Tony Perkins, president of the religious-right Family Research Council in Washington, wrote a piece that appears in the CNN blog site, condemning the Occupy movement . He cites the parable of the ten pounds in Luke 19, in which a master gave money to his slaves to invest until his return from a journey. “He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds, and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ ” (New Revised... Read more
The season of Advent sounds a discordant note in a world abuzz with holiday Musak. While everyone else is humming “have a happy jolly Christmas,” we church folks sing prophetic tunes that sound more like a slave spiritual or a freedom song than a Christmas Carol. O come, O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel, who mourns in lonely exile here until the son of God appears. We do not begin our Advent journey with the baby Jesus snuggled in... Read more
The freedom to practice religion, with neither the interference nor the endorsement of the government, is sacred to Americans. It’s explicitly protected in our Constitution. And it’s largely the reason that religion flourishes here much more than in European countries. Turn on the television, turn on the radio, look down the main streets of the cities and towns of America at the steeples and domes of houses of worship, and there is no question that religion of virtually every kind... Read more
The Christian liturgical year ended appropriately with Matthew 25. In this passage known as the “Judgment of the Nations” Jesus declares the criteria for separating the sheep from the goats. Curiously (or not), they have nothing to do with whom one marries, the music one listens to, the company one keeps, or the dogma one subscribes to. Instead, they have everything to do with how we (collectively) treat the homeless, the hungry, the imprisoned, the sick, the thirsty, and the... Read more
Many North Americans are struggling to find a spirit of thankfulness this year. Many of us are worried about finances, unemployment and underemployment, unsuccessful job searches, shrinking bank accounts and retirement plans, indebtedness, and the prospect of needing to work until our early 70’s, given the current state of our pensions. Some curmudgeons might even protest, “What have we got to be thankful for this year, with everything still uncertain and no end in sight?” I share their concerns because... Read more
Advent is a curious season in the Christian year. Perhaps before the identification of Christmas and consumerism, the Advent season inspired Christians to reflection, confession, and preparation. Beginning in the fourth century, Advent – like Lent –was seen as a time of fasting and penitence. Although Christmas parties and “hanging of the greens” potlucks keep many of us from fasting during Advent these days, the season is definitely a time of restlessness and reflection for those who take the season... Read more
[This post is part of a conversation at the Patheos Book Club on the new book Left, Right, and Christ: Evangelical Faith In Politics, by Lisa Sharon Harper and D.C. Innes (2011, Russell Media).] The good news in this book: contrary to the assumptions of many, evangelicals are not of one mind on matters political. The bad news in this book: the wing of the right-wing evangelical co-author of the book is that of a bat, not a bird. ... Read more
The Big interfaith Tent at Occupy Oakland: Faithfully Engaging the 99% A Local Pastor’s Reflections from the Oakland Encampment Fourteen members of the Interfaith Tent @ Oakland locked arms in front of the Tent and were arrested early Monday morning as the police raided the encampment. It is not surprising that our words and actions have been reduced to a few sound bites and fleeting images by the mainstream media, but there is a deeper, better story to be told.... Read more
Once upon a time, a wealthy CEO of a multinational corporation called his three most trusted employees, his three senior vice presidents, into his office. Sharply dressed in a pinstripe suit and sporting a pure white hair and beard, the CEO explained that the corporation had the opportunity to expand its presence in some crucial emerging markets, so crucial that he wanted to oversee the negotiations and acquisitions of new companies himself. If he could manage to reap these companies profits without having sown their original seed, the CEO knew that the investment would mean huge bonuses for himself, and his three senior vice presidents sitting before him and attentively taking notes assumed that some of that financial windfall might trickle down to them. Read more
As we head into our final week of our Symposium on the Future of Seminary Education, we offer a few last perspectives for your pondering. Perhaps one of the wisest thus far, and a fitting piece to conclude with, is from David Lose, professor of Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary and one of the founders of WorkingPreacher.org. He invites us to a piece of humble pie in Thriving Seminaries Admit What They Don't Know, contending: "It's at the edges of our knowledge, the places where we recognize and embrace what we don't yet know, that the potential for salutary learning and growth is greatest." Read more
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