Thoughts from Rick McKinley's lab

We didn't attend this lab, but I found these thoughts about it online.

Catalyst Conference

Jason and I arrived in Atlanta tonight. We're here for the Catalyst Conference. We had a good drive, are both tired, and are looking forward to the conference. Some of the speakers: Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, John Maxwell, John Stott, and Donald Miller. Should be pretty good.

A good post

This post is from Chris Marshall, a church planter in Cincinnati.

As I previously posted that things are changing, perspectives are being altered and expectations are morphing, let me clarify what that is meaning for me.

I am in no way feeling discouraged, dismayed, disallusioned nor despairing. Quite the opposite, I'm in a place of real encouragement and ready to move on to the next thing, whatever Yahweh wants that to be. I recognize that I am deep into a spiritual war and it costs us all the time. I'm not going to sit around and wallow about the world and focus on the pain. I'm wanting to connect with the One who reigns over a Kingdom that is unshaken. I am no longer satisfied with my talk of Kingdom unless I apply it to every dark corner of my life. If it is Truth, then I want it to reign in the places that darkness and selfishness has only lived. And as I have been applying this, I am finding new freedom. With new freedom comes fresh faith. With new faith comes courage to fight this war. I recognize that I live in brokenness but I am calling to hope.

Wake up, Deadman! On the day that our brother, Chad Canipe, passed over to Kingdom, a few of us stood over his body in intensive care and had a few moments. This happening while 100 miles north, Palmer was in intensive care fighting for his life. I will never forget that moment, a tremendous realization of being a warrior in a war that was well beyond us. At some point in our initial grief, Mike Bishop said something to the sort of, "well, we're not just hanging out anymore." And that's the stuff that I'm talking about.

If emerging church is just a means for being angry at modern church, an excuse for being broken with only our vices to dull our pain, community for "hanging out" instead of for deep transformation and missional living . . . then I'm not sure that is church in the orthodox or historical sense. But if all of that happened and existed so that we could move towards being church . . . then let's get on with that. The stakes are too high to give up now. I don't care about church models, I care about hope and life lived out in Kingdom communities for the sake of Christ in this world.

I want to press on for more of God and more of His transforming power amongst us. Nothing less is permissable. Discouraged? hardly. If this be War, so let it be. I'm sharpening my sword for I have pitched a tent in enemy territory. Subversive revolutionaries, that's just daily reality for those that follow Jesus.

Chapter 1 - Reimagining Evangelism

A couple of months ago I posted a review of this book. Here's a pdf of chapter 1.

The Outward Journey

I need to explain why I've been blogging so much on social justice issues. First, I feel like I'm playing catch-up on many of these issues. Global warming, AIDS, poverty, education, crime, etc were never really on my radar as a Christian, at least not until the last few years. I guess it actually began when we moved to the S.F. Bay Area. I was suddenly around many people who had never stepped foot in a church, yet had a great passion about these types of issues. As I began educating myself, I began to believe very strongly that God's heart was on many of these issues as well. Second, I began to understand that these issues could also be bridges to the Gospel. What was my response to someone who could care less about my church, but who was passionate about supplying orphans in Africa with safe drinking water? Now that I realized that God just might be passionate about supplying orphans in Africa with safe drinking water, I had an opportunity to introduce this God to my new friend.

Earlier today I posted an article about social justice as well as an article about the Christian's response to global warming. A few thoughts on each...

I admit that I'm still pretty ignorant about global warming. We started recycling when we moved to the bay area, and over the next few years began using less plastic and paper products. I guess those are pretty decent first steps, but I feel like we can do more. We are called to cultivate the earth, have dominion over the things that God has created, and use the resources that God has given us for His purposes (Gen. 1:28). I'm learning that there is a lot of responsibility with this, and I don't want to do anything that is going to jeopardize Adam's future, as well as his children's future.

