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 [...]

In a world of Pentium processing and wireless access it’s nice to have “quick and dirty” learning at my finger tips.  I gloss and glean what others have already processed and then try to make it my own.  So every day I reap the benefits of an open source society.
My approach to learning  is recently [...]

Open source is a software phenomenon that allows one developer to allow others to modify/improve upon the original design.  Mozilla Fire Fox is an example of an open source search engine that has gone through many modifications by different developers.
This term has become more widely adopted in theological circles as well, looking at theology as [...]

I’ve just returned from a two-day retreat at a friend’s home in Middleton, NY. I try to do this at least once a year as a way of recalibrating and recharging. It went well for me. The hospitality was awesome. I feel as if things are more manageable in life now. [...]

Church planting has some intense moments of  loneliness.  This is what I’m hearing from both seasoned planters and “rookies” alike.  I’ve experienced it  for myself as someone who is a new church planter and pastor here in East Harlem.  I’m finding more and more, loneliness is not so much about whether people around, but the [...]

Maarten Van der Weijden (wish I could pronounce it just as well as it’s spelled) of the Netherlands won gold in the swimming marathon at the Olympic games in Beijing. He fought Leukemia for a couple of years, makes a great recovery, goes back to training then wins gold. MOst people who [...]

I spoke last Sunday on God’s song of goodness from Psalm 23. The Message version reads “Surely your beauty and love follow me.” Other versions read “goodness and mercy” instead of beauty and love. Irregardless, I love the statement. We often think that we need to chase after good things, [...]

This is an article “On Faith” by Gabriel Salguero a friend and pastor here in Manhattan.
I think that Jesus, if nominated, would not run. Jesus’ function as a prophet transcends political partisanship. I am utterly convinced that he would have a corrective for all political parties, this is what prophets do. Let me be clear [...]

Tim Keller’s new book.

“Description is revelation. Seeing is praise.”
-Chet Raymo
I don’t know about you but there’s times when my prayer life seems to grow stale and withered. I recently got my hands on this book titled Contemplative Photography by Howard Zehr and its sort of helped me to hit the refresh button. It bodes well [...]

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 [...]

I continue my readings of They Like Jesus but not the Church.  Author Dan Kimball writes about Charles Templeton, a powerful evangelist and close friend of Billy Graham.  Templeton eventually doubt his faith and abandons it all together.  He became one of Christianity’s greatest critics too, writing a book called Farewell to God: My Reasons [...]

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 [...]