Living life with steps of faith

I'm going to start listing health care reform ideas! Because this is the priority of this Congress this summer. Tell your friends to stop by and leave their ideas! We are going to make a difference. Idea 1: Restrict the percentage of the consumer cost pharmaceuticals are allowed to spend on direct-to-consumer advertising! Remember: At one point in history medical care was not a comodity in the way that we think of it today. At one point doctors played a role similar to ministers - they provided a service!

What do you think of these two videos? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV-llnwjgIw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q9TP7cl3fc&feature=related Just read this on one of my blog follower's blog. It caught my interest since I was driving to Chicago in the evening the night of the last blood moon, and was just overwhelmed with the sight.

Throughout the New Testament, the slave-master relationship is used in an allegorical manner to point to the relationship between the disciple and God. In our present Western circumstances, we dismiss slavery as something that is not honoring to God. Another Scriptural allegory that is used to represent the relationship between Christ and the church is the groom-bride relationship. While all Christians recognize this allegory in Scripture, some give it greater influence and priority over other allegories. More specifically, in today's modern debate over homosexuality, it seems as though this allegory is revered in more conservative circles. I wonder how we as believers can use this allegory in an argument against homosexuality, while at the same time read allegories about slavery and still argue against slavery? This seems like an inconsistent interpretation of Scripture. What are we to do with this? Are we willing to admit that we think slavery is right? Do we explain away thi...

Tonight in class we discussed the role of music in social justice movements in Nicaragua, South Korea, and South Africa. While the South Korea presentation was somewhat uplifting, I was overwhelmed by my place of privilege and the negative role of the United States government in supporting some of these negative regimes. There is a part of me that wants to throw off all of my privilege, but I recognize that it is not something that I can escape, rather it is something of which I must be aware. Listening to the stories and histories also reminds me of how vulnerable my privilege is and how while in one moment I want to throw it off in another I am fearful of what it would mean to involuntarily lose it! I suspect that it is this feeling of fear of being left completely involuntarily vulnerable to another that causes so many people to cling so tightly to their privilege to the detriment of others. This is where I believe our faith in God must enter into our understanding of human relation...

As I read Mark 6:30-33 today images of a ministry team full of excitement surrounding their much loved leader came to mind. Much like a group of children reporting to their grandparents about a family adventure or school children reporting what they saw on their fieldtrip to the zoo, the disciples surrounded Jesus, clamoring over one and another to share the details of their encounters with the powerful gospel that transforms lives. And what does Jesus do in response? Does he send them forth to do more ministry since the fields are ripe but the harvesters are few? No, he blesses them and calls them away to a time of retreat in the wilderness. He recognizes that the harvest is ripe and that if his pupils remain where they are they will not have space for rest, leisure, or physical nourishment. Jesus calls the disciples aside for a retreat in the wilderness. He not only cares for their ministries, but also cares for their individual spirits. As ministers of the gospel today, it is i...