As to other social justice issues, Jesus said that the second greatest commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself. For many in the western church, meeting social needs is nothing new. I think the real awareness comes with the global needs. We in the United States really have no idea how blessed and fortunate we are, especially compared to people in other parts of the world. I believe that there is great responsibility with this. We need to continue to become aware of the problems in the world, and we need to do our part to do something about them. This involves faith, work, and creativity. In the above verse, we must ask the question, "Who is our neighbor?" We have determined that our neighbor is the one who lives across the street as well as the one who lives across the world.

Should Christians be concerned with Global Warming?

This article comes from Fast Company. Here are some excerpts from the article, as well as a link to the entire article.

The photo in Vanity Fair's "Green Issue" is the best place to start. It shows just how far Richard Cizik will go to shatter stereotypes about evangelicals, defy the organization he represents, and spread his newfound environmental gospel. Cizik (make that Reverend Cizik, pronounced "size-ik") is the Washington lobbyist for the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the largest such group in the country, representing 45,000 churches and 30 million church-goers. But here he is, pictured in a magazine that had just put two actresses on the cover who were as naked as Eve. A magazine whose editor routinely rips on George W. Bush, the Evangelical in Chief. A magazine with enough harlotry and pride in its pages to fill a special circle in hell.

In February, Cizik and Ball kicked off a groundbreaking campaign to convince evangelicals that the fight against global warming is their Christian duty. At a press conference in Washington, DC, the Evangelical Climate Initiative (ECI) spelled out its biblical underpinnings and called for reducing fossil-fuel use and passing tougher environmental laws to help prevent catastrophic droughts and flooding. Although those suggestions were hardly radical, the event made national headlines: Cizik and Ball had persuaded 86 evangelical leaders to sign on--pastors of megachurches, evangelical college presidents, the head of the Salvation Army, even Rick Warren, author of the best-seller The Purpose-Driven Life. The ECI also ran full-page ads in The New York Times, Roll Call, and Christianity Today, along with radio and TV ads on Christian and Fox stations in 15 states with key congressional campaigns this year.

Cizik has heard all the objections. He rejects them. "We're on a collision course of monumental proportion," he says. "Twenty million to 30 million people could be victims. As evangelicals we can't just ignore it and hope it goes away." According to polls commissioned by the ECI, 70% of 1,000 evangelical respondents believe climate change is a threat to future generations. Half believe something should be done now, even if that causes economic fallout. "There's a leadership transition under way," says Cizik. "We are the future, and the old guard is reaching up to grasp its authority back, like in a horror movie where a hand comes out of the grave."

Is social action the latest church trend?

This title comes from an article that Dan Kimball wrote for Leadership Journal's blog. I haven't really thought about this, and certainly pray that this will not be the case. Here's the article.


Pop Justice: Is social action the latest church trend?

What do a pastor, a politician, and a pop star have in common? Until recently, not much. But Bono, lead singer of the band U2, has managed to unite these unlikely groups around the issue of social justice. As a self-appointed ambassador for the poor, Bono has helped the evangelical church in America become more sensitive to those in need around the world and awakened our marginalized, or in some places forgotten, call to seek justice. But, is the new focus on social justice just another pop-Christian trend? This week Dan Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California, ponders that question.

I had a very, very haunting conversation with a good friend who is a pastor at a church in southern California. We hadn't seen each other for awhile and as we were catching up he was excited about a ministry he was starting with used clothing stores where all the profit goes to orphanages. My friend has had social justice and compassion ministries as major part of his church ethos since it began many years ago, definitely in the PB (pre-Bono) dispensation.

As he was showing me photos of his latest venture with the clothing stores he stopped and said, almost with embarrassment, "This sounds really trendy, doesn't it?” What was haunting to me and what I have thought about since the conversation I had with my friend, is what if it is true? What if social justice and compassion projects are simply the latest trend?

