It’s quite the ideological whiplash to transition from the outrage over the Boston marathon bombing (Why didn’t the FBI do more to prevent this horrible tragedy?) to the NSA outrage (How dare you mine our private data from Google to spy on suspected terrorists? There are white people who use Google!). You can’t have a world in which Benghazis are guaranteed not to happen and have your civil liberties too. Well, unless you make the law officially racist and ban... Read more
An Atlantic Monthly article yesterday took a look at some comments made by one of the candidates in the race for Virginia’s lieutenant governor, Bishop E.W. Jackson, about how yoga makes people susceptible to Satanic possession. Several other prominent evangelicals were quoted, including Al Mohler whose comments are very instructive. My wife does a fair amount of yoga and so far she hasn’t exhibited Satanic behavior (but maybe the next time we have an argument I’ll bring this up). I... Read more
Yesterday, over 150 social justice activists in North Carolina were arrested at the state legislature building after a civil disobedience protest over a bunch of new laws the NC state government is racing to implement that activists say are going to really hurt the poor in NC. One of the biggest problem areas is education. To share two examples, one bill says that charter schools can hire instructors that don’t have teaching licenses; another one transfers $100 million from public... Read more
A few weeks ago, Bruxy Cavey at the Meeting House preached a sermon using Pinocchio as a metaphor for our existence as humans who are justified in Christ but have not yet entered into the full humanity we will fully receive when we are glorified. I was listening to it on the podcast as I worked in the Dominican Republic. I ended up using Pinocchio a little differently in my sermon that I preached in Santiago this past Sunday but... Read more
In Brian Zahnd’s May 26th sermon “New Creation (Not Evacuation),” he confronts the neo-Gnosticism of the evangelicals who think we can trash the Earth because God’s just going to blow it up anyway, taking on in particular the key prooftext of the rapture fan club, 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Zahnd uses the analogy of going to the airport to receive a relative who’s been away on a long trip, like a military deployment. People who read rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:17... Read more
These Monday Merton quotes are taken from chapter 7, “Being and Doing,” of No Man Is An Island. (more…) Read more
[Today’s entry comes from Erin Lauer whose daughter Anna celebrated her eighth birthday yesterday with us here in the Dominican Republic] Flashback to 2005… Ethan and I were blessed by the birth of our first daughter, Anna Ruth. That day will forever be etched on our hearts, as she was truly a dream come true. She was born at one of the best hospitals in the nation where she and I received top-notch care. Shortly thereafter, we welcomed her into... Read more
[Today’s blog reflection comes from our mission team co-leader Jane Wilson] Yesterday, the youngest member of our team, Anna (who just turned 8), did a devotion about the Tower of Babel. In her children’s version, God said he wanted there to be many kinds of people in the world, working together to make His kingdom on Earth a better place. (more…) Read more
[Today’s post comes from Emily Amburn] A mission trip consists of different components, each important in fulfilling God’s work. The manual labor, which today included mixing concrete, hauling it in wheelbarrows, and passing it in buckets down an assembly line, deemed “The Bucket Brigade”. While this part is extremely important, and the most visible thing we leave behind as Burke United Methodist Church, I feel the most important part of a mission trip is the building of relationships. Through working... Read more
I was listening to Brian Zahnd’s podcast Tuesday while waiting for the rest of my mission team in the Santiago airport. In his May 19th sermon “Mystery Revealed,” he preaches on the cosmic reconciliation of all creation in Christ described in Colossians 1. Brian cautions Christians not to take a triumphalist, hegemonic attitude about the cosmic reign of Christ as through its purpose is to serve as our self-affirmation. He says, “”The way of conquest and domination is the way... Read more
Mercy Not Sacrifice
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