Loving, Learning, and Leading

Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor Romans 13:7 This is an open letter to presidential candidates of all parties. Dear Presidential Candidates, As we approach the 2012 presidential campaign, I recognize that your schedules are filled with campaign meetings, appearances, and fundraising.  I can not imagine the pressure and the heavy burden that you must feel, in order to pursue the office of the president.  The responsibility is immense and the influence is incredible.  Due to that, I am committed to praying for you. As I have begun to hear the campaign rhetoric, slogans, and propaganda, I thought that there a couple things you need to know about me, and the thousands (maybe millions) of people who approach this election, along with the elections before this with angst and a persistant case of pessimism.  My hope is that if you take the time to understand me, i...

"Everything is permissible for me"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"-but I will not be mastered by anything I Corinthians 6:12 As we head into a presidential election year, we can anticipate the spiraling intensity of political ads, with their slogans, rhetoric, and blatant manipulation of the facts.  Complex discussions are reduced to simple and witty quips produced to be soundbits for the media.  Unfortunately, this is not due to the media, but demanded by the American people.  The American people have desired a simplicity that defies the incredibly intricate nature of issues that have global impact and thousands of moving parts.  We see this in everything from immigration and healthcare reform, to taxation and even war. What fascinates me the most about politics is that we, for the most part, have been captured by a few ideological concepts and we then filter what is being said through that preconceived ideology. ...

Over and over, when I ask God why all of these injustices are allowed to exist in the world, I can feel the Spirit whisper to me, "You tell me why we allow this to happen. You are my body, my hands, my feet." Shane Claiborne Each November, I am reminded of the privilege we have in democracy, to choose candidates who lead our government, and to weigh in on local and state policies.  It is truly a privilege because there are many places in the world, where the people being governed have virtually no influence or voice in the process. Every year, I am asked as a pastor, what should be the Christian's role in the politics.  Typically, its usually a veiled request to find out where I stand on a particular issue.  Yet, I do think its a fair question to ask and a worthy question to consider.  In the secularized society, where one's faith is reduced to smaller and smaller sphere's of influence, there is a tendency to separate one's faith and one's politics.  ...

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power I Corinthians 4:20 Everywhere I go, I find people engaged in the fight for significance.  People want to know that their lives mattered.  People desparately want to feel like their fights and struggles contributes to the good of their society.  People desire legacy.  Its not a case of unhealthy ambition or narcassism, but this seems like a natural trait.  To have significance seems to be in our DNA. The essence of hopelessness is a person who resigns themselves to insignificance.  Nothing matters and they feel powerless and out of control.  Hopelessness is a real, palpable entity, that can be seen in almost every environment.  It does not take us long to meet someone who is making tragic decisions because somewhere and somehow, they accepted that the choices that we make, the people we become, and relationships we foster, have no bearing ultimately. Yet, when we look at the lives in ...