In recent years many churches have become involved in social justice issues, or at least talking about it. Saddleback and Willow Creek have both jumped onboard very strongly, including being a global voice for AIDS. I rarely ever go to a Christian concert, but during the last two I attended videos were shown of the band members in Africa talking about helping with Compassion International and the Invisible Children. And lately it seems at every leaders now bring attention to some international compassion or social justice project they are supporting. This is all so wonderful and must please Jesus so incredibly much.

Bono has certainly caused us all to really evaluate the "sleeping giant" (what he called the church several years ago) and how the church was ignoring the poverty, injustice, and AIDS crisis. He recently said the church has woken up and has now taken notice. But, will it last or will it fade like every other trend?

My friend’s comment got me thinking because over the years I have seen the church get excited about "small groups", or about being "seeker sensitive," or "Vineyard worship music" and other various bandwagons the church jumps on for a season. And there have been many other trends that I wasn’t a part of like cell churches, or using the baseball diamond for assimilation, or the breakouts of laughing in the Spirit by certain types of churches, or radio preaching, or whatever it may be. Whatever the trend the routine is the same. First there is excitement, then early innovators adopt them (maybe not the laughing in the Spirit), then in time most churches may do it. But eventually, it passes and we wait for the next “new” thing.

I keep wondering if all the attention the church at large is now rightfully and biblically giving to social justice could fade through time. Will we still see Christian bands showing videos of themselves in Africa five years from now? Will conferences spend time promoting compassion ministries and AIDS awareness five or ten years in the future? Will all the pastors and church leaders who today are such strong voices justice to the people in their churches still maintain that voice in the years ahead?

Of course, even if for some Christians and churches it is only a short-term trend even doing something short while still helps people and is greatly needed. So, I don't want to dismiss those who jump in while the conversation is prominent, as any help is very, very welcomed. But it seems horribly sad if this rising interest in justice is only-short term. I hope that is avoided, and the rising interest in compassion for the poor, AIDS, and caring for those with needs locally will not simply be a "trend.” Hopefully it won’t fade away, but instead we will come to see it as central to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. I guess time will tell.

Link

Link of the Day

Catalyst

This site, which is associated with North Point Community Church in Atlanta, has a monthly podcast featuring interviews with people such as Eugene Petersen, Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, etc.

I think I've listened to just about all of them. The last two interviews were with Louie Giglio and Chris Seay. They're defiinitely worth listening to.

Enjoy!

Facing the World's Five Giants

The following is an article from Rick Warren.

Facing the world's five giants!
by Rick and Kay Warren

The world is full of problems. Some are small and some are huge. As Kay and I considered the problems facing the world today, we concluded there are five giants -- five pervasive problems that affect billions of people.

These are the ones we want to tackle, believing God gets the most glory when we attack the biggest giants. These problems are so huge that they can only be addressed with total dependence on God and with all of us -- your congregation and mine, Christians all around the world -- working together to confront them.

Here are the giant problems, as we see them:

1. The first global giant is spiritual darkness.

Here’s a startling truth: Billions of people have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ. Three thousand distinct people groups around our world wouldn’t even know the name of Jesus if they heard it.

“Who is that?” they’d ask. “What’s so significant about that name?”

These people know nothing about Jesus or about God. If you were one of those who had never heard the name of Jesus, wouldn’t you want somebody to come tell you about our Savior, our Lord? The Bible says in Romans 10:14 (NCV), “Before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them.”

The greatest giant in our world today is the fact that billions of people do not know Jesus Christ.

2. The second giant we want to tackle is the lack of servant leaders around the world.

Around the world, there are plenty of people in leadership who abuse their power. Many refuse to use their power for the good of their people -- instead they choose to use it for themselves. This has created chaos in the world.

Leaders must have moral basis. They must have wisdom. Proverbs 11:14 (NLT) says, “Without wise leadership, a nation falls.” Proverbs 16:12b (Msg) says, “Sound leadership has a moral foundation.” And Zechariah 10:2 (TEV) says, “People wander around like lost sheep. They are in trouble because they have no leader.”

