By: Chris Pollock on February 23, 2020
‘In the world but, not of the world.’ This is a political statement. It is not from scripture, though it could almost be iterated as if it was. Some scriptures come close, like ones in the Gospel of John or Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome. Nevertheless, I have heard these words repeated ad…
By: Jer Swigart on February 20, 2020
A decade ago, I sat in the back of a room in the Palestinian territories. I was a part of a delegation of US American Christians traveling throughout Israel and Palestine in an effort to understand the conflict there more fully. The overall objective of our presence became evident as I listened to a prominent…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 19, 2020
In our call this week we talked about the power of metaphor. Metaphors are not just rhetorical devices, but are visions or pictures by which we align our will. Metaphors capture stories by which we orient our lives. I will suggest here that we (American Evangelicals) need to exchange the metaphor of the promised land…
By: Greg Reich on February 18, 2020
Pinky: “Gee, Brain. What are we going to do tonight?” The Brain: “The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world” This was the response at the beginning and end of every episode of the 1995 animated parody television series oriented around two genetically altered lab mice with the intentions…
By: Steve Wingate on February 18, 2020
Dr. Hunter, a social theorist, provides summaries of world-changing philosophies and practices by comparing and contrasting views on how to change the world. His book, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity Today addresses various modes and means of both groups and individuals; their effort and ideals for how to make…
By: Dylan Branson on February 17, 2020
Ever since I read Hunter’s To Change the World last summer, I have been wrestling with the thoughts and implications presented. What made this so relevant to me was being in the midst of the political turmoil and calls for freedom in Hong Kong. To summarize the recent Hong Kong political climate, the trouble began…
By: Joe Castillo on February 17, 2020
Who is Hunter? Hunter began his career at Westmont College as an Assistant Professor of Sociology from 1982-1983. He then moved to the University of Virginia, where he taught as an Assistant Professor of Sociology from 1983 to 1989. He then became a Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies from 1989 to 1994. He held…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 17, 2020
“If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” Isaiah 58:10 This is the foundational Bible verse for Noonday Collection, which was founded by Jessica Honnegger in 2010 after a transformative trip…
By: Chris Pollock on February 16, 2020
There was a time when I was less affected. Everyday there is opportunity for a new awakening. I believe there is an easier way, one that I can’t seem to get far enough away from. That way is apathy. Over the last year, whilst facing confounding heartbreak, I asked my mom to pray that I…
By: Jer Swigart on February 11, 2020
Before the technologically sophisticated classrooms of today were those of my childhood, the walls of which were adorned with rolled-up maps. Many of these enlarged atlases featured transparent overlays that charted topics such as the history of global discovery, the migration journeys of ancient populations, and the shifting borders of North America. The meticulous mapping…
By: Darcy Hansen on February 11, 2020
It was a warm August morning at the retreat center. I was one of thirty women gathered for a weekend of leadership training and fellowship. We spent hours laughing, learning, and growing in our love for one another and Christ. On Sunday morning, I woke early and went for a two hour walk beside the…
By: Greg Reich on February 11, 2020
As the husband grabs his bible and a cup of coffee he yells out to his wife. “Hurry up honey, we’re going to be late for church!” “Coming!” she responds with her Bible under her arm as she grabs her cup of coffee. “I am looking forward to finishing up this sermon series on the…
By: Shawn Cramer on February 11, 2020
The imagination is a powerful spiritual faculty. It allows humans to evaluate what is and envision what could be. Alternate future realities (what could be) exist only in and because of our prophetic imaginations. Furthermore, imaginations provide individual identity and construct social connection, communities, and orient our spiritual formation. For CS Lewis, the imagination is…
By: Joe Castillo on February 10, 2020
The In Torture and Eucharist, William Cavanaugh examines the torture that took place under General Pinochet in Chile caught my attention because is a very controversial observation of the Eucharist. General Pinochet was a Chilean dictator who took power after overthrowing President-elect Salvador Allende and who ruled Chile between 1973 and 1990, harshly repressing the…
By: Dylan Branson on February 10, 2020
At the beginning of his dissertation, Evangelicalism and Capitalism, Dr. Jason Clark asks this question: “Has my church, and my Evangelical kin, become captive to a mode of ‘dispensing religious goods and services’ to consuming participants?”[1] Recently I have had several conversations with my housemates about what we have been studying in regards to capitalism…
By: Steve Wingate on February 10, 2020
Dr. Clark’s project provides a critical thesis that “deployed its own ‘map-making method as a kind of heuristic concept map to trace correspondence between church acts and beliefs. This ‘map-making’ ensures that the thesis provides evaluation and resourcing for deployment to current and related Evangelical contexts. Second, the thesis proposes that, contrary to methodological worries…
By: Chris Pollock on February 9, 2020
“Is it possible to overcome Western, white cultural captivity and pursue a biblical model of economic justice?” Soong-Chan Rah, [1]. $20. This is the amount gas that I put in my gas tank every time I stop at the station, whatever amount buys $20 worth. I do this for two reasons. The first is that…
By: Chris Pollock on February 6, 2020
Talking doesn’t come easy for me. Thinking, at times, can be quite overwhelming and attaching spontaneous vocalizations to thoughts has never been less than a challenge. When I observe or experience an injustice, I want to say something, I just don’t know how or what to say. The feelings (immensity of emotion) are there, as…
By: Greg Reich on February 6, 2020
Vincent Miller in his book Consuming Religion writes a “Consumer culture is best diagnosed not as a deformation of belief but as a particular way of engaging religious beliefs that divorces them from practice.”[1] Miller is not anti capitalism but is more concerned on what the affects a consumer culture has on religion and how…
By: Jer Swigart on February 4, 2020
Rectangles of colorful fabric saturated with images and prayers adorned the walls of the lobby which appeared to be strategically designed to resemble an elitist country club. Unlimited Fair-Trade coffee, complete with images and stories of coffee farmers and their families, was free for the drinking. Popular music playing at just the right volume set…
