Brian McLaren Leads Son's Same-Sex Commitment Ceremony

I think that you are going to find this article very interesting. Enjoy it.
Brian McLaren Leads Son's Same-Sex Commitment Ceremony: Author and well-known Christian speaker Brian McLaren led a commitment ceremony for his son and his same-sex partner this past Saturday.

In Support of Bishop Mel Talbert

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Join me in this important effort. Brother Talbert is a Bishop (retired) in the United Methodist Church, but above that he is a follower of Christ, as such he must follow his heart and the lead of the Holy Spirit. There are many things that Bishop Talbert and I do not see eye to eye, but to ask that he be silenced is like trying to silence an Army general because he speaks about the immorality of the war and urging that we end our intervention in Iraq (i.e.,Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton) . Bishops did not have to check their brains at the door when they entered the episcopal office. We need Bishops with conviction and passion for justice, people willing to speak truth to power, and therefore Bishops who can speak in support of those who are at the margins of our church as well as society. Read below, join in and share.

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Dear friend,
In September 1960, a young pastor named Melvin Talbert was arrested and jailed alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. for sitting in at a segregated lunch counter. He went on to become a bishop in the United Methodist Church and serve as president of the National Council of Churches.
Fifty years later, Bishop Talbert is under attack again - this time for calling on Methodist pastors to join him in an "act of biblical obedience" by putting Jesus' commandment to love our neighbors ahead of "immoral and unjust" church rules that prohibit same-sex marriage.
Now a group of conservative pastors are accusing him of "advocating anarchy and chaos" and demanding that the Methodist Council of Bishops take action to "hold those who have been disobedient .. accountable for their inflammatory actions."
This story has gotten some media attention, and we've got a chance to show the world how everyday Christians are standing in solidarity with Bishop Talbert as he continues to struggle against the church's discriminatory policies towards LGBT people.
Will you join me in standing with Melvin Talbert? Sign this petition to the United Methodist Council of Bishops:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2518/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=11599

Hagan presente el Reino de Dios

A la verdad que el mensaje de las Buenas Nuevas es tan sencillo, ojala y lo viviesemos con la misma claridad. Cuanto tiempo vamos a seguir hablando de un evangelio que es imperialista, prepotente, militarista y anit-vida? Cuando vamos a hablar de un evangelio que promueve la vida, es anti-imperialista, anti-militarista? Hasta cuando vamos a seguir pregonando una noticia que es esclavizante y anti-humana. Escuchen esta produccion, difrutenla y compartanla! Es de gran bendicion.
Ord 23 B Mc 7, 31-37: Hagan presente el Reino de Dios

Put in an end to hate.

There has been a while since I have written something for this page. I thought it was a bout time. I hope to be able too write at least on a monthly basis, so stay connected. Here is on of my latest reflections, the subject is on the increase incidence of hate crimes. I hope you be edified by it.

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Last year I wrote about 9/11 and how we came together as a people. I closed last year’s letter stating:

The days described… may be infamous days, but that does not mean that we, as a people, need to continue living infamously. We have seen what ignorance and hate can do to nations (i.e., Germany, and others), we must not allow our faith to be clouded by hate or ignorance, we must be vigilant to ugly expressions of hate that pop-op all over the world and around us. We must learn from Jesus, and learn to respond how Jesus responded to hate and ignorance: with love and sacrifice. We are one human race, one human family, the way God intended it from the beginning. Let us glance in our neighbors the image of the living God.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) issues a report every year on the incidence of hate crime rates in the USA; for the past 10 years the Bureau has reported that hate crimes have been on the rise. Hate crimes against people of different faiths (non-Christians), immigrants, race, and sexual orientation has been a problem for us as a people. This is very disconcerting because we have heard of many countries where people are suffering of persecution and hate for similar reasons.

This problem is accentuated by the political partisanship and by the ideological dived that continues to drive a wedge between people, because of our inability to have meaningful and civilized dialogue based on the acceptance and tolerance of different believes and ideas. I do not mean to imply that we accept evil and call it good, there are some issues that are a matter of principle (and, of course we all have our own scale for our principles).

