Ron Paul on Nation Building (HT – Eric Blauer)
I don't usually put a lot of political stuff on here, but I do post stuff that relates to peace and how to live lives of shalom. Here is a quote at the first Republican debate from the "crazy" Ron Paul about the war in Afghanistan.
"[Bin Laden] wasn't caught in Afghanistan. Nation-building in Afghanistan and telling those people how to live and getting involved in running their country hardly had anything to do with finding the information where he was being held in a country that we give billions of dollars of foreign aid to, at the same time we are bombing that country."
Taking the Low Place – Pt 2
I posted yesterday a call to those who lead in the Body of Christ to seek the “low place.” The magnificent portion of Schaeffer's book, No Little People, was our starting point. He mentions in the book two reasons for moving to humility. The first one is here. Today I want to share the second.
The second reason why we should not seek the larger place is that if we deliberately and egotistically lay hold on leadership, wanting the drums to beat and the trumpets to blow, then we are not qualified for Christian leadership. Why? Because we have forgotten that we are brothers and sisters in Christ with other Christians. I've said on occasion that there is only one good kind of fighter for Jesus Christ–the man who does not like to fight. The belligerent man is never the one to be belligerent for Jesus. And it is exactly the same with leadership. The Christian leader should be a quiet man of God who is extruded by God's grace into some place of leadership.
Should Christians Support the Bombing of Libya?
My theology was shaken this week. Spending time in Thailand and India, I was able to walk through red light districts and peer into the eyes of women who had been shoved into the sex trade as young as 10 years old. Many American Christians love to preach a Christian gospel that promises happiness and health. How does our faith speak to such things?
via www.qideas.org
Picture of Christians and Muslims
Depicted in this photo, an image from an anonymous source on the ground in Egypt, is a team of Egyptian Christians forming a massive human shield to protect their Muslim countrymen as they prayed during the violent protests yesterday. Beauty amid the chaos.
via www.good.is
Finding Shalom in Today’s World
In the Bible, the word shalom is usually translated into English as “peace.” So when I think of shalom, peace is the first idea that comes to mind. Although there are some rather bloody moments in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, I do believe that God wants His people to be peaceful, and he wants peace for them. So when I think of God’s shalom, I usually tend to branch the idea out of peace. In Jeremiah 29:1-7, God instructs His people to live among the people of Babylon. He doesn’t want them to become like them; but he does ask them to live peacefully amongst them. He tells them to plant gardens, build houses, and marry their sons and daughters. These are not things people tend to do when they are in a state of war; on the contrary, these are things people do after the war, when peace reigns in the land and they are free to go about their lives once more. I’m beginning to realize that tension is a major theme with God. He wants us to live peacefully in the culture He places us in, but He also wants us to be separate and not actually be part of the culture. That creates a major tension, and I really think it will look different in each individual life It would be so much easier to just make a choice between living completely separate from culture or completely immersing in culture and ignoring God. But that is not what we are called to do. And now we have to figure out, each person for him or herself, what that will mean in their individual lives. – Diana C.
Missionality and the GLBT Community
Andrew Marin, the primary blogger for Love Is an Orientation recently began a series of posts about his life in Boystown, Chicago's primary gay neighborhood. His organization, The Marin Foundation, tries to build bridges, break down stereotypes, and open up conversation between the Christian and GLBT (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Trangender) communities. At the very center of his ministry is the recognition that the attractional model is doomed because of Christian's actions in the past, as well as the stereotypes of both communities created in our culture. We cannot expect to bring in to our churches today a group that has been the victim of countless attacks from within the church throughout our entire history. In his book UnChristian, David Kinnamen provides countless statistics and research on the perception of the church by outsiders. At the top of his list of negative perceptions of Christianity is that it is anti-homosexual, a view held by 91 percent of the participants in the survey described in his book. To be clear, this does not mean that 91 percent of Christians are actually anti-homosexual. Rather, it means that there is a tremendously strong preconception that the Church is actively against homosexuality.
Revelation and the Violent “Prize Fighting” Jesus
"In an interview several years ago for Relevant Magazine, Mark Driscoll (well known pastor
of Mars Hill in Seattle) said,“In Revelation, Jesus is a prize-fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is the guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.” (You can find the original interview here).
Dever, Wallis & Jethani on Justice and Gospel part 2
via www.youtube.com
Another Peace Video
Peace in a Violent World
If it was outrageous then, what makes it different now?