| Charity and/or Social Justice |
[09 Mar 2007|09:49pm] |
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What would you say about the difference between calls for charity and demands for social justice? Charity can be equated with grace and love, but it is often used as a label for certain organizations or ministries. The term "charity" is sometimes used to refer to almost any non-profit organization. Is charity in any way detrimental to demands for social justice? What are some real-life examples of positive and detrimental effects of charity?
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| emergent chiurch |
[31 Aug 2006|11:23am] |
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mood |
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 recumbent |
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I have taken the liberty of joining, hope no one minds...Here follows some theological angst please do comment if this is helpful...
Is the danger of emerging church... those who follow rather than prayerfully rin the footsteps who adopt a wholesale' by numbers' approach turning emerging church into a style of church one can choose such that in our consumer culture it is another brand...
Are there limits to emerging church? I can certainly see dangers when in crosses some culturally barriers of it not being seento stand against what historically would be called SIN (falling short of full virtue)...I suppose my answer to this is it is situational ethics and it depends on the fruit as to what extent God was involved....
As a subcultural minority interested in culturally relevant and yet not compromised/controlled or inflexible forms allowing people just to be and hopefiully love one another enough to manifest church...Having said that diversity beenfits others when it is contact with that which is other as our God is a d=God of diversity if nothing else *G*
Here endeth my rant and musings...
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| Pimping Poverty |
[15 Dec 2005|09:43pm] |
In a CCDA conference in Indianapolis, Richard Townsell argued that as in Martin Luther King’s time, the church is standing on the sidelines with pious talk. Instead of getting involved, Christians are making a strange distinction between sacred and secular. The contemporary church still has an indistinct voice. The church has replaced justice with service, doing more harm than good.
Often, he continued, the church is concerned with WWFT – What Would the Founders Think? We are too concerned about offending others instead of doing what Christ wants. Worse, we have become poverty pimps. We manipulate others with the stories of poor little Carlos or Johnny, but the raised money only goes to our own ministries and reputations. Besides, raising money out of pity is unjust and sinful. We would do better getting money from a bank than by pimping poverty and getting money from suburban churches.
Townsell concluded with the charge that we need to repent, realizing that we are a big part of the poverty problem. Then, we need to pursue real relationships with the poor – relationships that give and receive. Friends and partners help each other. Going into a place thinking "I’ll help these people" is paternalistic and disrespectful. Instead, we should help them because they are our friends, and likewise, they will help us in times of need.
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| What do you think? Avoidance or Violence? |
[21 Oct 2005|03:33pm] |
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I have heard it said that the opposite of confrontation is not avoidance but violence. For instance, people often fight dirty because they fail to understand the value of confrontation.
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| The Trap of Efficiency |
[09 Sep 2005|09:24am] |
I have been confronted with the sad truth that as an urban pastor, I have been largely ineffective. Sure, people will pat me on the back for taking a church no one else wanted, but I still bring my suburban, middle-class mindset to the table. For instance, I tend to think of efficiency instead of long-term empowering. It is so much easier to do something myself or to get a talented someone from seminary who can "stand in the gap" instead of taking the time and patience to build bridges and see community leaders emerge. Unless I direct my attention to empowering, our church will continue to be suburban adults working with urban kids. This is not a long term solution.
I am also seeing that an old, 1940s-built church is actually a blessing instead of a hindrance. We have often wondered if it would be more effective to demolish the buildings and have professionals start over. As it is, our repairs are limping along through volunteer hands, none of which leave a "professional" touch. But a woman said something to me last week which is changing my perspective. When she started talking about the state of our buildings, I assumed that it was going to be another grumble. Instead, she said, "This church offers freedom. I don't have to worry about messing anything up. The kids can spill something, and it's okay." I am beginning to understand that while things should be clean and "nice" and up to code, the church doesn't have to look polished, at least, not in a perfectionistic kind of way. In fact, perhaps polish only enslaves.
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| Footprints |
[12 Jul 2005|08:25am] |
Ever since a poverty simulation where I experienced firsthand the pain related to bad shoes, I've taken special interest in the shoe needs of the poor. So I was excited to discover Footprints Ministry this week.