In the last 10 years we have seen this polarization of American society increased to the point that it does not seem to be possible for people to come to a meeting of the minds; the issue is summarized as: “it is my way or the highway.”  In this time of partisan politics, in this year of elections, I would like to suggest a better way, the way of the Kingdom.

For us as people of faith, Paul offers us some good ideas:

In your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as in Christ Jesus… not looking to your own interest but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Phil. 2:5,4).

Can you imagine how our world would be if we were to do this, if we were to look for the interest of others before our own; just as Jesus did!

Indeed, we who are followers of Jesus have received this call to be like Christ, to imitate Christ (Rom. 8:29; 1Co. 15:49), for to imitate Jesus is to be imitators of God (Mat. 5:48; Col.3:10). Undeniably, we have a higher calling to fulfill; as citizens of the Kingdom of God we are ambassadors of the Kingdom, as such we are to be hospitable, loving, patient, kind, faithful, gentle, self-controlled, and more (Gal. 5:22-23). For Paul reminds us: “Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. …let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited,…” (5:24-25).

And, As John Wesley would remind us:

[G]ospel holiness is no less than the image of God stamped upon the heart. It is no other than the whole mind which was in Christ Jesus. It consists of all heavenly affections and tempers mingled together in one. It implies such a continual, thankful love to him who hath not withheld from us his Son, his only Son, as makes it natural, and in a manner necessary to us, to love every child of man; as fills us with ‘bowels of mercies, kindness, gentleness, long suffering. (The New Birth, Sermon 45-1760, Section III, ¶1 (p.340-41).

As we address the surge of hate crimes in our country, as we approach the coming elections with its political ramifications and its ideological pundits, let us not forget who’s we are, let us not forget that our loyalties must lie with the Kingdom of God where we have also our citizenship. I am not saying that we should not be concerned with the political process in our land, on the contrary, but what I am saying is that before anything else in this world our commitment must be with the proclamation and realization of the Kingdom’s message. A Kingdom where the meek will inherit the earth, where those who are thirsty for justice will be filled, where the merciful will receive mercy, where the peace makers will be called children of God, and where the pure in heart will see God (Matt. 5). Indeed, as Luke reminds us: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. … Do unto others as you would have them do to you” (6:27-28 & 31).

Yes, my brothers and sisters, we are called to be the presence of Christ in the world, and to be the ambassadors of God’s Kingdom, and as such we are called to present to our country the possibilities of the Kingdom of God. We are not simply people traveling through this planet waiting for our time to get “to heaven.” Our life on this planet is not an inconvenience while we wait for something better to come. We are the ones who following Jesus’ example are the bearers of the Kingdom of God. Therefore, during these troubling times let us be inspired by the words of John: “Dear friends do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God” (3John 1:11). (Important to highlight here that John speaks of doing good or evil in relation to the way we treat each other, it is not about “spiritual” good or evil, but rather, it is about how we treat each other).

So, as God’s children, let us reject the ways of the world; let us reject hate, let us reject bigotry, let us reject racism, sexism, and every “ism.” Let us reject that which does not seeks to sustain life and human realization. Let us build bridges, let us make a difference in the world not only because we can but because we must. Can I get an Amen?

Caring for the Poor is Government's Biblical Role - Jim Wallis | God's Politics Blog | Sojourners

 For those of us who call on the name of Jesus the Christ, this article will be a great help to confront the anti-government ideology running wildly in the current political climate. As the author of this article exposes, the question is not about how big or small the government is, but rather, the question has to be on how effective is the government in taking care of the needs of the people it's suppose to serve. Read and share.
Caring for the Poor is Government's Biblical Role - Jim Wallis | God's Politics Blog | Sojourners

Why 'illegal immigrant' is a slur - CNN.com

Dear Friends: Read the article attached. I believe this is an article that can very well be use in group discussion, and to help some folks deal with their own issue and misunderstandings. Enjoy the reading, and pleas share it.
Why 'illegal immigrant' is a slur - CNN.com

Connections Live! 2012 info & registration

Dear folks: Barbara Wendland, a long time friend sent me this information about what she is doing to gather progressive Christians for action and support. I decided that this information is worth sharing. So, I hope you find this useful. Share. 

