a faith-based gathering for the fringe of Christianity. The fringe has existed across multiple Christian communities for millennia, on the fringe of the faith.

I publish my writings on this blog. Here’s a suggested reading list of Christian writers.

I earned my Master of Divinity in 2009. I became a Christian around age 37.

I’ve written about Christianity since 2012, after I stepped down from my first church. I’ve been the pastor of my current little country church for three years.

I’ve published three books and my professional career has been in marketing and public relations.

My faith-related work is a result of God working in my life and I do it for fun. Fun.

Thanks for being part of the community.

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Living in Interesting Times

Posted on September 5, 2020 by jim

My grandmother taught in a one room school house.

She was sixteen, teaching all grade levels, nearly 90 years ago.

She went on the get her Master’s degree and teach into her 60s. Her sisters were also teachers, including one who was the high school English teacher of actor John Malkovitch.

Can you imagine trying to teach first graders through high school seniors, simultaneously? Can you imagine trying to do it at age 16?

There’s an ancient curse, “may you live in interesting times.”

I would imagine teaching 25 or 30 kids of all ages would be exceptionally challenging, in addition to interesting.

We’re certainly living through interesting times.

For many of us, pandemics and politics lead to daily uncertainty. In those moments of doubt, we can take advice from my grandmother and from scripture: to put our trust in God.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not rely on your own insight.
“In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

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Jim Meisner, Jr. is the author of Soar to Success the Wright Way, a motivational history book about the Wright brothers and the novel Faith, Hope, and Baseball.

Follow this link for more information about both books: https://faithonthefringe.com/faith-hope-and-baseball-a-novel/

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What is faith?

Posted on August 8, 2020 by jim

What is faith?

Is it our belief in God?

Or the confidence we have in ourselves?

Is faith the trust we put in others?

How do we measure something so personally believed and often so publicly lived?

Sometimes we find our faith out of step with the mainstream. We disagree with friends and family, because our faith is more complex. More nuanced. We see the world in vivid color, not black and white.

Many of us share questions about faith, and Faith, Hope, and Baseball is a novel that grapples with those same questions.

From the Amish to Atheists, the novel’s characters struggle with the same sorts of questions we all have about a Higher Power and the nature of God.

How does God enter into our decisions?

How are we different outside of our faith community?

What does faith mean to us at a personal level?

There are no easy answers to hard questions.

These questions and more are on the minds of the colorful characters in Faith, Hope, and Baseball.

No matter where you are on your faith journey, you’ll appreciate this heart-warming novel.

Follow this link to buy an autographed copy of Faith, Hope, and Baseball.

Follow this link to order Faith, Hope, and Baseball on Amazon.

Crosss

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Celebrate America’s Independence Day with a special 1776 live-cast

Posted on July 2, 2020 by jim

Join author Jim Meisner, Jr. as he discusses his debut novel, Faith, Hope, and Baseball.

17 minutes of live conversation about Faith, Hope, and Baseball.

7 free digital copies of Faith, Hope, and Baseball and

6 free signed copies of this heart-warming baseball story.

Saturday, July 4, 2020

11 a.m.

Follow this link, and look for the live link https://www.facebook.com/JimMeisnerJr/

Jim is also the co-author of American Revolutionaries and Founders of the Nation, a collective biography of ten founding fathers. So we’ll also talk about the history of Independence Day.

(To enter the drawing for free copies, send an e-mail to contact@faithhopeandbaseball.com, and express your choice of print or digital.)

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