the church, faithful | how does a church stay true to the gospel?
Please, please don’t read this as some overt political statement from me or some kind of Hitler/Trump equivalency. If you do, you are missing the target. It is actually an ecclesial statement. How does the church remain faithful in the midst of so many counter-stories, particularly “nationalism”? How do we maintain our equilibrium in the midst of so many different and competing narratives? How do we maintain our equilibrium in the midst of so many different and competing narratives? BTW – this commentary was written in 2006 if anything he was referring to George W Bush. Hehe! r“Rightly reading the signs of the times requires a church capable of standing against the legitimating stories of the day. American Christians often think that if we had been confronted with someone like Hitler we would have been able to recognize that he was evil. Yet in many ways, the church in Germany was a church more theologically articulate than the American church has ever been; still the German church failed to know how to adequately challenge the rise of Hitler. It failed because Christians in Germany assumed that they were German Christians just as American Christians assume that they are American Christians. Churches that are nationally identified will seldom be able to faithfully read the signs of the time.”
beyond talking points – race in america
This is an especially painful and telling interview from Fox News. There is such pain in our land right now. As is said in the piece, this is beyond politics, this is beyond “talking point.”
As Paul says in Romans, “Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.” The theological category of lament is real and needed.
liturgy after charlotteville
The following are the brief remarks I made at Immanuel Church on the Sunday after the White Nationalist rally in Charlotteville, Virginia
I don’t have many words because, frankly, I’m embarrassed and broken hearted. For most of the weekend, as I saw report after report as to what had happened, my emotions went back and forth between sadness and infuriation. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because I have been predicting this stuff for a long time now, but I was still flabbergasted that what I was watching could be happening in my country in the year 2017.
a staying missionary
“Live your life as a missions trip.” – Reggie McNeal
I love that quote! It rings of truth. I really aspire to live my life with that focus.
Cry for Peace
Honestly, it seems like there are a millions things on the minds of Americans right now and the potential of entering into another war seems like a strange little (and inconvenient) “gnat” only mildly clouding our attentions. We have been in international conflict for so long, for some it just seems like a “same old, same old” thing. I can remember not long ago that when our country was on the precipice of a international conflict (war) people would freak out.
Have we become that desensitized? Are we that callous? Does it not alarm you that our country is about to drop more bombs…on a different country?
Why Do We Call Him Lord (HT – McKnight)
I came across this today and felt like posting it, particuuarly as our country continues in its warring posture and stands on the precipice of another engagement.
We call a poor man “Lord” and in his name determine friends and enemies on the basis of who has oil for us.
The Church and the Tucson Shootings: Prayers, Sermons, and MLK
This is a short excerpt from my dear (and brilliant) friend, Al Tizon (you can find him at Word and Deed or on FB at Evangelicals for Social Action):
What is the role of the church in the face of national crisis in general and the recent Tucson
shootings in particular? The answer is multi-dimensional, but it always includes offering hope to a traumatized nation by way of prayers, sermons, and honoring those whose lives were lost. Churches around the state of Arizona did just that in their Sunday services after the rampage. And not just in Arizona, but around the nation. Churches in Houston, for example, united for a day of mourning the dead, praying for those who were still fighting for their lives and for the health of the nation. Along these lines, an article appeared in the Yakima Herald that aptly remembers a sermon-speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the wake of the senseless deaths of four young black girls as a result of a church bombing. In the face of yet another national tragedy, the words of Dr. King—"God still has a way of wringing good out of evil"—defines the church’s message to the hurting, the injured, the needy, and the poor.
National Budget Sense?
Ok, this guy makes some sense. I don't venture into this topic frequently on this blog, but listening to this interview this morning gave me a glimmer of hope that there are still a small number of sensible people in the world…not many, but a few.