I’ve shared this on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook but it’s worth sharing here again as well.
It’s not the bite size 11 minutes like Rob Bell’s video from last week, but its a great extended discussion on what the gospel is — and the effect it should have on our lives.
Tim’s message goes till 44 min in and then its Q&A for the remainder.
Continue reading The gospel and the poor according to Tim Keller
Have I mentioned that I love the ideas behind The Idea Camp? It’s such a great un-conference, open and FREE (aka Pay What You Will) concept!
The event is based entirely around conversations with the “speakers” via interviews, Twitter and txt messaged questions, rather than a 45-minute lecture by some “expert” in his field.
Continue reading The Idea Camp – Justice edition
From the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast:
It’s annoying but justice and equality are mates, aren’t they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain in the ass. Seriously.
I mean you think of these Jewish sheep-herders going to meet with the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh goes, “Equal? Equal?” And they say, “Yeah, that’s what, that’s what it says here in the Book, here. We’re all made in the image of God, sir.”
Eventually the Pharaoh says, “Look, I can accept that. I mean, I can accept the Jews — but not the blacks. I mean, not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way.â€
So on we go with the journey of equality.
On we go in the pursuit of justice.
What issues of equality do you struggle with?
Watch the full speech:
Today is justice friday (#justicefriday) on the web…
What is it? It is a day that different people “tweet” about, blog about, facebook about, and generally raise awareness for all sorts of justice issues. From human trafficking to malaria, all sorts of justice issues are raised, with the end goal of generating awareness and action. The point is not just to share statistics, the point is to help other people understand the great justice issues of our day, and how they can respond and act to bring justice.
You can get involved in a couple of ways:
What injustices are you passionate about? What would you like to see your friends and family and others become more aware of and involved in?
What other meme’s do you take part in throughout the week?
HT to exagorazo for the info.
I’d love to share this story at some point as part of our actual podcast but I figure — why wait? It’s already out there for everyone to listen to, download, listen, share it and talk about it. It’s worth it.
Pastor Ryan shares ::
Our God is a God of Justice and I believe once we understand that, we will no longer be okay with the things that aren’t okay…
…Another thing that’s been pressing on me lately is just how relentless God is. He wants us and He will stop at nothing to reach us. So often our arms are jammed so tightly into our sides that we won’t let Him embrace us, but He doesn’t quit. He doesn’t give up on us. Ever.
That was evident with Heather’s story as she shared it with our body last weekend.
Download the Mp3 file
[audio:http://www.vineyardwestside.com/podcasts/HeatherStory.mp3]
for MLK Jr
There’s a great line from the West Wing’s Season 3 – Isaac and Ishmael. Sam Seaborn tells a class gathered at the White House during a "crash" that terrorists never win. They may die for their cause but they never win. They often make their enemy stronger and more determined.
Forty years ago a gunman decided he’d had enough of Martin Luther King Jr. and decided to gun him down outside a Memphis Hotel. Yet King’s dream lives on. Tomorrow, an African American will be sworn in as the President of the United States.
I hope he remembers that love wins. It always has, always will.
Those who choose hate — never win. Those who kill — never win. Those who choose to love — will always win.
"…we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice."
"But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force."
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BTW for those who are curious I did this with two separate images – one with me standing still (2 sec shutter) and the other is the text, written with a green LED flashlight (25 sec shutter). I stacked the layers on top of one another in Photoshop and gave the text layer a pin light blend.
P.S. U2’s new song Get On Your Boots came out today. Yes — it rocks!