Christian Persecution – Fact or Fiction
When Christians in the United States cry that they are being persecuted then they are making claims not evident in reality. They are taking incidents of unfairness or discrimination and claiming that these are an examples of persecution. This cheapens the language of persecution and makes the individuals making the claim look foolish.
Apology to the Immigrant Community
In a step toward healing the broken relationship between the white church and our immigrant brothers and sisters, we read the following apology. Consider humbling yourself, as individuals, and churches, and joining us in a confession of the wrongs that we have done to our nation’s immigrants. Then may we move forward being good neighbors and representatives of the Kingdom of God.
Since then, I’ve discovered I’m not the only one who was never given wisdom about alcohol. Too many of my dear friends who follow Jesus have serious drinking issues. Not because they are alcoholics (though some are), but because they haven’t been shown there’s another more beautiful, life-giving way to address alcohol. The Church needs to talk about alcohol because how we handle it often reflects how we understand God. If we never touch alcohol because “it’s evil,” then our view of God is as a mere man who tells us not to do things. He’s not looking out for our joy or pleasure, but rather making sure we do what He says.
I find it fascinating that those who complain or murmur in scripture are given God’s harshest judgments, but they get first in line and demand that elders hear them…and elders often do. That is unbiblical and wrong on so many levels. Instead, elders, apostles, and evangelists rarely told people that they were right and their brothers were wrong. Instead, they told the complainer that they needed to accept their brother by changing their own hearts, not their brother’s mind or behavior. The first elders’ meeting didn’t try for uniformity of faith and practice, but for unity in love.
A painful part of life is watching those we love leave. The feeling we name loneliness is much like grief. We grieve over the loss. Sometimes they grow up and leave. Sometimes they grow cold and leave. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they don’t want to go but they go and we are left behind. Being left cannot be ignored. Loneliness affects everything that we do.
Quid pro quo (you can’t play ping pong by yourself)
The irony of “getting in return for giving” is that it doesn’t work nearly as well as merely giving. Giving because you care, because you have something to say and because it feels right. No Tat. Bloggers who measure the return on investment of every word, twitterers who view the platform as a self-promotional tool instead of a help-others tool, and those that won’t contribute to Wikipedia and other projects because there’s no upside… these folks are all missing the point.