Hands and Feet

Matt Chandler of the Village Church in Dallas Texas recently gave an outstanding message on what it might look like to be the hands and feet of Jesus – complete with a solid theological foundation and practical application for his community’s specific opportunities to live lives of love and justice.

You can link to the podcast here:
www.thevillagechurch.net/podcast/index.html

Or read the entire transcript below…

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Justice and the Bible

(From Grace at the Table: Ending Hunger in God’s World, by David Beckmann and Art Simon. Published by Paulist Press and InterVarsity Press.)

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?

If you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.

—Isaiah 58:6 & 10 (NRSV)

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Gentrification With Justice

Gentrification With Justice

By Bob Lupton

Building a new home in a run-down neighborhood in Atlanta was a decision that neither of our parents supported. It was a bad financial move, they counseled us, not to mention the danger. But my wife Peggy and I were not relocating into the inner-city for economic reasons. We had finally come to the conclusion that our ministry would be more effective if we lived among the people we felt called to serve than continue to commute from the suburbs. And so we graciously thanked our parents for their love and concern and went ahead with our construction plans.

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Supply Side Jesus

I came across a comic commentary entitled “The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus,” and to be honest, I am not sure what I think about it. “Supply side” refers to supply side economics, and for those who have been around the justice conversation for a while the strip hits a bit close to home. Is what is referred to as “supply side Jesus” the daily practical response to justice issues some are proposing? Does this strip simply take unfair shots from the other side of a political/religious perspective? Can you embrace supply side principles of economic development without buying into a “prosperity gospel?” For that matter, what do you think about a gospel of prosperity? The entire comic is copied below:
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Social Justice

Social Justice
by Raymond Aitchison
First published in ALERT issue 8 April 1991.

It is a pity that the response of some evangelical Christians towards issues of social justice and social concern has been so often negative. To some extent this has been a reaction against the emphasis placed in “liberal” circles upon the so-called “social gospel” at the expense of the Biblical Gospel of justification by faith. This does not, however, justify a negative response, which avoids issues instead of facing them. Happily there is today a growing positive attitude among evangelicals towards social concern and social justice, an attitude for which we have outstanding examples in such eminent evangelicals as Wilberforce, Barnardo, George Muller and William Quarrier.

There is no doubt whatever about the clear Biblical injunctions that impose a social responsibility upon the Christian, and especially a concern for the poor and underprivileged (as e.g. in James 2:14-16 and 1John 3:17, and numerous passages in the Old Testament). These do not, however, require us to follow headlong in the train of every person or organization or body of opinion that claims to be promoting social justice. Not only has God clearly imposed social concern upon us in the Scriptures, but in them He has also given us guidelines to direct us.

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How I’m going to Get My Master’s Degree

What is the difference between compassion and justice through the eyes of a daily practitioner? Continue reading as Paul Luikart, a Housing Coordinator at Breakthrough Urban Ministries, enlightens us…

Rather than go back to school to get a master’s degree myself, I’ve decided to hang around people who are already going to school to get master’s degrees. I will then engage these master’s degree people in conversations. I will ask them really general questions and when they respond with educated answers, I will nod my head slightly, look thoughtfully to the side and say things like, “Yeah, that’s true,” or, “I was thinking that myself.” Every now and then, as I am listening to these master’s degree people, I will scrunch my eyebrows together to non-verbally indicate that whatever it is they’re saying is resonating with me. Then, when they say something like, “Did that not make sense?” I will say, “It did. I’m just thinking. Please. Continue.” Then I will press the tips of my fingers together under my chin and look at them intently. If I smoked, this would be the point where I would take a slow, thought-filled drag. After these master’s degree conversations, I will immediately write down everything they say so I don’t forget it. I will review these notes from time to time. After about two years, the length of a typical master’s degree program, I believe I will have enough knowledge stored in my brain to go to any number of colleges in the Chicago-land area and say to the office types there, “I have enough knowledge in my brain right now for a master’s degree. Where should I pick it up? Or should I leave you my address and you can just send it?” The office types will say, “How would you like your name to appear on your master’s degree?” and I will say, “Paul Luikart, Information Master. And Beast Master.”

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From Authentic to Kinetic…coming soon.

In the near future we will be releasing a series on The Just Life’s “Authentic to Kinetic” vision for local communities. A call to authentic, life-changing,” beloved” communities out of which kinetic love and justice can flow. Stay tuned…

Authentic: conforming to fact and therefore worthy of belief; not counterfeit or copied

Kinetic: characterized by motion; energizing: supplying motive force

The Bible on Wealth

We have compiled another scripture list. This time specifically on what the Bible has to say about wealth. This list is not exhaustive, and at this point no commentary is included — just scripture.

Also read and reflect on the Justice Scripture list, the Bible on the Poor, and on Dying to Self.

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January 21st is Martin Luther King Jr. Day

To honor Dr. King today an excerpt from his speech “The Drum Major Instinct” is presented here for your reflection:

 

Also view Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream Speech” with full transcript here.

As an added devotional, one of the most moving pieces from Dr. King’s writing, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” has been coped below…

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Backwater Jesus

This Christmas let us all be reminded of the blessed dignity Christ gave to poor oppressed people in dire circumstances living in backwater parts of the world by being born to poor oppressed parents under dire circumstances living in a backwater part of the world. Read on for more… [Read more]

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