A year or 2 back I remember reading an article that said something to the sort of Parents should be allowed to have their newborn babies killed because they are “morally irrelevant” and ending their lives is no different to abortion. This began a disturbing trend that came next to the Dr. Kermit Gosnell arrest and subsequent conviction but no real news of the horrors of this man. Next, I had the privileged of listening to Lila Grace Rose at a local banquet and her inspiring ministry for the unborn nationwide. Next, I watched as Rep. Wendy Davis (D) from Texas filibustered a bill, in some spiffy shoes I might add, that would have severely reduced and restricted access to abortions in Texas thus she became a quick celebrity on Pro-Choice circles.
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Like most people I was taken y surprise when I heard the news Madiba’s passing. I understand he was 95, but death always seems to take us by surprise. As I watched the coverage my mind quickly began to think of all the history that this man had seen and been apart of. Additionally, I began to wonder what I have not been told about Madiba. The first thing I always wonder when someone passes is about their life in relationship with Christ. I always found the level and [seeming] completeness of Madiba’s forgiveness to be unique to Christ but I never heard of his spiritual life outside of a baptism when he was in primary school.
Ultimately here is what is most puzzling to me is the change that happened while in prison, from a Malcolm X figure to a Martin Luther King type figure. Mandela was arrested, tried, pleaded guilty to on 150 counts of terrorism and ultimately sentenced to Life in prison between ’62 and ’64. This is the same time in our nations history that the Civil rights movement was running its course in our country. Yet our two context have had completely different, though parallel paths. We were both dealing with entrenched racism which broke the back of our countries, yet our laws and forced integration have not solved the problem. Simultaneously, South Africa’s apartheid became even deeper entrenched and without hope for change. In February of 1990 Mandela was freed and the fate. Of a whole nation began to change in seemingly and instant. Over the next 4 years he led them from apartheid to a new constitution and a republic not all that dissimilar to ours. The difference is that what it took our country over a generation to accomplish was done, in a more hostile environment, in about 4 years.
This brings up a couple of questions:
- Whats the difference between the 2 countries?
- Which model should we follow in the church?
You see the American church in the 21st century is still dealing with 20th century problems and race is a huge dividing one. Honestly, I am not too worried about our country of South Africa’s but I am concerned about the issues surrounding the Kingdom of God.
So I would love to hear you thoughts, which model do we follow to solve this HUGE problem within the church? U.S. desegregation, Mandela’s or something else?
What do we do?
I have to admit that when it comes to the conflicts over seas I am tired. Tired of being the “police of the world”, tired of “spreading peace” and tired of fighting for the wrong kingdom . Yet over the last week I’ve wondered “What should we [as Christ followers] do in this world”?
Right now it seems like it is open season on our Christian brothers around the world.
- Seventy-eight Christians were slaughtered Sunday by twin suicide bombers at a historic church in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.
- Less than 24 hours earlier a group of militants (some allegedly from the U.S,) murdered at least 68 workers and shoppers at a mall in Kenya, allegedly shouting for Muslims to get out of the way so they could specifically kill Christians.
- Coptic Christians in Egypt also have been targeted recently by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Christians in large numbers have left their ancient enclaves in Iraq and the West Bank after churches there were attacked or Christians were threatened.
- In late May, International Christian Concern, an evangelical ministry to the persecuted church, released to Christianity Today an anonymous open letter from a “trusted Syrian source” that explains why many Syrian Christians support Assad’s regime.
Many Middle eastern Christians feel that the government was bad [under the former regime], but they were at least safe. After researching what has happened in historic churches in places like Aleppo and Homs I know that we must do something but the question in my mind is what? Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of the Syrian Catholic church in Damascus said in May that Christians are so frustrated with Western policy, which he believes is fomenting Islamic radicalism and anti-Christian hatred, that they may give up on the West altogether.
“I believe there will be a time coming when Christians of the Middle East will no longer look to the West for support and perhaps to better strengthen their roots with the Eastern culture and civilization … [to] Russia, to India, to China,” he said.
So in light of this [and many other things] I wonder, [as Western Christians] what do we do?
I’m really looking forward to your comments and ideas.
Should we move on?
Since Sunday night I have been trying to put into words my feelings on the trial of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin. The disturbing interview from Juror B37 further added to my want to comment but I found myself without a strong voice. Our system spoke, the prosecution made mistakes, George Zimmerman is a free man. The problem is that many people in my world think that this is where the conversation ends and I would submit that this is where it has to begin, especially as Christ followers. I ran across an article from Trip Lee that does a great job helping explain my heart without jumping on the guilty/ not guilty bandwagon. Please set aside your bias and just read this mans word, he has much more wisdom than most of the commenters on social media and the media and I really think it will be worth your time.
I’ve kept up with the Trayvon Martin saga from the beginning. Like many of you I watched the news coverage, read the articles, and talked about it with friends. It dominated public conversation and provoked a much needed discussion about race in America. The ugly reality of racism was pushed in front of our faces, and even those who like to pretend it doesn’t exist were forced to talk about it.
Over a year later, Trayvon’s killer has been tried and found not guilty. Does that mean we should move on from the issues? They found him innocent, so these “race issues” must not be as real as we thought they were, right? That couldn’t be further from the truth. I have no intention of arguing about the facts, Trayvon’s character, or the verdict in this tragic situation, but I do think some discussion should continue. The trial is over, but the conversation shouldn’t be.
