If the United Methodist Church is to speak with authority to the political issues of our day, we need to overcome the obstacles to seminary education and be able to take advantage of a second chance at constructive faith-informed political discourse.
Batman, Michigan, and the Call To Action #UMCIn Batman: The Dark Knight (2008 – IMDB), Harvey Dent is at dinner with Bruce Wayne and their respective love interests. They start talking about what role Batman plays in Gotham. Dent recounts what happens when a community is in crisis (script link – PDF): Natascha: But this is […]
Striving for restoration amidst retributionThe dark arts are many, varied, ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible. Severus Snape, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Last […]
Grace and JudgmentThis question was posed to the congregation this past Sunday: Why do we, as Christians, support putting the Ten Commandments everywhere? Why do we fight tooth and nail to support their placement on public property? Why do we do that when Jesus has given us a set of promises that form a more […]
United States of ShameIn my morning read, I happened across this map which seems ridiculous but is backed up by census data and health data. If you need a ministry focus or something to aspire to deal with, then apparently here is where your state is worst at: Credits: Image from PleatedJeans (NSFW) via Bilerico. While some […]
Daily Show on HopeI make no secret that I admire Jon Stewart, even as I recognize that he’s a showman and has a particular political bent that I sometimes don’t appreciate. But when he’s on message and has a passion for something, it’s intoxicating and occasionally sermon-worthy. The following is the most not funny Daily […]
Jesus and the poorIt annoys me whenever Jesus is used as a talking point in politics by people who water down or misrepresent the Bible’s take on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. I call that Jesus hijacking, or putting Jesus in a narrow political column that happens to be your own. So when […]
Some facts about the church and the pastor: Dove World Outreach lost its tax-exemption for a time due to the fact that the pastor ran a furniture business out of its location. “Its property has served as a sometime storage site for Jones’ furniture business, a violation of Dove’s tax-exempt status that was punished with a […]
Yesterday’s post on Glenn Beck netted 20 comments, 12 retweets, and a mention on UMReporter. Maybe I should try partisan sniping more often to get more readers. Naah, the ends don’t justify the means, don’t worry. But the responses here and elsewhere have been enlightening as to just how many people are looking for a […]
::update 3/14/2010:: followup posts here (Glenn Beck v. UMC, part deux) and here (Welcome UMC.org readers! Let’s talk about Justice!)Again, I don’t talk partisan politics on this blog (there’s plenty of that on the internets for all of us), but sometimes things are just so egregious and misinformed that they bear discussion. Last week, conservative […]
