Jose Humphreys

Also see: Open Source Preaching Pt. 1
I had a sermon prepared for our church’s weekly gathering at the National Black Theater.  I also had a question prepared at the beginning of this sermon.  In anticipation of preaching about The Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father” in particular, I began the sermon by asking our community, “When we [...]

Tim Keller’s new book.

The late Jewish theologian and activist Abrahm Heschel coined the term “praying with my legs”. Religions & Ethics Weekly had a segment dedicated to him. Here’s a piece:

It was his participation in the civil rights movement that first made Heschel widely known. In a famous photo of the Selma march in [...]

I was walking down 125th Street with Mayra today and she asked me “What do you think about prayers where people ask God to help them decide on what train to take?” “Or prayers like ‘God what should I eat today?’…” The list could go on toward Mercedes Benzes and the like.
Mayra’s reference [...]

Some great stuff has happened the last few days. Our church, Metro Hope, had its first annual barbecue at Marcus Garvey Park. We had friends, neighbors, and relatives come down for a great time. Mayra happened to overhear some people in the park talk about the diversity of the group, which was [...]

Having relationships only with Christians made it difficult to obey the teachings of Jesus about being on a mission for him and being salt and light to the world…I started to feel convicted that I had become a part of the Christian subculture, that strange bubble which little by little sucks you into it, and [...]

I’m speaking at Bethesda Covenant Church this Sunday in Midtown Manhattan. I met Adam and Amy Rohler, Pastors of Bethel at a a midwinter conference in Denver.
Part of my sermon is going to address this topic of “ego shedding” within the context of John 6, Jesus’ miracle multiplying the bread and fish for 5,000 [...]

John the Baptist, in response to people saying Jesus’ ministry was blowing up and his was not said, “I must decrease and he must increase”. That was an amazing statement.
As for me, I know there are times when I like my ego to be well situated and in full effect. Ego can [...]

In both the introduction and first chapter of They Like Jesus but not the Church, Dan Kimbal talks about people’s misconceptions of Christians. He partly attributes this to a few Christians on television, who pretty much represent the whole bunch of us. Meanwhile there’s a whole generation of twenty to thirty something [...]

My friend Gabriel, pastor down at the Lambs Church wrote a great article for the Sojo Blog on Latino Progressive Evangelicals.
It’s an excellent, impactful read. Here’s a taste.
Often when speaking to a new group of people, many assumptions are made depending on how I am introduced. If they lead with “Pentecostal” or “Nazarene” I’m pegged [...]

I recently read some core values that belonged to a certain missional church in the northwest. The church was a restart and looking to reach a new community with changing demographics. The core value that caught my eye at the time was, “A willingness to inconvenience ourselves for the gospel.”
It’s interesting, in a [...]

About community that is… But community is hard work.
I don’t like to lose my privacy. I often want the world to be about my own concerns. Meanwhile it seems so much easier to hang around people we’ve known for years, and do life with them.
It’s so much easier to have church [...]

The God of the universe was nailed to a tree. This is a historical event millions of people across the globe will ponder this week.
During a time where reality TV competition dominates the airways, and success is about outperformance (except in the case of American Idol & Senjiah), we come face-to-face with the cross again. [...]

I ran into an old pal, Marco, on Myspace. I got some feedback about Conversations from his Myspace blog. I had invited him to Conversations and he had alot to say about it. Here’s an excerpt.
So I went to “Conversations with God” hosted by Jose and his wife. It was an [...]

What is a gospel centered church? This is what a course at Redeemer’s Church Plant Institute has me pondering. Tim Keller, senior pastor of Redeemer has a great body of work on gospel centered faith. Check out this quote:
We never “get beyond the gospel” in our Christian life to something more [...]