Author Archives: hlesbrown

About hlesbrown

H. Les Brown is a man of many talents who has worn many hats in his lifetime. He boasts MAs in both philosophy and theology and years of service in the ministry, industry, data processing, life coaching, project management, and even a stint at Headquarters Marine Corps. As a life coach, he had a series of articles published in Worldwide Coaching Magazine. He self-published The Frazzled Entrepreneur’s Guide to Having it All, a self-help book for over-extended entrepreneurs. He enjoys desert hiking, working out, the creative arts, and a has passion for language. He’s up before dawn for morning meditation. He lives with Craig Gibson, his husband of twenty-five years, in a restored midcentury modern home in Palm Springs, California.

A Liberal Christian Manifesto

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Here’s a question that came to my Facebook news feed: “Why is everyone on my page that whines, bitches, complains or simply are outright obnoxious about our president a Democrat? I haven’t seen 1 single Republican say or share the things you guys do.” I gave him a brief answer, but then allowed myself a few days to formulate a reply. What I came up with has some interesting and, I think significant, elements to it. First of all, I want to answer the question with a question: Who posts anything  (beyond pictures of their last meal or kittens) on Facebook? It has to be people who are motivated Continue Reading →

The Week That Collapses Time

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Today is Palm Sunday in Liturgical Christian circles. It begins the week known by many as “Holy Week” and it focuses on the Last Supper, arrest, trial, crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. Many devout Christians — let alone those for whom Christianity is only a set of moral principles– have not had the opportunity to go deeper into the meaning of this week and the liturgical celebrations that the Christian Community participates in. The meaning of these rites goes far beyond what is seen on the surface, and, in many cases, even beyond the words and gestures used in Continue Reading →

The Evangelical-Catholic Heresy and the Betrayal of Jesus

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Heretic

Chapter 1: Heresy Heresy: now there’s a word we don’t see very often anymore. Of course, I encountered it when I was in the seminary, studying the history of the Christian Church. Even when I was studying the matter, heresies were little more than strange Greek-sounding names that we had to memorize in order to pass our exams: Adoptionism, Arianism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism, Nestorianism, Manichaeism, etc. ad infinitum. It’s such an anachronistic word, and such a foreign concept now. It originated in centuries long past, when academic clerics wrote long letters to one another arguing about arcane details of belief. At Continue Reading →

What’s the Good Word, God?

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Gospel of John

As I write this, the feast of Christmas begins at sundown tomorrow. It brings me to think about the awesome masterwork of faith and understanding that is the Gospel of John, and probably the key concept that forms the foundation of John’s understanding of who Jesus was and is: his very nature or essence. His understanding goes far beyond just an appreciation for Jesus and his role in the history of humanity; it goes to the heart of Jesus’ role as essential bridge between the divine and, not only the human, but even the entire universe. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Continue Reading →

The War on Christmas? (Part 5)

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Christ Child

This is the last of five articles in my “The War on Christmas?” series, entitled “The Birth of the Christ.” I hope that readers of this series will be able to distinguish the “true meaning of Christmas” from all the accretions that have been added to this celebration throughout the centuries (and consequently come to realize how silly the notion of a “war on Christmas” really is). When all is said and done, what is the “true meaning of Christmas?” Christmas (Christ Mass) is a liturgical celebration of the Christian Church that commemorates the appearance of God in human flesh and blood and his Continue Reading →