Loving, Learning, and Leading

As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 10:11 NIV) “What is shame? You are: different rejected exposed contaminated” -Edward T. Welch in Shame Interrupted. In western Christianity, there is a tremendous emphasis on dealing with guilt.  Guilt is that feeling or understanding that you have done something wrong or trangressed a particular standard.  Guilt is associated with something one does, or sometimes something that one does not do.  Guilt is a universal emotion that is culturally defined.  Culturally defined because the standards that produce guilt are defined and re-enforced by one's community. However,  shame is a much more insidious and opppressive emotion. While guilt may speak "I have messed up"; shame screams "I am a mess".  Guilt may impair our actions and outlook, but shame distorts and perverts our identities. Guilt is often related to shame in that shame may result in our pathological ways of dealing ...

“ Our society's obsession with media violence does not show that human beings are naturally violent.  Instead, it demonstrates that our society is ill.” – Paul k Chappell in Peaceful revolution “The greatest single antidote to violence is conversation” – Jonathan Sacks in The Dignity Of Difference Don’t envy violent people or copy their ways. Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord, but he offers his friendship to the godly. (Proverbs 3:31, 32 NLT) This is a continuation of a series of reflections on the tragedy of Trayvon Martin's death and its implications for me personally, and the broader society.  In the first post, I spoke about the clear racialization that initiated the process and how that racialization destroys the possibility of true community.  Regardless whether you believe George Zimmerman's accounting of the events or not, I think we can all agree that Trayvon's death was senseless and that his family is justified in feeling a sense of injustice. ...

"There is a tendency to judge a race, a nation or any distinct group by its least worthy members"      -Eric Hoffer, Philosopher and Presidential Medal of Freedom writer "It's clear that an essential way to stop the violence and the despair in our culture is to engage in activities that bring us empathy and conviviality."      -Cecile Andrews, in Living Room Revolution Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.      -Romans 12:14-16 NIV The entire tragedy of the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman incident and trial is almost too large to behold, too deep to describe, and so personal that it is hard to control the emotions that it provokes.  It has been several days since the verdict of not-guilty was issued and I have read some superb blogs and commentari...

"This series endeavors to be true to the spirit of the Bible" Disclaimer before each episode of History Channels "The Bible" "All Scripture is God-breathed, and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God will be thoroughly equipped for every good work" II Timothy 3:16-17 Earlier this month, the History Channel began to air a highly anticipated and highly promoted 10 part, 20 hour series called " The Bible ".  This long awaited series was promoted in many evangelical Christian circles as one of the most up-to-date attempts to capture the essence of the Biblical stories.  It has been promoted in the most widely used Bible app (Youversion) and Youversion has become the "official" Bible app of the series. I want to begin by saying that such an undertaking to render an authentic telling of the Biblical Narrative is daunting enough without the limitation of only having 20 hours to t...

" Why is it so hard to keep in mind that our purpose is more important than our purchasing power? "Our pervasive addiction to consumerism does not stand out in society as a problem, but rather as a sign of success" Jennifer D. Crumpton in A New Evangelical Manifesto It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Mark 10:25 We are a week away from Valentines Day.  This day, above others is devoted to celebrating the deepest and most profound reasons for living: To receive and express love.  It should be a day where we slow down enough from our hectic paces and busy lives to say, express, appreciate, and demonstrate the people who love us as well as the objects of our love. Cards, flowers, perfumes and chocolates are all very nice but if they are the ultimate expression of our love then we have a sentimental, but superficial love. Modern day marketing approaches shower us with images that...

Our ingenuity for self-deception is inexhaustible Hannah Moore Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways,  Proverbs 3:31 As 2013 unfolds, I am shocked at the polarizing effect of gun control debate.  In light of tragedy after tragedy, we still have discussions focusing on political viability, constitutional interpretations, and the prevalence of mental illness.  According to the Children's defense fund, 3721 American children die every year due to gun violence.  We have an epidemic in the United States that is not only treatable, but more importantly preventable In a nation where we have more gun dealers than McDonald's and more distributors than gas stations, we need the clarity and the fortitude to admit that we have a gun saturated culture that mythologizes gun violence by covering it with constitutional language and the moralistic trappings of redemptive violence.  I do not wish to bemoan the point, but our infatuation with guns a...

"We've mixed politics and religion so completely that many simply opt out of both; apparently they are reluctant to claim a religious affiliation because they don't want the political one that comes along with it~Eric Weiner, New York Times No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs — he wants to please his commanding officer. (II Timothy 2:4) I began reading a collection of essays in a book called " A New Evangelical Manifesto " and came across an arresting essay by Brian McLaren entitled "The Church in America Today".  In this essay, he identifies three characteristics of the predominant Evangelical political expression of the past twenty years. Even before I read the essay, I have had an uneasy feeling anytime evangelical Christianity was mentioned in the same breath with any type of politics.   Although I recognize that within the broad evangelical Christian community, there is an incredible diversity of political leanings ...