CCDA & Immigrantion Reform

Will any of you be at one of these CCDA events–Phoenix, Denver, Santa Ana, Chicago, Memphis or Miami? If so, let us know and send a report when the dust settles.

On Tuesday January 26, Christian leaders from across the US will join the CCDA board in Phoenix, Arizona for a “Day of Witness and Action” in support of comprehensive immigration reform. The purpose of this event is to stand in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters as well as to raise national awareness of our country’s broken immigration system. Our desire is to see Christians raise their collective voice around the injustice faced by immigrants and the need for our legislators to enact moral and just reform. Please consider standing in solidarity with CCDA and other organizations across the country. You are invited to join us in any of these cities/events:

http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=0014hlzXZJE_jsw8467cbcTzwqPW82d4BaxwoE_vtODzL1-U1QnsFh1bkDgsUP35D0ZuIqwJO0Ae59zTlbyRuqXCxficZ6rpNgHJncpPiBFUsU%3D

Dwight Nelson & PMC

I haven’t listened to this sermon yet–The Mission Young (Jan. 23)–but I’m told it’s good. In his comments on poverty, Pastor Dwight Nelson speaks about our church in Benton Harbor.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

This is late. I am re-posting thoughts I originally wrote two years ago:

Martin Luther King, Jr., is celebrated today. I’m in favor of living his wisdom, rather than just honoring his life with words.

King lived the third way, rejecting both violent revolt and passive acceptance of injustice. He taught and lived the way of nonviolent activism. Government leaders will attend photo ops today at African-American churches and ceremonies for King, but they seem less likely to bring King’s philosophy to bear on the “war on terror.”

In addition to his revolutionary efforts for civil rights, I also respect that King worked to end the Vietnam War and economic inequality. Justice, he was a man of justice.

My memorial to King will be his own words:

• A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
• All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
• An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
• An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.
• At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

Christian Nonviolence

While neither written by nor about Adventists, the following 5 essays on Christian nonviolence may be informative for SDAs considering issues of peace advocacy, military participation or social change:

1. Christian Nonviolence (Walter Wink, Z Net, Dec 17, 2004). Wink is the author of Jesus and Nonviolence, Engaging the Power, Unmasking the Powers, & Naming the Powers.
2. God’s People Reconciling (Ron Sider, Mennonite World Conference, 1984). Ron is the author of Non-Violence, Churches That Make a Difference, & Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger.
3. Five Characteristics of Early Christian Nonviolence (Thom Stark, n.d.).
4. The Gospel of Reconciliation within the Wrath of Nations (David W. Shenk, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 32 no 1 Jan 2008, p 3-6, 8-9). This is only available to Ebsco users. Shenk authored or edited Jesus Matters, A Muslim and A Christian in Dialogue, & Anabaptists Meeting Muslims.
5. A Call for Evangelical Nonviolence (Ron Sider, Christian Century, Sep 15, 1976, pp. 753-757).

There are many more, but to me these form a pretty good foundation. And now, twenty-two bonus links:

Bonus 1 — Christian Peacemaker Teams
Bonus 2 — Early Christian Pacifism & Nonviolence
Bonus 3 — Every Church a Peace Church
Bonus 4 — Jesus Radicals (Theology)
Bonus 5 — Christian Peace Witness

2 Stories — SIFE & Muslims

I’d like to post two sets of stories, so I need your info.

First, I’d like to highlight what SDA college and university SIFE teams are doing. Do you have contact info for the group near you? I’d post a press release or a summary written by the school along with pictures and useful links.

Second, I’d like to learn more about what Adventists are doing to build bridges with Muslim communities, either in the U.S. or in other countries. What stories do you know about? Who should I contact?

Thanks all, Jeff

Osocio: Why Let Drink Decide

This is a classic SDA issues. Is it still? What do you think about this campaign highlighted at Osocio.org yesterday–Why Let Drink Decide?

Haiti

A conversation about responding to Haiti is beginning on the Adventist Activism Facebook page.

Is anyone going to Haiti or supporting from home? Tell us your story (here or on the FB page).

Preaching, Teaching & Healing

Here are a a few more excerpts from Darell Guder’s chapter, “Missional Witness,” in Missional Church. I’m reading this for Mission and Peace: The Church’s Ministry in the World.

The Synoptic Gospels identify three main tasks of Jesus before his crucifixion: preaching, teaching, and healing. (p. 133)

These activities… are also the vocation of Jesus’ disciples. (p. 133)

It is right to see healing in its broad sense–healing of the emotions, forgiveness of sin, peace, reconciliation, freedom, and restoration of justice and right relationships, as well as physical healing. (p. 134)

The first healing task of the church is to become a reconciled and reconciling community itself. It is a kind of demonstration project, a sign that kingdom living is possible. (p. 135)

The missional church is called not only to demonstrate healing among its own members but also to be a peacemaker and justice-maker in the world. The church is called to promote peace to those near and to those far off (Eph. 2:17 together with 2 Cor. 5:18-20). Where such healing happens, it is a sign of the nearness of the reign of God and an invitation into that reign. (p. 135)

Sermon on the Mount

An excerpt from Darell Guder’s chapter, “Missional Witness,” in Missional Church:

In the Sermon on the Mount, blessings are granted to those who are poor in spirit (who know that they don’t have it altogether), to the meek (the gentle, the nonviolent, who leave vengeance up to God; see Ps. 37), to those who desire justice and righteousness, to those who show mercy and forgive, to peacemakers, and to those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness and justice. These are the ones whose light will shine before all the world. They are the ones who will be like God in loving those who do not love them in return, who love and pray for their enemies, and who do not resist their oppressors with violence (Matt. 5:38-48). (p. 122)

Beginning on page 137, Guder again visits this sermon.

The dominant culture says, “You will be happy if you avoid any situation that exposes you to other people’s suffering or that causes you yourself to suffer or mourn or sacrifice.” This is the world of happy-face stickers and “Have a nice day.” On the contrary, Jesus pronounced blessing on those who mourn. God will comfort those who sorrow over the state of the world, injustices, oppression, their own sin, the sin of others, and the situations in which evil seems to have the upper hand. Those who grieve over oppression, who do not turn away from seeing it, will find comfort because God is going to do something about it, either now or, certainly, in the age to come. (p. 138)

For more on the Sermon on the Mount, here’s an essay by Walter Wink.

Adv Today: A Just Forgiveness

My review of A Just Forgiveness is now up at Adventist Today. Here’s the first paragraph:

Aquinas and Augustine developed the philosophical foundation for just war.[i] Glen Stassen promoted just peacemaking.[ii] Gerald Schlabach argued for just policing.[iii] Now, Everett Worthington Jr. attempts to build a framework for just forgiveness by asking, “How can Christians forgive without excusing wrongdoing?”

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