Why the Interest?
I know there are many who wonder why this particular trial has captured the attention of so many. Others wonder why some black folks are so quick to sympathize with Trayvon Martin, despite the fact that he had issues of his own. After all, none of us were there and we don’t know exactly what happened. While that’s true, I did find myself emotionally invested in the whole ordeal. I can’t speak for everybody, but I can tell you why I found myself sympathizing with Trayvon and the Martin family…. for the rest of the article please click here.
Black Church: Call-Response
Linguist Geneva Smitherman, says the communication process of call-and-response – the spontaneous verbal and nonverbal interactions between speakers and audiences – is a fundamental organizing principle of African-American (AA) culture. In plain English Call and response enables black people to achieve the unified or spiritual harmony that is basic to the traditional African worldview. Honestly this was all lost on me as a child as I heard the shouts and moans of the crowd as they responded to the preacher and quickly surmised that it was all for show. Unfortunately, on some levels I am right but at a deeper level there is a sense of cohesiveness that comes through call and response.
The function of call-and-response is to establish and maintain spiritual harmony, to maintain a sense of group solidarity, and cultural values. However, the actual call-and-response patterns in AA culture and the typical affirmations utilized to encourage/ ensure active participation need to be examined. The most popular technique occurs between the speaker, singer, or the audience of listeners. Entire phrases or verses are sung or spoken by the leader and repeated verbatim or altered somewhat by the audience or chorus. An example of this “leader and chorus” structure is illustrated in a most Kirk Franklin songs. My wife and I have joked about these cultural differences but this is normative. As with many black spirituals, a leader sings an entire verse, and then the others join with the leader to sing the chorus.
In black religious services, worshipers engage in more than simply acknowledging the sermon with an “amen” or like responses, they actually preach back. The only observer in a AA worship service the only observer is God himself. Having been apart of many different cultural expressions of church in America I have seen this first hand. Additionally, the preacher makes statements that are frequently responded to before he completes his statement or thought. This “overlapping” and at its height the speaker and audience roles often shift with the audience doing most of the calling and the speaker doing most of the responding. This is also reflected in African music, as well as in AA music says African scholar John Miller Chernoff, all of the musicians are playing “forward toward the beat” and “pushing the beat” to make it more dynamic. This is what occurs in AA religious services when the preacher adapts and employs every verbal response from the audience in a direct search for spiritual harmony. The vitality and rhythm of life is in the unified and collective response of the audience to the speaker. In the end this seems like foolishness, or so I thought. As I looked on to the spectacle of call and response I quickly came to the decision that this type of exuberance and loud proclamation was purely for show and not worship, yet as I have grown older I have come to understand the rich history and unifying aspects of this part of my cultural background.
Since when did bunnies have eggs?
How in the world did the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, the most sacred and central event in Christianity, come to be represented by a fluffy bunny who mysteriously has colored eggs and gives out cheap candy to kids?
The Easter Bunny is a commercialized cultural commonplace around the world , yet for all its familiarity, the Easter Bunny’s true origins are a mystery.
Eggs and rabbits have been used as traditional symbols of springtime fertility and rebirth by various cultures throughout history. Eggs symbolize new life about to emerge, while hares and rabbits are conspicuous in the spring because they breed… like rabbits. The hare’s association with Easter may be a holdover from the ancient pagan spring festivals of Europe. According to Bede, an 8th-century Anglo-Saxon church historian, the British pagans used to celebrate a spring feast in honor of the goddess Eostre, who was represented by the hare.
EOSTRE AND THE HARE
When Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) sent missionaries to the British Isles, he instructed them to adapt the existing religious places and festivals for Christian use. He wrote, “Since the people are accustomed, when they assemble for sacrifice, to kill many oxen in sacrifice to the devils, it seems reasonable to appoint a festival for the people by way of exchange. The people must learn to slay their cattle not in honor of the devil, but in honor of God and for their own food…” Because the celebration of the Resurrection replaced the old spring feast of Eostre, the Christian holiday came to be called Easter, and Eostre’s pet animal the hare apparently came along for the ride.
OSTERHASE
The first known mention of the actual Easter Bunny comes from Germany in the 1600s, where the cute little guy was known as the Osterhase, or “Oschter Haws.” German immigrants came to America with a tradition in which the kids would build nests around the house out of hats and bonnets, and if they had been good children, Osterhase would leave brightly-colored eggs in the nests. The tradition grew and spread over time, and eventually Osterhase turned into the Easter Bunny and began giving out chocolate and candy as well as eggs.
THE RESURRECTION
Easter is still celebrated as a major holiday all around the globe, but the truth of Jesus’ gory crucifixion and glorious resurrection is often obscured by the garish cartoon bunny in the stores and the gaudy displays of springtime fashion among the religious. Traditions of cute bunnies, marshmallowy creatures, colored eggs, and little girls in pink dresses are harmless enough, but at the same time we must not let anything obstruct our view of the earth-shattering reality represented by Easter. There’s nothing cute or cuddly about the fact that we killed God. When we were his enemies, he came to us, suffered in our place through the horror that was Good Friday, and rose from his grave on Easter Sunday so that we will one day rise from ours. The curse is broken, and we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus because we know we will one day experience it. Let’s be joyful, let’s never shrink from speaking about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and let’s never trivialize it.
(HT: The Resurgence)
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