Action/Revo AU was busy at the end of the semester. The focus this year is Invisible Children (site is currently down). Here are a couple of their adverts:

What are other schools doing? What’s the word?

A few notable recent SDA posts:

1. Dr. Kesslyn A Brade Stennis’ first post for Adventist Today was excellent.  Here is an excerpt from Love is Listening (24 Nov. 2009):

Not only must I listen to God and to my self, I must also listen to those who report the events of the world.  If I am to speak truth to power, and if I am to show my love for those who are oppressed or seemingly forgotten like Jesus did, then I must first listen to their plights and the stories of their lives.  Unfortunately, because so many of their voices and lives have been silenced by oppressive forces, I am forced to attune my ears to hear of their experiences vicariously through the mouths of others…. Just like the prophets of old, if I am to speak about the sins that so easily beset our society, I must first be aware of them.  Awareness comes by listening; therefore, I will keep my ears open and demonstrate love by listening.  As I was taught in seminary, I will carry the Bible in one hand and a newspaper (or laptop, or magazine, or journal, or textbook) in the other so that I can hear the stories of those who suffer aloud or in silence…

2. Religious liberty advocates oppose ‘defamation of religions’ resolution as UN vote approaches (Elizabeth Lechleitner, ANN, 7 Dec. 2009)

3. Adventist HIV/AIDS programs supporting affected African communities (Megan Brauner, ANN, 1 Dec. 2009)

4. Adventures (Camden Bowman, Notes from the Fault, 3 Dec. 2009). An excerpt:

ADRA has a policy that foreign workers are not allowed to do any job that a local could do. It’s a good policy, because it means we employ people who know the culture intimately, and who desperately need jobs. What it means for me, however, is no well-digging.

5. A Theology of Tree-Hugging (Nathan Brown, Adventist Today, 3 Dec. 2009). Excerpt:

How we live in comparative affluence impacts directly and indirectly upon the lives of millions of others and upon the limited resources of our world. As Christian stewards, we should be using the many choices in our lives, our consumer power and our political voice to work against the blind disregard of environmental responsibility in much of the Western world.

6. Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience (Barry Bussey, The Liberty Blog, 22 Nov. 2009) [also reported on Spectrum]

A prominent group of conservative Christian church leaders have issued a “clarion call” to society. It is known as the “Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience.” In the Obama era of seeking the “common ground,” 150 leaders of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical wings of the church have made it abundantly clear that “common ground” will not mean they discard the historic Christian teachings on life, marriage and religious freedom. They will not remain silent while government and other agencies demand compliance of church-run institutions to accept the secular view on those matters…

7. A Letter to Dwight Nelson (David Potter, Spectrum, 3 Dec. 2009)

Last Sabbath I was away preaching when Elaine watched your sermon on homosexuals in the church. [Sex in the Temple: What’s So Gay about That?] It’s the first time she’s been disappointed by your message.

8. Video: Jan Paulsen on Caring for Creation (Alexander Carpenter, Spectrum, 2 Dec. 2009)

9. Where Your Treasure Is… (Jimmy Phillips, Adventist Review)

10. WCC Statement on Just Peace (Adventists for the Environment)

11. Homeless Microblogs–1, 2, & 3 (The Deeper Blog, 4 & 5 Dec. 2009).

In addition to Advent Conspiracy mentioned previously, Christian Peace Witness lists a number of resources for the season, including:

• Advent Coloring Book
• NRCAT Resources
• Advent Prayer
• Daily Reflections from Pax Christi
• Prayer for the UN
• Christmas Eve Prayer
• Human Rights Day (Dec. 10) resources from Presbyterian Church USA.

Keep checking the CPW site for info regarding regional events in 2010. Based on our conference call today, it looks like there will be gatherings involving worship, direct action and advocacy in several locations (e.g., Baltimore, Washington D.C., Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco, and others). If there isn’t one planned in your area, contact CPW about organizing an event of your own.

A couple items today from the Constructing Adventist Theology blog:

• Jared Wright on Progressive Adventism (short video; last minute directly relates to activism)

• Sabbath Prayer (Walter Rauschenbusch)

Christine Emming is today’s guest contributor. Freelance columnist for Vibrant Life magazine and all-around blogger, Christine spends too much time with words instead of with people (or so the rumor goes). A recent country transplant, she’s attempting to build community amid the wheat fields of rural Kansas. Maybe you remember her from the earlier Kiva interview.

In college my roommate and I wrote an un-funny humor column for Christine, who was the student paper editor at the time. No, you cannot read those articles; all copies have been burned. But you can read Christine’s essay, and if you’re like me you’ll have Michael Franti going through your head by the end: “All the freaky people make the beauty of the world…”

–  –  –

Lately I’ve been reading a book I never thought I would like. Sometimes it’s part of the job. I have a review copy of Simple Compassion by Keri Wyatt Kent, a weekly devotional by Christian publisher Zondervan that first shows women that God loves them specially — despite the patriarchal tone typical of church upbringings — and second how to reflect that love to family, neighborhood, and further outward. Essentially, how to build your own community. Now, devotionals aren’t my thing, generally speaking, but ‘community’ has been one of my buzzwords for a few years (right, Jeff?). Welcoming, that sense of community, is one of the foundation garments a church should always be wearing yet consistently goes without. How progressive. Maybe we burned them. Who knows? Whatever the reason, the lack of community has been my chief complaint about churchgoing for more than a decade.