In the developing world there are 2.1 million pastors and church leaders. Of those, 1.9 million have never had any training at all. Not only have these leaders not gone to seminary or Bible school, they haven’t even gone to high school or primary school. They have no training whatsoever -- and yet they lead the church. This must be remedied.

3. The third giant we’re going after is poverty.

More than half of the world -- that’s three billion people -- live on less than two dollars a day. One-sixth of the world’s population lives in slums. Those are heart-breaking statistics. Proverbs 28:7 (NIV) says, “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.”

It’s easy to live in a bubble and think the rest of the world lives like we do. When we go about our daily lives forgetting how most of the world lives, we tend to judge people for being poor. Job 12:5 (GW) says, “A person who has an easy life [that would be you and me] has no appreciation for misfortune. He thinks it is the fate of those who slip up.”

Tell that to the parents of 10 million little girls who’ve been sold into prostitution in Southeast Asia. Their families exist in such grinding poverty they see no other way to feed their families than to sell their little girls into prostitution. It’s a horrible existence.

4. The fourth giant we want to attack is disease.

Billions suffer the effects of famine and drought. They are homeless, hungry, and helpless. They’re ill. We can do something about that.

Psalm 38:6-11 (GW) says, “I am bent over and bowed down very low. ... My insides are filled with burning pain, and no healthy spot is left on my body. I am numb and completely devastated. ... I’ve lost my strength. Even the light of my eyes has left me. My loved ones and my friends keep their distance and my relatives stand far away because of my sickness.”

We have seen the effects of poverty as we've traveled. We’ve seen the effects of people with HIV/AIDS. The stigma is enormous. People are abandoned by their own families. Their bodies slowly waste away from opportunistic infections. As Christians we cannot ignore these people.

Ezekiel 34:4 (TEV) says, “You have not taken care of the weak ones, healed the ones that are sick, bandaged the ones that are hurt, brought back the ones that wandered off, or looked for the ones that were lost. Instead, you treated them cruelly.”

5. The fifth giant we want to tackle is ignorance.

Over half the world is still illiterate. How can a country grow and be strong economically when its citizens can’t read, can’t write, and don’t know the fundamentals of math and science that we take for granted? It’s no wonder these countries aren’t strong. Hosea 4:6 (NIV) says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” There’s a desperate need for teachers and schools and materials to help people grow.

These five giants can be toppled. We can make a difference. In a future issue, we'll talk about why the church is the perfect tool for toppling giants.

Seminary via IPOD

Many Christians wish that they could go to seminary, but just can't afford either the time it takes or the money. Covenant Seminary offers twenty-one of their MA classes for free. You can download pdf's of the notes and study guides, and download mp3's of the lectures. Or, you can subscibe to them as podcasts.

Here's the link.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Here's another link like this one.

Biblical Training

Robert's Top Ten (actually 11) church planting books

These are the books that have most influenced me when it comes to church planting.

Missional Church, edited by Darrel Guder
I read this a week or so after I finished seminary. I had actually been trying to make my way through it during the three years I was attending seminary, but I never made it. I guess it was a timing issue. The premise is that we in North America need to begin looking at North America as a mission field.

The Shaping of Things to Come, by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
I read this one in a couple of days. It is one of the most refreshing books I've read in a long time. The subtitle says it all: "Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century." Here is chapter one if you'd like to read it.

Resident Aliens, by Stanley Hauerwas & William H. Willimon
We Christians here in North America no longer have some of the cultural sway that we once had. We are no longer the majority. Instead, as "aliens and strangers," we as the church discover a new kind of power that only Jesus can give.

Call to Commitment, by Elizabeth O'Connor
This book tells the story of The Church of the Saviour, which started in Washington, DC shortly after World War II. All of the books about this church are worth reading. We talk a lot about the Upward, Inward, and Outward Journeys. I first heard about these from this church.

Planting Missional Churches, by Ed Stetzer
This book covers some theory, but also gets into a lot of the nuts and bolts of church planting. If you can only get one book that covers a little bit of everything, this might be your best bet.

