Connecting the Dots: June 17, 2003

So many great blog posts, videos, tweets and books came into view for me last week.  Here are a few that I would like to share with you.

•  This is a a wonderful post by Sarah Moon about how radical inclusivity actually turns her away from the table.  It is a complex world we live in and radical hospitality often has its limits.

“There’s no grace for me, as I try to work through all the festering hate toward my rapist that I don’t know what the hell to do with. There’s no grace as I try to figure out whether I ever want to forgive a man who hurts me more each day even though we haven’t spoken in six years. Maybe they’re right and I am the bitter, hateful person they think I am, but what about all this talk of grace?”

 

• And I’m gonna break my own rule right out of the gate and share two pieces by one author in the same issue of Connecting the Dots.  Sarah Moon gets a second nod as she takes a probing and controversial look at the trend of “don’t call me racist!”  It’s a conversation worth having.

“I’ve noticed a trend among white, straight, academic cis men in so-called progressive or emergent Christianity where calling someone racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. is a bigger problem than the existence of racism, sexism, and homophobia.”

• A post by Kathy Baldock of Canyonwalker Connection about a video broadcast happening on Thursday, June 20 featuring survivors of gay reparative therapy confronting an Exodus leader.

“Clarifying the critical message that people do not change from a homosexual to heterosexual orientation is pivotal to the way in which many Christians view the LGBT community. Slowly, the message and promise of change is  being debunked and the failure and destructive nature of past attempts admitted.”

•  Over on The Friendly Atheist there is a fantastic guest post by Alise Wright about the un-biblical practice of Christians praying in public.

“…when prayer is used as a tool to build you up while simultaneously excluding others, the point has been missed. In that moment, we are not loving. We are not laying down our lives for our non-believing friends, but rather, we are using their lives as a tool to make ourselves look more important, which flies in the face of the numerous calls to humility.”

• A lovely letter to the parents of gay children from Susan Cottrell of Freedhearts.

“You must trust God with this child you have raised. Embrace them and love them as a fellow believer–Jesus asks that of you. Do not shun them or take other action, which will only alienate you from their lives. Instead, look forward to the many major life events ahead, and be there for them as you wanted your parents to be there for you.”

• A nice post by By Derek Penwell  that asks What If We Stopped Worrying about Church Growth and Started Worrying about Living Like Jesus?

“Look, I’m not suggesting another evangelism strategy. All I’m saying is that until we figure out how to live authentically like Jesus among the very people with whom Jesus spent most of his time, no evangelism strategy is going to work anyway.

If we start worrying more about looking like Jesus and less time worrying about looking like we’re trying to win some sort of award for metastatic growth, I feel pretty good that the rest will take care of itself.”

 

• A great health focused site that I ran into this week while looking for ways to improve my thyroid function without immediately turning to the pharmaceutical industrial complex (TMI I know).
  

• And finally, the video that made me cry – Jonathan Allen, 20, has not seen his parents in two years, but it didn’t stop him from giving an amazing audition on America’s Got Talent –

“I haven’t seen my parents in about two and a half years. I love them with all my heart. I don’t know if they still love me. It’s been difficult and music is what makes me feel like I belong.”