Dear Connections friend,

It’s time to register for Connections Live! 2012, the September 28-29 gathering of progressive Christians that I’m hosting here in my hometown, Temple, Texas. The event will be an opportunity for thoughtful, forward-looking Christians to meet in person, in order to

·        reassure each other that even though our views may be in a minority in our churches or local communities, we’re not alone;

·        see how we might promote needed change in the church and the world; and

·        plan how to support each other in concrete, practical ways.

Talks and a workshop on Friday evening and Saturday morning will be presented by Dr. Robin R. Meyers, author of Why the Christian Right Is Wrong: A Minister’s Manifesto for Taking Back Your Faith, Your Flag, Your Future (2006); Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus (2009); and most recently, The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus (2012). The Saturday afternoon session will feature lay Christians who

·        are working to spread accurate information about the Bible, Christian history and theology, other religions, and important social and political issues, within the church as well as outside it;

·        have found ways to bring progressive Christians together, even where they are in the minority;

·        are taking concrete, self-sacrificing action to expose and oppose injustice and to promote justice.

The event will also include progressive books and videos, information about progressive groups and events, and other resources. Our greatest resource is likely to be each other. Many Connections readers, especially in this part of the country, tell me they feel alone in their local areas. They long for safe places to talk with kindred spirits about what they really believe and find ways to put beliefs into action in the church and the world, but they rarely find such spaces. Connections Live! 2012 will be such a place.

Connections Live! 2012 will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn hotel here in Temple. The attached .pdf file includes a registration form, schedule, and a bio of featured speaker Robin R. Meyers, as well as information on hotel reservations and directions. Please feel free to share this information with friends and to distribute copies at your church or study group. A complete press packet and flyers, plus details on lay speakers, will be available soon; if you have ideas for church or media contacts, please let me know.

To register, simply download, print, and complete the registration form, and mail it back with your check for $75 per person to help pay for meals and other meeting expenses. Registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis. I don’t expect to have to turn anyone away, but if space became too tight, I would of course let you know immediately and return your check. Please be sure to reserve your hotel room and mail your completed form and your check (sorry, no credit cards) by September 5 at the latest in order to meet the hotel’s deadline. I hope you will register as soon as possible to ensure your place.

Please note also that, regretfully, I cannot accept reservations at the door or make lower-priced reservations that do not include meals. The $75 fee is much lower than my actual cost, and you will get more out of the event by being present for the full time and talking with other participants over meals. If you register and find that you cannot attend, please let me know as soon as possible. If you would like a vegetarian meal, please be sure to reserve it in advance.

For any questions, please contact me at 254-773-2625 or BCWendland@aol.com. I will be sending more details and posting material on my website soon. In the meantime, I hope to hear that you can join us!

 

Talking Points in response to Supreme Court ruling on SB 1070

Powerful analysis by the National Network for Immigrants and Refugees Rights.
Talking Points in response to Supreme Court ruling on SB 1070.
The network argues that "while the Supreme Court struck down 3 of the 4 provisions in Arizona’s vile
anti-­‐immigrant law, SB 1070, one key provision remains. Section 2B requires local police to investigate the immigration status of anyone detained or arrested based on “reasonable suspicion” that they are
undocumented." Follow the link: nnirr_scotus_talking_points-sb1070_.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Third Hand Reality

Powerful article a friend of mine wrote on the issue of immigration. Read and share.
Third Hand Reality

Duke Divinity Call & Response Blog | Faith & Leadership | Edgar Moore: Holy serendipity and General Conference

This article from Rev. Ed Moore is a simple, yet, great expression of the ill conceived change adopted by the General Conference on the issue of Guaranteed Appointments.   Enjoy the reading and share.

Duke Divinity Call & Response Blog | Faith & Leadership | Edgar Moore: Holy serendipity and General Conference

Collision Course: The Kingdom of God and the Status Quo of the World

Dear friends this is a powerful article about being crazy for the gospel. We are constantly being challenged by the world to adjust, to assimilate, to fit-in. The fact is that as Christians we are called to brake away from the norm, to swim against the current, to be renewed. Heck, to be like God: what can be more out of this world crazy. We can certainly have the power to make a difference: the Holy Spirit. Enjoy the reading and share.
http://www.journeywithjesus.net/

IMMIGRATION JOURNAL SPRING 2012.PDF (application/pdf Object)

IMMIGRATION JOURNAL SPRING 2012.PDF (application/pdf Object)

Powerful witness on how one agency of the United Methodist Church has been working on the issue of immigration, for immigrants' rights and dignity. Read and share.