Confessions of a Reformission Rev, by Mark Driscoll
This is the story of Mars Hill, a great church out of Seattle. They started with just a handful of people a little over a decade ago, and now have over 4000 people, and the amazing thing is that they have seen this happen in one of the most post-modern and post-christian cities in the country. He's a funny man, but he'll make you blush at times as well - so be warned.

The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, by Roland Allen
I first read this book in a church planting class in seminary. This was another book that I read in a couple of days; and, yes, another very refreshing book at the time I read it. He was a missionary to China in the early 1900's. One of the things that most impacted me about this book was his insistence that getting out of the way and allowing God to do what He wants to do is often one of the hardest things to do for a pastor or missionary.

The Celtic Way of Evangelism, by George Hunter
In this book Hunter compares the Celtic way of evangelism with the Roman way of evangelism, which has often resembled some of our methods. He describes the Celtic way as a very organic, holistic and missional approach.

More Ready Than You Realize, by Brian McLaren
I grew up being very afraid of evangelism. This was one of the first books I ever read that made me rethink evangelism. It caused me to go to the gospels to see how Jesus evangelized, and I came to understand that many of his "methods" would have caused a great deal of controversy for us today. This was very freeing to me.

A Theology as Big as the City, by Ray Bakke
I'm actually only about a quarter of the way through this book. I feel called to the city, and feel like I need to understand more before I am able to minister effectively. Bakke takes the reader through the entire Bible, starting with the Genesis account and ending with Revelation, and through that process extracts God's heart and plans for cities.

Church Planting Manual, by Timothy Keller & J. Allen Thompson
I haven't started this yet, but I've been told that it's one of the best resources for a church planter. I've just become aware of Tim Keller (Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC), and have pretty much been blown away by everything I've heard.

Recommended books for church planters

Resonate has compiled a list of several people's favorite books on the subject of church planting. I've read many of them, but I also added several to my amazon wish list.

The youngest megachurch pastor ever

28-year old David Platt is the new pastor of Brookhills Church in Birmingham, AL. The following is an excerpt from Christianity Today's article on him.

With a Matt Damon smile, short-sleeve button-up shirts — no tie — and an aw-shucks demeanor, Platt seems to put an audience at ease, then stuns them with his apparent near-memorization of the New Testament.

"He has such a command of the Word of God and love for it," Herndon said. "You forget how old he is; he's not speaking from experience, he's speaking from the Word of God. He disarms the audience with his youthful presence and casual manner, sets people at ease, then he starts teaching, and you get engaged. When he speaks, he's confident of what he's saying."

Platt can recite long Scripture passages from memory and moves from one precise biblical reference to another to back up his points, which focus heavily on evangelism and world missions.

"I want my preaching to be saturated with the Word of God," Platt said. "We have to know Christ, know him well and know his word."

In sermons, Platt draws on his travels to Indonesia, where he has led pastors' conferences, taught seminary courses and visited earthquake survivors. He's also visited Sudan, China and India. He and his wife plan to go to Kazakhstan to adopt a child this year.

"The Christian life is not to be lived in seclusion from the rest of the world, it's to be lived in the middle of the world," Platt said. "My mission is to make disciples of all nations and mobilize other people to do the same."

Herndon, 55, said older ministers on the staff have embraced Platt's leadership, which often takes off in unexpected directions.

In concluding a recent sermon, Platt made what seemed to be a spontaneous call for donations to build houses for earthquake victims in Indonesia. He asked those who would give over their usual offerings to step forward at the two morning services in the 2,100-seat sanctuary.

The congregation gave $110,000 to build bamboo huts with tin roofs for Indonesian villagers ravaged by a massive earthquake.

"We did not expect this kind of response," Herndon said. "We can almost build a village now."

Reimagining Evangelism

Scot McKnight writes a good review of Rick Richardson's new book, Reimagining Evangelism. Looks like a good book.

