Heart and Soul

Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, Michigan has this image as its homepage right now.  What does it say to you?  At first I was so delighted to see that the heart and soul of art is alive and well in a Christian community that I missed the message.  It’s an image meant to speak visually about the power of mentoring.  Mars Hill, along with many other church communities, is teaming up with Kids Hope USA to recruit volunteer mentors for kids in at-risk living conditions.  Kids Hope USA has a great tag line- “One Child One Hour One Church One School“ A simple concept with a powerful result… just read the story here.  Now, does that creative image from the Mars Hill homepage speak a little differently?

 

Free Ling and Lee

In case you hadn’t heard… two American journalists have been jailed in North Korea since March and are about to stand trial… what ever that might consist of … in the People’s Republic of North Korea.  Euna Lee and Laura Ling (sister of Lisa Ling, a former regular on “The View”) were following stories about refugees fleeing North Korea very near that nations border with China when they were detained.  One barely mentioned fact about this story is that one of these two women is a Christian missionary as well as a journalist

There has been little contact with their families and they continue to lobby hard with the State Department and through the media to gain their release.  You can follow the story a little more closely on  the blog, Liberate Laura and Euna.

You can also find more information about the prayer request campaign, public vigils and sign an online petition to the UN on Facebook at the “Detained in North Korea” common interest page.

 

If You Don’t Hear It….

CALL + RESPONSE

…you’re not listening.  I just read a short commentary by a pastor who said that “everyone is talking about social justice these days.  The problem is that if we do it without God, it’s only a good thing and doesn’t bring about the transformation that God desires for human kind.”

Really?  From my perspective it is difficult to do justice without God.  If it is just and merciful… it is God…isn’t it?  William Shakespeare once wrote;

“The quality of mercy is not strain’d/ It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven/ Upon the place beneath.  It is twice blest;  It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”

From that pastor’s commentary, I can only conclude that he is just not listening.  Sometimes you have to tune your ear toward the earth and trees to hear the gentle falling rain.

CALL + RESPONSE requires a discerning ear, eye and heart.  And then, a response.  Don’t be afraid to feel it raining.

 

Bob Marley Wisdom

It’s been a rather long absence.  Brought on by two major life transistions that happened at once.  A move away from a home and city where we have been for ten years and the loss of a parent.  In the midst of all this, could things look any gloomier in the world?  Bad economic news, pandemic flu possibilities, more deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, piracy. violence, murder, persecution, saber rattling from other nations… and on and on.

As Bob Marley once sang…. “So much trouble in the world.”

Marley had a way of tempering his anguish about modern life with hope .

It is Jah’s sun that is going to rise again;  you have to keep giving a little, face the day.  Reggae wisdom.

Whatever has happened or will…. spring is still bursting and Jah’s sun is still in the sky.

 

Just a Suggestion

If you haven’t heard of this book, learn more about it here. If you think you should read a book like this….. get it!  Timothy Keller has some profound arguments in this book.  Yet, what I appreciated most about it was how he renewed my own faith.  In an age of skepticism, as well as poor orthodoxy and biblical exegesis in some sectors, I closed this book with deep gratitude.  If I ever get to Manhattan…. Church of the Redeemer is definitely on the tour map!!!

 

Another Challenge this Lent

You can watch the full 53 minutes here.

 

Beautiful Women

True beauty….

Do you ever think about how distorted your own perceptions are?  We live in an image-driven culture.  We often might not realize the subtlety of the assault, especially on women.

But there are alternatives to the mass-produced, glossy imagery that pass for ‘beauty.’  One alternative can be seen in the Dove Campaign and their efforts.  But, there are many more.

This week there is a one-evening film event called ‘A Powerful Noise.’ The film is a documentary about three women who are making a significant impact in their vastly different worlds.  Mostly, the point of this film is to raise the awareness about women and poverty.  In answer to the question, “Why women’s empowerment?” the website says this:

If the lives of poor women are to improve, individuals must gain power to change and effect change; structures that dictate social, economic and political power-holding must be altered; and human relationships must be created or modified to support change. This view of women’s empowerment serves as both a guide to designing work and as a tool to help measure the impact of work meant to promote the well-being of women. And it is useful in virtually all types of development programs that help communities improve the quality of and access to water, health services, education and microfinance services (to name a few), and those programs in which communities are guided to confront specific social injustices such as violence against women.

Think about what constitutes true beauty.  In what ways are you striving to make a “powerful noise”?  Perhaps begin with your own perceptions.

 

H2O – Take the Lent Challenge

Living in an area surrounded by the incomparable beauty of one of the Great Lakes and other pristine inland lakes and streams,  I have daily, visual reminders that water is  precious.  I try hard to remember that it is a resource that should never be squandered.    It seems fitting then that a young local woman is spending two years of her young adulthood bringing this precious gift to a remote village in Tanzania through her work as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Working with an organization called Living Water International whose mission is  “providing a cup of water in Jesus’ name,” Stephanie Eckerle, a graduate of a local Catholic school that just happens to sit on the banks of a particularly stunning inland lake, is raising funds back home to bring clean, dependable water to her village in Tanzania.  You can read more about her efforts at Leelanau News.

Living Water International is issuing a Lenten challenge… read about it and see how little it takes to drink water and change lives. Stephanie Eckerle is doing her part….

 

Rob Bell Pastors

Rob Bell addressed the National Pastors Convention and shared about the “chocolate-covered turd” and “death by papercuts.”  It is a must read, not because it is Rob Bell… but because it’s worthy.

Live From NPC: Rob Bell

 

What Wrecks You?

The answer to this question in this video by Bill Hybels surprised me and hit very close to home at the same time.  I completely identify with his level of emotion.  However,  I have recently begun to shift my focus away from the painful issue presented in this video to focus my attention outward.  As the last few posts make clear, one thing that wrecks me is the complete dedication of organizations like IJM who spend their personal and professional lives to ’seek justice.’  This wrecks me.

I watched a short video last night made by a teenager…. it was about the work of the Franciscan Network, dedicated to helping to the landless poor in Brazil.  This wrecks me.

I followed news of  protests last week in India over the movie “Slumdog Millionaire.”  Movie theaters were trashed and violence committed all because the perception was that the filmmakers intended to demean the slum-dwelling population by referring to them, or their children as dogs…. never realizing it is the ’slumdog’ in the film who is the hero and the term becomes a badge of honor.  This wrecks me.

And knowing that we very well may be heading for a time when there is less interest, less money for these human rights and justice issues…. this wrecks me…

What wrecks you?