I tend to post quite a few excerpts. I come across a lot of articles and such I find worth sharing and am going to try weekly to do a link post that collects a few I haven’t excerpted to share with everyone. This is the first (of hopefully many to follow).
- The first is an article by Brian McLaren on fear and terrorism.
Immediately for me, more language from the New Testament comes to mind. What would it mean, in this context, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds? What is the primitive brain but what Paul called “the flesh” – and what liberates us from it but the Spirit? What would it mean to “let this mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus?” What would it mean to put primitive ways behind us, and mature from the primitive brain’s fear-driven reacting to the “more excellent way” of love-inspired living? What would happen if we stopped listening to the religious leaders who play to fear and instead began listening to those who lead us to higher ground?
- Dan writes of a missions/social justice conference that didn’t exactly practice what it preached.
Yep, so here we have a bunch of rich Christians dropping thousands of dollars on a conference about missions and justice, and the one homeless guy who is invited to attend gets kicked out because, dammit, the church is going to get the money for recycling those cans. Sadly, while this is atrocious, I don’t find it altogether surprising.
Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more. (Prov 31:6-7)
Now, if you find yourself bored, there are a few links to peruse and ponder.