Minimum Wage

I just finished watching the first episode of a documentary series called 30 Days. Morgan Spurlock is the creator of this series. He also created Super-Size Me. The first episode was called "Minimum Wage." He and his fiance, Alex, move to Columbus, OH, with around no car, no credit cards, no place to live, and around $300 cash. They have to find a place to live, then find jobs. The experiment lasts thirty days. It was a pretty amazing experience for them.

My first thought is that I'm extremely grateful that I have always had everything I need. My last minimum wage job was when I first moved to Nashville, right out of college. I lived with three other guys in a church-owned home, so rent wasn't much. I also had my parents helping me a little. It wasn't a stressful situation. I don't know what it's like to not have what I need. The sad thing is that here in the U.S., many people know exactly what this is like. One out of every eight children under the age of twelve goes to bed hungry every night. But that's nothing compared to children in other parts of the world. Every year 15 million children die of hunger. (These statistics can be found here).

One of the most touching parts of the episode was when they heard about a church-sponsored store called "The Free Store." They were able to get blankets, furniture, dishes, etc. - all for free. They were blown away by the goodness and generosity they experienced. Alex later commented that it made her realize that humanity can be so good, and that the world isn't that bad of a place.

I continue to be faced with the question, "So what is my role in all of this?" Or, as a community of Christ-followers, "What is our role in this?" Over the next few weeks my goal is to put to paper (or to blog) some of my questions and thoughts relating to this issue.

So what do I believe about that?

Lately my blogging has been relegated to posting other people's opinions. It's not that I don't have opinions. I've just been more in a pattern of reading than writing. However, I realize that if someone happened to stumble onto this blog, they might really have a lot of questions as to what I believe.

So here's where I've been lately...

First a little background...

After I finished seminary Mandy and I moved to San Leandro, CA. A few months after we moved there, we had the opportunity to go to a meeting of young nonprofit leaders. I was deeply encouraged by what I saw there. The passions and visions I heard about were just awesome. I left that night feeling like much of what God wanted me to do was somehow connected with this "people group." As you can imagine, there are many like this in the bay area. In fact, most know that the bay area has fewer churches than almost anywhere in the U.S. What they don't know, however, is that the bay area also has more nonprofits than just about anywhere in the U.S. At least I was shocked by that. The more I listened to this group's passions and visions, the more I realized that I had so much to learn. Specifically, I began to be convicted that I knew little about the world. My heart would not begin to hurt for the things that hurt God until I first educated myself. At the same time, I felt bad for many of these young nonprofit leaders. Last October Jason and I went to the Craigslist Nonprofit Bootcamp in S.F. Again, there was a great deal of activism and passion. However, I also saw a lack of power and authority. There was so much activisim and desire to see change, but where was the power to see true change? Here's the frustrating part. The church, through Jesus, has this power. However, we often don't use this power, in part because we lack the passion and activism.

This is why I've been drawn to Christians and churches who are not content to simply be blessed, middle-class, white American Christians. They are like Rick Warren and Saddleback, who are tackling the AIDS epidemic both here and in places like Rwanda. Or they are like Blood Water Mission. I first learned about them through Donald Miller. They are working to build 1000 wells in 1000 African communities, believing that clean water will go very far in helping to bring about an end to AIDS.

This journey has now led us to Cooper-Young. We continue to be drawn to people whose desire is to see our world changed for the better. On Tuesday night we went to the neighborhood association meeting. The topic for the evening was safety, and Inspector Mark Collins of the Memphis Police Department was the guest speaker. Some people wanted the police to do more. However, others wanted to step up and be part of the solution. They wanted to do something to help.

Let me bring some of this to a conclusion, since it's beginning to be a long post. I believe that Jesus is concerned about the world. He is concerned about the poor, the dying, the neglected, and the marginalized. His Church is his method for doing something about these problems. As his Father sent him, so he has sent us. Many of these young nonprofit leaders have never seen the Jesus who is concerned with the things that they are concerned about. The sad thing is that we're often what is keeping them from seeing this Jesus. We at times haven't done a very good job in representing him. But what would happen if people began to see this Jesus? What if they saw him through us? For that to happen, we have to educate ourselves. We have to ask God to break our hearts over the things that break his. We have to get our hands dirty. Then we simply get to watch God do what only he can do.

