"Another Day in Pardise" -- Phil Collins

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As we think about poverty...


Embedding has been disabled, but here's the link

A Prayer of Thanksgiving -- From Augustine of Hippo

Image via WikipediaO my God,
let me, with thanksgiving,
remember, and confess unto you
your mercies on me.

Let my bones be soaked with your love,
and let them say unto you,
Who is like you, O Lord?

You have broken my chains in pieces.
I will offer unto you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
And how you have broken them, I will declare;
and all who worship you, when they hear this, will say:
Blessed is the Lord in heaven and in earth!
Great and wonderful is his name!


(Found over at Challies)

If the World Were a Village of 100 People...

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If we could reduce the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

• The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific
• 51 would be male, 49 would be female
• 82 would be non-white; 18 white
• 67 would be non-Christian; 33 would be Christian
• 80 would live in substandard housing
• 67 would be unable to read
• 50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation
• 33 would be without access to a safe water supply
• 39 would lack access to improved sanitation
• 24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76 that do have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)
• 7 people would have access to the Internet
• 1 would have a college education
• 1 would have HIV
• 2 would be near birth; 1 near death
• 5 would control 32% of the entire world's wealth; all 5 would be US citizens
• 33 would be receiving --and attempting to live on-- only 3% of the income of "the village"

This is from Family Care Foundation and is also found in START: Becoming A Good Samaritan which we're presently using as a study at Girdwood Chapel.

Scripture for Sunday -- Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

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⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Scripture for Sunday -- Luke 1:46-55 (NIV)

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⁴⁶And Mary said:
   "My soul glorifies the Lord
    ⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 ⁴⁸for he has been mindful
      of the humble state of his servant.
   From now on all generations will call me blessed,
    ⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
      holy is his name.
 ⁵⁰His mercy extends to those who fear him,
      from generation to generation.
 ⁵¹He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
      he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
 ⁵²He has brought down rulers from their thrones
      but has lifted up the humble.
 ⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things
      but has sent the rich away empty.
 ⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel,
      remembering to be merciful
 ⁵⁵to Abraham and his descendants forever,
      even as he said to our fathers."

"The Trouble With Born-Again Christians..."

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The trouble with born-again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around. -- Herb Cain

This is a post over at Ragamuffin Soul, a blog by Carlos Whittaker that inspires and challenges me.

And, this quote..., well, it inspires and challenges me.

First off, it's entirely out of context.  I have to admit this. As I read this I have no idea what it is that brought Mr. Cain to this conclusion.  Could he have been made to feel "unchristian" because he brought up questions of faith or because he expressed doubts?  Maybe he had just come back from a retreat with some "SuperChristians" and others doubted his own way of expressing his faith?  Perhaps he just got off the plane after sitting next to someone who spent the entire flight trying to convert him?  Or, quite possibly, this was spoken or written after years of trying to find a church that would welcome him because he's divorced?  Or or a minority?  Or Goth?  Or....

Secondly, even though I am a born-again Christian and have been rescued from my sin by the grace of Christ (Thank God!), I have had my struggles with some of my "born again" brothers and sisters in Christ.  I have felt excluded.  I have had my faith questioned.  I have had my interpretation of Scripture belittled.  I have even had the way I pray -- which can be quite colloquial -- criticized.  Some of my issues have been semantics...just the language we're all comfortable or uncomfortable with.

Third, there are a whole lot of really awesome "born again Christians" out there.  I'm friends with a lot of them (which sounds pretty meaningless as I write this).  I find many of them to be challenging and accepting, loving and respectful, and really not pains at all.  The notion that they are all "pains" is a cultural generalization that is merely a stereotype.  This is not to say that there aren't "pains" among them.  It just means that the generalization is a generalization.  This is a cultural stereotype that, even though it is not entirely true, has some basis in truth based on the experiences of many.

Fourth, and last, Mr. Cain could very well have said this about me at times.  I sometimes wear my Christianity like a badge...giving me the authority of the "faith police" in my environment.  I have bouts of self-righteousness and I can, I know, sometimes struggle with the fact that other Christians aren't more like me and my own understanding of the faith.  I recognize that as sin.  I recognize it as pride. I recognize that as Pharisaic. And I see that sin in myself.  At times, I'm part of the problem.  I merely hope and pray that my actions, my words, my expression of Christ in this world won't lead to all Christians being defined by the same broad stroke Herb Cain uses here.

Wrestling with Biblical Texts -- Quote form Jared C. Wilson

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“It’s okay to wrestle with a biblical text, so long as at the end it masters you and not the other way around.”

Jared C. Wilson