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Blog action day - Poverty - Micah Challenge

"...what does the LORD require of you? To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

Micah Challenge is a global Christian campaign. Our aims are to deepen our engagement with impoverished and marginalised communities; and to challenge international leaders, and leaders of rich and poor countries, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and so halve absolute global poverty by 2015!

Last Sunday Thierry Mirone spoke at the CEP and the ICG. He told the story of the team he led to Nepal. The church they served was materially poor but rich in faith. This Sunday the CEP will take part in the Micah Challenge day.

So my contribution to the blog action day is to point whoever may come this way to the Micah Challenge.

Tomorrow is blog action day 2008...

I'm participating...

A world run amok...

Yesterday I was looking at washingtonpost.com and this article caught my eye, The Shadow of Debt. Becoming an observer of the exchange rate market is one the strange things that happens to an expat who lives in Europe and paid in US dollars. And because a couple of years back we got caught in a storm that was a combination of a falling dollar and high living expenses we found ourselves deeply in debt. So I followed the link...

Here's the first paragraph...

Let me tell you about a place called Slavic Village and the death of a girl named Cookie Thomas. You've never heard this story before -- talk of housing markets and hedge funds, interest rates and the Federal Reserve  has drowned it out.

And with that the author takes you on a journey into what has happened across America. Loans offered to people who weren't qualified. Houses built then abandoned because of foreclosures. Neighborhoods becoming the playground of criminals because because people who need to hide look for empty houses.
And in all of this you see the ugly side of capitalism when it loses its moral bearings.

Because of what we lived through I understand the dynamics of falling into debt. I know what its like to grab at easy money and hope that somehow tomorrow will be better. I know what it feels like to look at loan payments and think there is no way I will ever be able to pay them. And in all of this I know that I'm responsible for my choices. But there is more to this than just making bad choices.

When I read through the article I saw once again how dishonest people take advantage of naive people. 20 years ago I would have observed that and credited it to man's sinful nature and a godless world that would be washed away when Jesus returns.

I can no longer think like that. It was wrong then and those who think like that now are wrong. Jesus came to bring good news to the poor. Yes, we are all poor spiritually but it is also for the poor materially.

Who will defend that cause of those in  Slavic Village? The Church has something to say about systemic evil. Amoral capitalism is evil. Will we change everything? No. But we will not stand silent.

In my corner of the world I need to see the injustices and be willing to act out...

God is not a Democrat or Republican...

As a citizen of the United States living abroad I have found myself changing in ways that I don't think would have happen if I had remained in the States. This certainly has been the case for me and the way I see politics. The meaning of the title of this post is obvious, God cannot be reduced to the size of a political party. The problem is that in practice this is much harder to live out. Being active in the political process is part of being a good citizen. So, yes, my faith will influence my decisions. But my faith can never become subordinate to my political affiliation.

E.J. Dionne Jr., a columnist for the Washington Post, writes this,

Evangelical Protestantism in the United States is going through a New Reformation that is disentangling a great religious movement from a partisan political machine. This historic change will require liberals and conservatives alike to abandon their sometimes narrow views of who evangelicals are.

Here's the link to the article.

He points to the recent declaration to protect creation published by the National Association of Evangelicals that was subsequently criticized by James Dobson and company. In the reaction to the criticism the NAE reaffirmed their position.

I find this debate is healthy. God calls us to be holy in all that we do. That means we promote the sanctity of human life, we defend the defenseless and we care for the world that God has given us.

For further reading...

Bob Robinson's blog, Vanguard Church, is a one I've been reading for some time, here's his thoughts on the James Dobson's criticism of the NAE.

Do you know about the Micah Challenge?

Micah Challenge is a global Christian campaign. It's aims are to deepen our engagement with impoverished and marginalised communities; and to challenge international leaders, and leaders of rich and poor countries, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and so halve absolute global poverty by 2015!

The Micah Call is a global petition and the way to join the campaign. Churches, organisations, families, women, men and children, please add your voice by signing the Micah Call...

When I was in the States las year I visited some churches and asked folks if they had heard of this... My informal survey was not too convincing. In my opinion the word had not gotten out. So for those who are hearing about this for the first time, I encourage you to take a look around the site. It is worth your time. I especially like the Micah Declaration on Integral Mission. You must read it.

Here in France the Micah Challenge is embraced by many of the Evangelical Churches. I believe it reflects a strength of French culture.

A Shift Among the Evangelicals

E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post comments on the recent election of Rev. Frank Page as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention. Toward the end of the article he writes...

The election, he said, indicates that "the leadership of the denomination that pushed it hard to the right on theological and social issues is aging or passing from the scene and is unable to rally the troops as they once did."

"Some people," Leonard added, "are tired of just fighting liberals. You need a reason to be a Southern Baptist other than just fighting liberals in the culture or in the church."

One other force was at work in this year's Baptist voting: the rise of the blogosphere.

Sitting here in France this is welcome news.

Here's the link to the article.

Blogs, movies and the French riots

This morning (Dec. 1) the Washington Post posted on their web site an aritcle about a film who's subject is the riots in France that was made by a young Frenchman using a game that's called "The Movies". The article's called Game Turns Players Into Indie Moviemakers. Boing Boing had already posted about the movie last Monday (Nov. 28). That post was called Political film comments on French riots using video-game animation. The movie's been online since November 22 and you can see the movie here.

The whole thing points to the way things are going to get mixed up. Here's a guy playing a video game who makes a film about the riots in France. He posts it on the web and in a few days it is going around the world.

News, film, video games, social commentary... all that getting mixed up in the great mixing bowl of the web.

Beyond all the zeitgeist stuff of the blending of mediums the movie does a pretty good job of expressing the ambiguity between a country that claims it stands for liberty, equality and brotherhood.

Todd Burkes has blogged a lot about this. You'll want to check it out...

Taking on Charles Colson

Todd  is at it again. And this time he's taking on Charles Colson...

He writes,

But as someone who looks at both countries and cultures now with a bit of objectiveness, I found the commentary loaded with some myopic tendencies that are typical of our American Christian condition. Not only do we see the bad only elsewhere, but we assume that the bad is necessarily a sign that we are morally superior.

Thanks Todd for saying it so well.