If Jesus ran for president – his opponents attack ad might look something like this…
(Btw didn’t like the John
McCain bit at the end but otherwise thought it was pretty spot on)
in other news (a repeat video I’m sure here)…
Category: Politics
end poverty!
Today is Blog Action Day 08 – focused on ending poverty. I caught on to this a little late. Sorry about that. But if you’ve read my blog for any length of time I think you’ll know how frustrated I get to see people living in poverty.
I think you know it rattles me crazy when folks refuse to help a brother or sister in need.
I think you know I think our reaction to the poor and to the hurting around our world is a direct indication of how we view God (and yes that can be taken multiple ways).
I don’t if I have amazing words of wisdom to share today, but thought I’d share some visual media with you to help us each reflect on the issue of poverty in the world around us.
All the media is from real people, whom I’ve had the honor and privilege of meeting and sharing life with in some way shape or form. I wish I could do more and God willing — I will. Most of the pictures are from Nigeria. The videos are from Waxahachie, Nigeria and Dallas. The point? — There are hurting people, living in poverty everywhere — all around us.
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.
Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.
I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill… I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff… maybe, maybe not… But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.
God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.
FREE download “Prince of Peace – God of War”
Shawn Groves tipped me off to a new movie (and the free download) :: “Prince of Peace – God of War.â€
The movie’s premise sounds “simple” enough ::
How did the command to “Love Your Enemies†get so complicated? This was the question I had for years both when I was a minister in the church and ever since I left it. It seemed to me the religious right, more a political force than anything else, who embraced policies of violence, killing and destruction, all in the name of a God they claimed to follow seemed to be at odds with the teachings of the founder of their faith.
I’m downloading it now and haven’t had a chance to watch it yet. But Groves said he’s disappointed in it – just like he was with Fireproof. And I understand where he’s coming from (however in full disclosure I haven’t seen either film yet).
Oh, my brain ate up all the information, history, scripture. Something deeper in me was even inspired several times to be more like Christ. But most of the time I just sat there wishing: I wish this movie wasn’t head after head talking about theology and history. I wish just one of these bright guys talking right now would let this camera man follow him home. I wish one of these guys would show me what it looks like in their neighborhood/office/church/Palestine to live justly or non-violently. I wish this movie wasn’t all telling and no showing. Yep, I wished that again.
A friend made a similar comment after we watched The Ordinary Radicals on Saturday night. He wanted less “telling” and more “showing.” And while I really loved The Ordinary Radicals I could see where he was coming from. He wanted to see how the homeless advocates were actually living out their missions — not just a 2 min. sound bite. He wanted to know how it was working and see it lived out.
For me however, The Ordinary Radicals sparked ideas (and many at that). After all, perhaps even if I had seen how a homeless advocate lived out her mission in San Fransisco, it’s going to look a lot different in Red Oak, Texas. To me the movie showed that Another World Is Possible.
But perhaps that’s what’s missing in our faith overall. We’re telling people how to live and giving them the rules to follow — but we’re not living it ourselves. Lots of telling — but not much showing.
All that to say — there’s a movie out that you might be interested in – for free. Check it out.
this is not this
from The Work of the People and Floodgate Productions ::
During financially challenging times, it’s so easy for us to forget who we’re putting our trust in. Are we trusting in Wall Street, or in the God who created it all?
TWOTP have a great selection of videos for your church, group or wherever. They’ve also put together a great selection of videos geared specifically for the current times we find ourselves in. The above video is a free download as part of that collection.
mega ditto
Bono talks about the $700 billion bailout package:
“I am not qualified to comment on the interventions that have been put forth. I can assume these people know what they’re doing. But is is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion to save 25,000 child who die every day of preventable treatable diseases and hunger. That is mad. Bankruptcy is a serious business. And we all know people who have lost their jobs this week, I do anyway. But this is moral bankruptcy.â€
I agree with Bono on both counts: I’m not qualified to comment on the bailout yeah or nay, but I do think it’s amazing that we can shell out a ton of money for all these bailouts but we can’t spend a much smaller sum of money to save lives.
It’s much more complicated than this, but saving lives seems more important than saving the economy.
I would add this…
“Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” – Jesus the Christ
Granted as someone pointed out in The Ordinary Radicals (great film by the way) if everyone just gave away their possessions just because they’re a Christian then it’s rather pointless. It has to be a heart issues and a heart matter. You have to be authentic about it. Don’t just give away your stuff because someone told you Christ said to. Give it away because you really feel its what you’re called to do.
The Universal Declaration of Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights from Seth Brau on Vimeo.
Thomas shared this on the nanolog. I love it! Excellent!
However I find myself asking more and more — what really are my rights? What can I really demand? Is it “fair” to say that each of these rights are God given rights? Or is it better to say that these are “man given rights?” I believe these are rights that we should fight for for others — but are we really being Christ-like when we demand these rights for ourselves? Can the two co-exist?
In America we have the American Declaration of Rights and we claim that all our rights come from God. But do they really? Does God really promise life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — or is that us just trying to claim the place as God’s chosen people?
I really do believe that as Followers of the Way I should fight (I use that word loosely) to ensure everyone has these rights — but just not sure that the “American Way” is “The Way.” If we viewed every day as a gift — and worried less about what I wanted or needed, perhaps we’d be better off.
What about you? Do you think Christians should demand these rights for themselves? Should we demand them for others? And can the two co-exist?