I’ll spare you a review of the book itself and simply say that several points snagged on bitter strings in my head, working them free and loose despite my original apathy. They’re old, marbled complaints, some of them, and blurring my vision when it comes to organized religion. I’m always telling myself that the church is made up of fragile, messy individuals and couldn’t ever be a perfect place. A coverall for the behaviors I’ve witnessed as a minister’s daughter. The truth is that I’ve not found a church rich in love, since leaving the church of my childhood. Did I receive special treatment there as a pastor’s daughter? Tell me that’s not all it was. I’ve too many friends in similar circumstance, waiting outside the church’s established circle for an invitation of friendship. Where is the genuine, welcoming spirit? Beyond the handshake. Where is the compassion that powered Jesus? Perhaps beneath your polished outfit, or a few dog-eared pages back in that Bible you’re carrying. Perhaps there’s not enough love to cover my jeans.

Welcome, with love as its core, seems to be the one thing nobody is toting to church these days, like it singularly belongs to the holiday spirit special sessions or back at the soup kitchen. The thing is, nobody sees how lonely we all are. How separate and sad.

I’ve spent too much time wishing someone would reach out to me. See me. Too much time dressing and doing my hair so anyone might notice. I’ve been going for the wrong things. You see, I notice. I see you. And it’s time I do something about it.

Not sure how to forgive churches of people or if they will ever know, but I do. I forgive those who were unwelcoming, who didn’t remember me from week to week though we talked in the hallway, who in passing only looked at my dress. While I’m at it, I forgive you, Mrs. Williams, for your terrible Christian example to a teenager that looks, in hindsight, a lot like regular human frailty. I’m tired of carrying this bitterness around, parlaying it into excuses.

I don’t need a church to teach me about love. My parents did that, my siblings, now my husband and his family, my friends. I have love. But mine is also mostly inside, where I wish it would start to radiate. I need to stop judging everyone else by standards I can’t live up to myself. I forgive me. Yes, me. Now maybe I am free to get started building another community, full of freaks and weirdos like me who know how important it is to belong.

Is your church engaged with Advent Conspiracy? Tells us your story.

And to promote spending money even though this post is about not spending money, check out these alternative catalogs: ADRA, World Vision, Heifer.

Bonus: Geez Blog — Shop No More

Looking for something to read this weekend? These are noteworthy:

SDA World

• Make Poverty Personal (my review at Adventist Today) 
• Treasurer, a native son, dismisses a poverty mindset in West-Central Africa (Ansel Oliver, ANN)
• Maranatha marks 40 years of church, school construction worldwide (Megan Brauner, ANN)
• Adventist global campaign against domestic violence launched in three world territories (Nadia McGill, ANN)
• Another death in a tragic story (Nathan Brown, Adventist Today)
• Roy Branson Leads Discussion of “God and the American Health Care System” at LLU (David Larson, Spectrum)
• Special Spectrum Report: Youth Violence is Our Territory (Ranette Prime, Spectrum)
• Special Report: Marriage, Homosexuality and the Church (Adventist Review)
• No, I Can’t (Bert Beach, Adventist Review)
• Update: Global Campaign to End Violence Against Women Gains Momentum (ADRA)
• Whoever Needs Help, We Help (Gary Quackenbush, Adventist Community Services)
• Chocolate in His Wounds (Divya, Adventistya.com)
• Otherness and Ecumenical Unity (Matt Burdette, Constructing Adventist Theology)
• Chew Toy (Bernie Anderson, XXX Church)

Wider World

• Hospitality and the Will to Embrace (Richard Beck, Jesus Manifesto)
• Israeli settlers threaten Palestinian family, beat and rob Christian activists (Jesus Manifesto)
• Does Mite Make Right? (Leo Hartshorn, Jesus Manifesto)
• Good News for Whom? (JoshuaDbauIII, Jesus Manifesto)
• Consciousness (Cat, Fight With Tools)
• Solidarity in Liberty (Traveling Zach, Fight With Tools)
• The New Face of Homelessness (Lori G. Baynard, ESA Online)
• Build, Don’t Destroy in Afghanistan: An Open Letter to President Obama (Jim Wallis, God’s Politics)
• Biden on the Bailouts: ‘Socialism for the Rich, and Capitalism for the poor’ (Sheldon Good, God’s Politics)
• Low-Hanging Fruit in the Fight Against World Hunger (Elizabeth Palmberg, God’s Politics)
• Video: An Interview with Michael Sandel on Civil Dialogue in the Struggle for Justice (Jim Wallis, God’s Politics)
• The Locavore’s Dilemma: What We Eat is More Than Just a Personal Choice (LaVonne Neff, God’s Politics)
• Health Care: Keep Your Eyes on the Prize (Jim Wallis, God’s Politics)
• Big Oil, Corporate Greed, and Social Sin (John Gehring, God’s Politics)
• Love, Save Us from Your Followers (Compassion in Politics)
• Possible College Class Topics (Compassion in Politics)
• Simple Church (Geez Blog)
• A Thanksgiving Prayer (Christine Sine, Godspace)
• To Turn the World (Consp!re)

Shameless self-promotion: My latest book review is up at Adventist Today–Make Poverty Personal.

I believe this is an important book, so I hope you’ll check out the review.

Are any Adventists at Justice Revival this week? Let us know, and consider writing a review for Adventist Activism.

Marriage, Homosexuality, and the Church Conference recently concluded at Andrews University. For those who could not attend, here are a number of posts by David Hamstra on Apokalupto:

• Reflictions On The Homosexuality Conference
• Interview: Nicholas Miller
• Top Five: Things I Learned At The Homosexuality Conference
• Blogging the Homosexuality Conference [this has extensive links to coverage on other blogs and sites]