Footprints Ministry distributes new shoes and socks to needy children in the Tampa Bay area. Since founded in 2002, the ministry has provided thousands of needy children with a new pair of shoes. For many of theses children, this was their first pair of new shoes. Children have arrived at these distributions with their feet crammed into shoes that were two sizes too small or even two left shoes.
Contact info: www.footprintsministry.com or footprintsministry@tampabay.rr.com.
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| Deep to be Creative |
[20 May 2005|03:27pm] |
An antiestablishment urban pastor of the late sixties named John Fry has said, "If you can't tell me where the church has been, you have no business telling me where it ought to go." Another urban pastor Ray Bakke adds, "the futher one goes into the avant-garde frontier of creative ministry, the more important it becomes that we be deeply rooted in the biblical, theological and historical tradition. We need deep roots to survive in urban ministry."
This is profound, but how exactly does this relationship between tradition and creation work?
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| Sewing for the Homeless |
[19 May 2005|03:57pm] |
Finally, a story about an ordinary person making a huge difference across the world.
"Flo Wheatley started her sleeping bag ministry [in New York City] for the homeless by sewing one sleeping bag made out of old jeans and T-shirts. Now, churches all over the world are learning how to make sleeping bags from old clothes to keep the homeless warm. The homeless are also learning how to sew bags for themselves and their children." ~ Sojourners
To read more, visit http://www.share-international.org/archives/homelessness/hl-ssleepingbags.htm
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| Homeless Veterans |
[19 May 2005|01:05pm] |
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According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, although veterans compose only 9 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 23 percent of our nation's homeless. More than 500,000 veterans experience homelessness each year.
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| Boundaries |
[16 May 2005|08:43pm] |
I have been told by social workers, "Don't let their problems become yours." Nights like tonight, though, it is so difficult. My heart is on the corner of 12th and Mary. I can picture the Vietnamese man watching me get in my car. The shelter is full, so he has to sleep outside tonight. His family is still in Vietnam, and he came to America to find work. But his English is poor, and his money is gone. We actually spoke in Chinese as much as English, and it killed me hearing him say "zai jian" (good bye) as I shut the door.
Boundaries in ministry are blurry. I cannot bring strangers home with me and allow my wife to have a peace of mind. I must put family before ministry. I also realize that at least the weather is great: clear and in the 60s. And how could I help one when there's several others who have to sleep outside tonight? The shelter's always full. They have to use a lottery system to see who gets a bed. Losers sleep outside. I normally don't have to think about the losers, but when I know the person's name, see his smile, and see his diminished hope, I wonder if I'm only rationalizing. I can't get "zai jian" out of my mind.
Another man really impressed me, though. He commented that when he's sleeping in the shelter, he praises God that he does not have to sleep outside. But when he has to sleep outside, he praises God that he is alive. Like Paul, this man has learned to be content in every situation. At one point in the Bible study, I apologized to the group that Christians in our city do not do more to help them. But this man wouldn't hear it. He was not concerned about how others treated him. His focus was on how he treated others.
After the Bible study, I spent an hour just hanging out with them. It was great, really. It often involved informal counseling, but I made sure they knew they needed to talk with their social worker or case worker. There was an older gentleman sober for 39 days (from alcohol and heroin) who was asking for prayer to stay sober and for advice about how to minister to an alcoholic friend of his. There was a woman from Bulgaria. In fact, she had only been in town for a week, though she probably knows the workings of the city better than most. What an unfortunate welcome. And then there was her boyfriend who had lived in Europe for eight years, working with helicopters. What had happened for him to go from flying in helicopters in Germany to a homeless shelter in Texas? But hopefully the couple will come to church Sunday, and I can get to know them better.
Of course, more involvement means more pain. But I'd rather risk pain than callousness.
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| An Urban Dialogue |
[14 May 2005|10:57am] |
After reading Jim Wallis’s advice that those "closest to the people" are the most effective ministers, I dialogued with some friends about ministering to the down-and-out. All of the interviewees are believers who formerly were addicts and/or homeless. The names have been changed to protect identities.
Kevin: How could someone like me [who grew up in the suburbs] better minister to someone in the urban city?
( Read Their ResponsesCollapse )
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