Love the sinner…

How many of you can finish this statement:

“Love the sinner….”

Tony Campolo says “wherever someone is hurting, there is Jesus.”

But then he also finishes the above statement. For those who say, “I love the sinner, but I hate his sin.” His response is that “that is just the opposite of what Jesus says…. Jesus says, ‘love the sinner and hate your own sin; and after you get rid of the sin in your own life, then you can begin talking about the sin in your brother or sister’s life.'”

I continue to believe that the more we get to know people and know their stories and know their backgrounds and know their hurts — the more we realize how similar we are and loving them becomes that much easier.

Huge props to Theresa for sharing this video.

Two futures – which do you choose?

no drugs or nuclear weapons

AS A MATTER OF CHRISTIAN CONVICTION, WE CHOOSE A WORLD FREE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

WE BELIEVE that we face two futures: a world without nuclear weapons or a world ruined by them.

WE PROCLAIM that nuclear weapons today are unjustifiable theologically, politically, and militarily.

WE RENOUNCE nuclear weapons as sin against God and neighbor.

WE REPENT of apathy toward devices that cause indiscriminate destruction.

WE URGE the American President’s leadership in fulfilling existing commitments toward global and complete nuclear disarmament.

WE PLEDGE our support to the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide, to the glory of God.

I’ve joined and signed the pledge. Will you?

Photo from karstenkneese

This I Used to Believe: Act 2

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Recently on This American Life:

Act Two. Team Spirit in the Sky.

This past Christmas a story swept the internet about a football coach at a Christian high school in Texas who inspired his team’s fans to root for the opposition: a team from the local juvenile correctional facility. Among the thousands of emails that the coach received in response to his actions, one stood out to him. Trisha Sebastian mentioned her loss of faith, and coach Hogan got a message from God that he was meant to bring her back. We eavesdrop on their phone calls. (19 minutes)

Click here to listen to the audio of the story. It starts at 20:02 into the show.

I love the initial story of the fans cheering for the other team. Great work coach! We need lots more of that! Even just in regular high school games.

But as you listen to the story, you hear Trisha tell Ira Glass that she’s leaning towards agnosticism after the loss of a dear friend. She shares this with the coach and he attempts to change her mind with apologetics and logic.
Continue reading This I Used to Believe: Act 2

Monday Briefs

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highlight of the week ::
Sushi night.

While I hated that I had to enjoy the sushi alone, I was pleased with the outcome and surprised at how easy it was to make. I always imagined it being a much more painstaking process. It was time consuming, but not difficult at all.

quote i’m digging ::
“I can’t take the Eucharist and not be cognizant of the fact that I belong to a universal community.
I can’t take the Eucharist and not be cognizant of the fact that my primary allegiance is to God and to faith in Christ.
I can’t do that and then allow myself to go out and have another allegiance claim ultimacy in my life.
That is profoundly threatening if you start to think through the implications of what that looks like for the Christian who lives anywhere in the world.”

– Dr. Jeffrey C. Pugh referring to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology.

ministry-wise ::
Our group has decided to actively pursue a Laundry Love Project here in Red Oak. I’m excited about this! I hope its a great opportunity for our group to grow and serve those outside our normal walls.

I did some “site surveys” on Saturday and visited two local laundromats. The owners of the one laundromat we’ll likely use were very confused as to what we wanted to do.

Me: Hi, we’d like to see about scheduling a couple hours, once a month, where we come and pay for people to do their laundry. They come in, bring their laundry and we pay for it and provide laundry detergent for them.
Owner: I don’t understand.
Me: Well, we’ll bring several people and a bucket full of quarters. As people come in to do their laundry, we’ll fill the machines with quarters for them.
Owner: I’m still not sure I understand.
Me: We want to help people do their laundry – and pay for it – instead of them paying.
Elizabeth, laundromat customer: You can pay for my laundry!

I think the ultimate quandary for the laundromat owner was that he couldn’t understand why we would want to do this. I think he understood what we were wanting to do – just not why we’d want to.

As I talked to Elizabeth a bit longer, I found out that she spends $25 a week on laundry. Fifteen loads for her and her 3 kids. I can’t imagine!

Visiting the other laundromat, I talked with a guy who said that by himself he spends $7 – $10 a week on laundry.

I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of this initiative. If you’re interested in helping with your time or financially, please let me know.

looking forward to ::
Spending some time with Laurie this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. She’ll be out of town for most of our anniversary day so we’re planning to celebrate some time away on Friday and/or Saturday this week. Plus, we’re going to make our annual anniversary trip to Outback Steakhouse when she gets back in town Wednesday night. And… it’ll be all free thanks to credit card rewards!