I just heard a message by Ed Stetzer. He made a statement that I thought was very key, and that I'll attempt to sumarize (and add to a little) as best as I can.

People in your culture are asking questions that the Gospel has answers for. The task of the missional church is to discover what these questions are, and then to proclaim those answers through both word and deed.

In my culture/community one of the major questions is, "how do we make this neighborhood a safer and better place?" Does the Gospel of Jesus have an answer for this question? I believe it does. How would a new community of Christ-followers here in Cooper-Young respond to this?

Let's get on with task of really saving marriage

Here's another article by David Waters at the Commercial Appeal.

An excerpt...

It's hard out here for a married couple. Just look at the divorce rate. One of every two marriages fail. If one of every two incumbents failed to get re-elected, Congress would have passed the Incumbent Protection Amendment years ago.

About the only thing harder than being and staying married in this society is being and staying married with children. Instead of making it harder to get married, Senator, how about finding ways to make it easier to be married?

Instead of giving tax cuts to the wealthy, give them to married couples in any income bracket, especially those with children at home. The longer you're married, the lower your tax rate.

Instead of rewarding unwed teenage mothers with government benefits, reward those who don't get pregnant with college scholarships or living-wage jobs after they graduate from high school.

Instead of forcing single mothers to get jobs or lose benefits, guarantee living-wage jobs and benefits (including job training or college) to all married fathers with children.

How about sending married soldiers home sooner, and for longer periods of time?

How about lower interest rates or zero down payments for newlyweds buying their first home?

There are a lot of amazing single mothers and fathers out there who are better and more responsible parents than many of us who are married.

There are children out there who are better off after their parents divorce. Divorce should be safe, legal and less common, but not forbidden.

This isn't about them. The divorced, widowed or responsibly single among us should not be treated as second-class citizens.

But the married among us should be encouraged, supported and protected because healthy marriages are good for all of us.

Rift Opens Among Evangelicals on AIDS Funding

This article comes from Christianity Today. I want to read more on the issue, but it's pretty troubling. You know it's crazy when Pat Robertson and Jim Wallis are on the same side of an issue.

Here's an excerpt:

As the world marks 25 years since HIV and AIDS first appeared, a clash among high-profile evangelical leaders over an international relief foundation threatens to take center stage.

The dispute also lays bare a faultline among American evangelicals, who have been divided over the treatment and prevention of AIDS because of the disease's perceived connections to homosexuality and sexual promiscuity.

The clash, which centers on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, may have long-term ramifications, both for those suffering with diseases and for the reputation of American evangelicals, activists said.

If the U.S. fails to extend help because of objections from conservative Christians, "we will look on this as a very mistaken time," said Tony Campolo, a prominent sociologist and Christian activist.

More

Spiritual Transformation

I spent a little time this weekend organizing my office. I ran across this quote that a friend of mine gave me awhile back. If I remember correctly, it's from Dallas Willard. If it's not verbatim Dallas Willard, it's definitely inspired by him.

Spiritual transformation into Christlikeness requires conscious, clear-headed and public commitment to living as a disciple of Jesus Christ. That is, to a decision to give our lives to him as his constant students, learning from him how to live all aspects of our lives as he would live them. Evangelism should be understood as a call to receive the gift of such a life.

25 years on, AIDS is the 'worst, deadliest' epidemic ever

Today's cover story in the Commercial Appeal was on the AIDS epidemic. So far it's estimated that the disease has killed over 25 million people - that's since 1981!. Some believe that by 2025, the disease could kill 31 million people in India, 18 million people in China, and 100 million people in Africa.

From a Wikipedia article: In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed between an estimated 2.8 and 3.6 million, of which more than 570,000 were children.