The killing of Trayvon Martin and racial politics in America

I believe you are going to find this article very illuminating as it touches on the reality of CLASS and RACE in America. Two sides of the same coin. For generations we continue to try to separate the two just to serve the interest of the wealthy. My friends it is time we bring it all together where they belong. Enjoy the reading.
The killing of Trayvon Martin and racial politics in America

Ramos B Mc 11, 1-10: Montado en un burrito

Poderoso este programa como los otros que este grupo ha hecho. Disfrutenlo y compartanlo. Bendiciones.
Ramos B Mc 11, 1-10: Montado en un burrito

A Call to Action: Who's/Whose Calling?: Change may threaten vibrancy of the Church and silence our youth.

This is a powerful commentary on the Call to Action proposal coming to the 2012 General Conference. This is a comment from a Brother outside of the US. Check-it-out.
A Call to Action: Who's/Whose Calling?: Change may threaten vibrancy of the Church and silence our youth.

A New World Is Possible!

This is a reflection I was supposed to offer at a Church on the 22nd of January. However, due to the weather the service was canceled. Nevertheless, I think that the reflection has some merit. I hope you enjoy the reading.
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January 22, 2012, 7:00 pm

Fairview Chapel UMC

Sermon: A New World is Possible!

Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Eliezer Valentín-Castañón

One Sunday morning, a mother began to waken her son. “George, it’s time to wake up”, she said. George replied, “I don’t want to get up. I’m tired!” “But Georgie, you have to get up; it’s Sunday, and we don’t want to be late for Church.” He replied: “I don’t want to go to Church!” “Oh George, it’s Sunday, and you have to go to Church.” “I don’t want to go.” “But why not?” she asked. “Because,” he replied, “I hate it.” “You hate it? But why?” “Because it’s stupid: the sermons are boring, the music is terrible, the people are dumb, and the pastors hate me.” “Oh Georgie, it’s not that bad. Now please, get up, or we will late for Church.” “I’m not going”, he replied. “But Georgie, you must.” “Give me one good reason why I should go.” His mother replied, “Well, George, first of all, you’re the bishop.”

Think about what happened to you in the telling of my joke. Think about how long it took you to get the joke, because a good joke works almost instantaneously, involving our minds, our feelings, and our bodies. In an instant—in a flash—we put things together in our minds, especially the unexpected. We laugh before we understand it. And humour is infectious; once people start to laugh, it spreads. It is what makes laughing together with another person such an interesting example of shared experience.

It is regrettable that not all experiences are so shared in the world. In the world we live in today people, as you all know, are suffering due to lack of water, food, access to health care, education, and many other things. There are people in the world who have never seen anyone beyond the circumference of their villages, or their tribal communal arrangement. There are people who have not even seen a Tv or heard a radio; lets not even mention a computer.

If we could share our resources the way we are able to share our laughter the world would be a whole lot better, don’t you think? Regrettable it is not!

If we could, at this time, shrink the Earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look like this:
There would be 57 Asians, 21  Europeans, 14 from the Western
Hemisphere (North and South) and 8  Africans.
70 would be non-white; 30 white.
70 would be non-Christian; 30 Christian.
50% of the entire world's wealth would be in the hands of only 6 people.
(All 6 would be citizens of the United States.)
70 would be unable to read.
50 would suffer from malnutrition.
80 would live in sub-standard housing.
Only 1 would have a college education.

I know that some of us here are not happy about the movement to occupy Wall Street, I am sure that some of us feel that is a group of people with misguided expectations. And, some of you might be completely right! But no one can argue that there is something profoundly wrong, even anti-Gospel, when a small percentage of the population of the world control most of the resources of the world, while the vast majorities suffer of want. Now you can blame it on people’s lack of determination, or on people’s drive to succeed. Some of you might even think that people’s conditions are the result of their own actions. We in the western capitalist nations of Europe and the Americas have convinced ourselves that the things we have are the result of our industrious efforts; we have lifted ourselves from our own boots straps, we tell ourselves. And all this might be right, but Jesus does not call his disciples to make an account of our financial achievements, Jesus did not called us to show others that their misery is the result of their lack of effort , while ours is the result of our entrepreneurship.

