Today is Blog Action Day, and though I didn’t get around to formally participating, I’m going to write a short post on dealing with poverty from a Christian perspective. I’m feeling idealistic, so beware! Since I first started thinking about issues of poverty, way back when I was a teenager (and fish were just working…
The other day I was just waking up and realizing that I faced a challenging day. I decided to do a little scripture reading before even getting up. I chose to read a language I read only very slowly and with difficulty (Syriac), because that usually gives me more time to meditate. I have a…
A community must have some sort of definition in order to exist. This may seem fairly obvious, but often in discussions of religion we lose sight of that fact in efforts to be inclusive. It’s important to remember that there is a difference between saying somebody is a bad person and saying that they don’t…
I dislike criticizing ministries and their leaders for several reasons: There’s a bandwagon approach, in which everyone piles on a vulnerable leader and repeats the stories There’s a tendency to lack discernment about rumors, i.e. everyone repeats what is said about someone, especially someone who deserves criticism, but doesn’t do good fact and context checking…
Christianity Today has a good article giving multiple views on short-term mission trips, specifically those that are travel-intensive. I like getting the multiple views. As someone who has participated in and even led mission trips that were “travel-intensive,” I would suggest that leaders and organizers should give serious attention to these evaluations. Don’t take just…
Rev. John Shuck of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, TN, would like people to stop praying for him. That should be a provocative enough opening line! What’s more, I think a few of those people at least should do just that. More importantly, they should quit talking about praying for him. I’m guessing that they…