Community 4:12

America the Empire?

Our small group is discussing Rob Bell's book, Jesus Wants to Save Christians and what a tough and passionate talk we had tonight.  I'll leave the commentary out, and let a few lines from chapter 5 speak for themselves . . .

America is an empire.  And the Bible has a lot to say about empires.  Most of the Bible is a history told by people living in lands occupied by conquering superpowers...This can make the Bible a very difficult book to understand if you are reading it as a citizen of the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.

In an empire of entitlement . . .luxuries can begin to seem like necessities.  Excess can become normal.  And it can be very easy to lose perspective on just how much we have.

The US accounts for 48 percent of global military spending . . .In 2008, the US spent more on defense than the next forty-five countries combined. 

If you have the power, it can be hard to understand the voice of those who have no power.

How do kids who are surrounded by more abundance than in any other generation in the history of humanity take seriously a Messiah who said, "I have been anointed to preach good news to the poor?"  How do they fathom that half the world is too poor to feed its kids when their church just spent two years raising money to build an addition to their building? . . .This is the revolution?  This is what Jesus had in mind?

What do you think?  Is America an empire?  If so, what does that mean for those of us living in the empire who call ourselves Christ-followers?

Is MLK's Dream Fulfilled?

Interesting article on CNN today.  Evidently a recent poll shows that 69% of Blacks think that MLK's dream has been fulfilled (up from 34 percent last year).  But only 46% of whites (up from 35% last year) think that.  What do you think?

First Steps

  This is a beautiful picture to me.  Obama has promised "change," and one of the greatest gifts he can give this country and this world is to work relentlessly to break down barriers--racial, cultural, economic, gender, political, social, religious--that prevent change from happening.   Inviting Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration is one illustration of Obama's commitment to unity and bringing all voices to the table.     

The Fate of our Community

On this election day eve, I am praying hard for our country and our community, as the fate of both are on the line tomorrow.  And I am deeply concerned about both, but, the one that is going to hit closest to home is the decision that will be made about the future of education in our school district.  There is a bond referendum on the ballot tomorrow that will be devastating to this community if it does not pass.  The Beacon News devoted yesterday's paper to this issue and asked teachers, parents, and citizens what their lives would be like if the referendum DOES pass.  They asked me to take this positive angle, which I did, and this is what I said.  But, reading between the lines, the message I am sending is how tragic it will be if the referendum does NOT pass . . .  

The referendum must pass on Tuesday, because if it does . . .

• My children will not have to try and learn in classrooms filled with 35+ students.
• My 6th grader will be able to continue playing trumpet in the band.
• My 5th grader will be able to play intramural soccer, basketball, and baseball like his brother did.
• My husband, who is a 3rd grade teacher, will be able to teach his students and not just babysit an unmanageable sized classroom.
• We will not have to look elsewhere for music, drama, and sports opportunities for our kids.
• Our property value will remain steady or increase, because youth will be engaged in extra-curricular activites after school rather than wandering the streets.
• I won't have to loose sleep wondering how to pay for a private school.
• My kids will look forward to and take pride in being an East Aurora Tomcat.
• We will be proud of being a part of a community that sends the message to its children that education is important, and we are all willing to invest in their future.

 

MLK's Dream Comes True

On this 45th anniversary of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, history is made in our country.  We still have glass ceilings to break and injustices to overcome in this country, but I can't help but think that King (and God) are smiling as we demonstrate that skin color no longer automatically disqualifies you from the highest position in our country.  We have moved one step closer to creating heaven on earth.

Putting a Human Face on the Immigration Debate

Just finished an incredible and heart-breaking book about a Honduran boy who braves unimaginable obstacles and pain to reuinte with his mother in the United States, 11 years after she left to "make a better life."  It is based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes and illustrates the plight of thousands of children like Enrique who yearn so desperately for their mothers that they will do anything---literally anything--to find them.   With the changing demographics of our country, I feel like this should be a "required book" in all high school literature classes.  Click here to order a copy!

Feeling the pinch

This is kind of how I've felt lately . . . like we are throwing money down the drain.  Broken appliances, major car repairs, vet bills, a root canal, grocery and gas bills creeping significantly higher.  We certainly feel the pinch, but we are going to be okay.  But I can't say that about all of my neighbors.  To be honest, I really don't know how some of them are managing during these challenging economic times.  It's not really an easy topic to bring up, especially when even simple communication is difficult with the language barrier.  But, I know if we are feeling the hit, and we are a solid 2 income family (granted two "non-profit" level incomes, but non-profit income is far better than Walmart or Taco Bell income), then most of our neighbhors must really be feeling punched down.  I want to believe that economic revival is in store for East Aurora.  But, I am starting to get pretty anxious about the state of our community . . . and actually our country and our world.  It makes me very angry that we as a society have been so gluttonous with God's resources that this is the state we find ourselves in.  I'm sorry, God, for what we have done to your world. 

What Will Evangelicals Do?

I found this article in the Chicago Tribune today very interesting.  Click here to read the whole article, but here's an excerpt,

"The agenda of the evangelical church in America has been two-fold since 1973: It has been sanctity of life and traditional marriage. ... It's almost blasphemous to go beyond those two items," he said. "Now, the Hispanic evangelical comes along and says there are other items that we need to look at. What about alleviating poverty, from a biblical view? What about health care and education? What about speaking against torture? What about human rights?"

But Lynne Hybels insists that the evangelical community has never been a one- or two-issue voting bloc.

"The silence of moderate and progressive Christians has perpetuated a narrow view of evangelicals," she said, breaking her own silence. (In the past, she worried that anything she said might be construed as political and get Willow into hot water.)

"Evangelicals committed to the fight against poverty and injustice, both locally and globally, have been working, volunteering, funding and praying about those issues for decades," she continued. "Finally, their voices have become prominent in the political conversation."

Indeed, Michael Lindsay, author of the book "Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite" said about 70 percent of today's evangelicals simply don't identify with the Religious Right."

Your Vote?

Did you vote today?  If so, I'd love to know who got your vote and why.  I'm an Obama girl--probably no surprise.  I've pretty much come to the (possibly naive) conclusion that the president really doesn't have that much power when it comes to effecting change from a policy standpoint.   But, I do believe the president has incredible power when it comes to impacting the morale of the country and determining how the US is perceived around the world.  Maybe I've given in to idealism, but I see Obama as being a modern day Bobby Kennedy who might just be able to bring some hope and unity to our country and restore some very broken relationships with the rest of the world. What do you think?

Bono Preaches about Poverty

Saw this clip of Bono receiving an award from the NAACP on Jon Ferguson's blog.  There are few people who inspire me the way Bono does.  Click here to hear him preach!  Thanks, Jon, for posting!