The undeniable reality is that

• the average North American consumes the same amount as more than 400 Africans.
• We poses enough weapons in the U.S. alone to create more than 100,000 Hiroshimas.
• There are 25,000 people who die every day as a consequence poverty, and nearly 16,000 of those are children, which means every five seconds a child dies of a preventable disease.
• Much of the death and suffering of our world is fundamentally caused by greed and hunger for power.

It’s time to take the words of Romans 12 seriously, with the admonition: “Do not conform to the patterns of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The people of the WORD should be the people who question the world as it is in order to present the world as God wants it to be.

It is time for the us come to the realization that “the present form of this world is passing away,”  and the children of light, the children of the living God have been entrusted with a new way  of being human, a new way of caring for each other:

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (Jn. 15:12-13, NKJV)

If we dare to love like this, if we dare to take the challenge that Jesus posed his disciples 2,000 years ago, and still today: a new world would be possible.

We must be bold, as people who have been filled with the power of the Spirit of God; not to feel good about ourselves but rather as people who have received the power of God in order to make the new world possible, because it is in God’s will!!

Think of those people that today around the world are making a difference in the lives of millions because they had decided that God’s Kingdom message is indeed bringing life and justice to many people who are suffering in the world.

Just this past year in Philadelphia, there was a congregation that was extending hospitality to people in their community by opening their church to the homeless people in their neighborhood. Unfortunately the city council had something else in mind. They forbid the church from opening a shelter. Most people would have given up but the Spirit of God was moving.

Shane Claiborne[1] described the church’s response in the following manner:

• The pastor was told they were not allowed to run a shelter as they did not have proper permits, nor would they be granted them because the city did not want a shelter there. So the congregation prayed, and the Spirit moved. They announced that they would not be running a shelter, but they would have a revival from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. every night. The city did not dare stop a revival. It was brilliant. I attended the revival one night. It began with great singing, worship and sharing, and transitioned around 10 p.m. to a 10-hour period of “silent prayer.”
• He also tell us of another experience where other disciples of Christ, understanding their calling, acted faithfully.
  In Atlanta, Claiborne says, a group of pastors and Christians were met with anti-homeless laws that made it illegal to urinate in public. (In fact, some homeless folks have been arrested and charged with public indecency and exposure, which makes them registered sex offenders.) So our friends launched a “Pee for Free with Dignity” campaign, which insisted people could not be arrested for public urination if there were no public restrooms. They marched to City Hall carrying toilets and laid them at the mayor’s door. Soon Atlanta had some public restrooms.

I am not here to preach about social justice, which is what many people would suggest I am doing. On the contrary, I am here proclaiming the full-Gospel. Through Jesus we have come to hear the Good News of the Kingdom of God. The Good News that God was bringing a new aeon into the world, a world of justice, peace, and mercy. A world were hunger, suffering and death due to poverty, greed, exploitation, and oppression cannot not be accepted as a matter of providence. Jesus’ Good News tell us that he has come to bring us life, and abundant life at that. You and I have been made ambassadors of this awesome mission of God’s reconciling love. Through faith, you and I have been charged with the task of making God’s rule a reality for the whole world. Thus, the words of Teresa of Avila express our task so eloquently:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.[2]

Arundhati Roy, an Indian Christian and author makes the contemporary point: “Another world is possible. Another world is necessary. Another world is already here … on a quiet day I can hear her breathing.”

The world is waiting, groaning, aching for another world—for the children of the God to usher in the Kingdom of God here on earth.

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[1] Shane Claiborne is an author, speaker, activist and recovering sinner. He wrote the best-selling memoir The Irresistible Revolution and is one of the compilers of Common Prayer, a new resource to unite people in prayer and action for a better world.

[2] Teresa of Avila (1515–1582). Christ Has No Bod.