Over two weeks ago (which I'm pretty sure makes it about 100 in blog years), Tim Swanson wrote an interesting retrospective on "Boyz N the Hood" which appeared in the Chicago Tribune. (Weirdly, it doesn't seem to exist on the Tribune website.) What I found most interesting was this paragraph, which was the third-to-last one …
Category: Christianity
Be an advocate. Please.
Summer is winding down, school begins soon for many and the weather is (finally!) outstanding, beautiful and inspiring. If you’re like me, that means your tolerance for reading some long missive from me is basically nil. Yet, the call to incarnate the love of God as experienced in the birth, life, death and resurrection of …
“Heroes for Peace”
Over at the Raven Foundation blog, my friend, Adam Ericksen, has a terrific post about the inherently political nature of Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection. Adam reminds us of the historical-political-social context of the time, specifically how words and titles we Christians use for Jesus were first used for Caesar. Words and titles like: …
The #faithfulbudget prayer vigil continues
This video from the National Council of Churches provides an inside look at the ongoing prayer vigil regarding the need for our country to pass a moral budget by considering first and foremost the impact the budget has on the poor and vulnerable. The video also captures some of the group arrested for praying and …
Open letter to Sen. Kirk
Update: Several religious leaders, including General Secretary of the Board of Church & Society, Jim Winkler, were arrested today for praying and protesting the budget proposals in the Capital rotunda. As a Bread for the World member, I was asked to participate in emailing Senators Durbin and Kirk as we continue to seek to follow …
Undergraduate hunger
As Bread for the World reminds us, Globally, almost 16,000 children die each day from hunger related causes. That's one child every five seconds. This week 8 Woodridge United Methodist Church college students and 3 leaders (including my wife and me) served at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora. For many of these students, it …
Widening the circle
Yesterday I shared that I was one of over 4000 pastors who signed an open letter to President Obama and Congress regarding the current budget impass. I am also one of over 500 people from across Illinois who signed a memo to our Senators, Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk. Today, Bread for the World activists …
My ad in Politico
Ok, so this isn't exactly my ad in Politico...but I am one of the 4000+ pastors who signed on to this: Sojouners writes more about this on their God's Politics blog today. They also list the ad signers by state. Sojo invited me to write "2-3 sentences" about my support for this movement which they …
Mingo County mission trip: reflecting back, looking forward
I never quite know how to encapsulate all that happens on one of our mission trips. There is just so much that happens: tine in the vehicles there and back, staying at churches on the road there and back, inside jokes, inside disputes, conversations that cannot be reconstructed let alone shared, insights shared in confidence, …
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Guest blogger: Pastor Jim responds to Ministry With
A few weeks ago I wrote about the new UMC resource, Ministry With* the Poor I hope you’ve checked that out by now and at least watched the introductory video. If not, I encourage you to do so now. One of the fascinating things about Ministry With* the Poor is the collaborative effort bringing it …
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All That I Can't Leave Unsaid 