on the anniversary of the Iraq War
On this anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, readers may be interested in a sermon I wrote for President Bush before the invasion in 2003.
They may also be interested in downloading this imaginary speech that President Bush could have given after the Sept. 11, 2001 elections.
Here's a prayer for the day from the Book of Common Prayer:
Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility your dominion may increase until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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children in emerging churches
Last Sunday I met with Dave Csinos who is doing important research about spiritual formation for children in emerging churches. He's written a great paper on children in the Bible, available here.
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Will nothing change? Or everything?
Senator Obama’s speech today was, I think, one of the most important speeches of my lifetime. I hope people will read it and ponder it – here’s the complete text.
I hope each of us can encourage intelligent and civil conversation on the content of this speech. I feel we’re at a moment where our history could take a different turn depending on how we respond. In the context of "Everything Must Change" - Senator Obama has said things that America desperately needs to hear and engage with.
Here are lines I especially hope we take to heart:
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
I resonate so much with these words. Will we choose - as we do so often - to focus on the latest distractions? Or will we go for the deep shift that's needed in our hearts, our attitudes, our values, our beliefs, our priorities, our purpose, and our vision? I believe we can make the better choice and take the better path. I believe we can.
Andrew Sullivan's comments on the speech are spot on.
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Sociology & EMC
It’s encouraging to receive a note like this one …
"I just want to express my deep appreciation and admiration for Everything Must Change. I’ve just completed leading an adult Sunday School book discussion of it (one part per Sunday) in my church, and have assigned a book review of it to my students in Introduction to Sociology at my Christian college. As a sociologist, I must say that, conceptually, much of your analysis is very sociological, though there is no overt sociological terminology or reference to sociological theory. Theoretical perspectives like structural-functional theory or social conflict theory, and concepts like ideology, hegemony, false consciousness, and distributive justice could further ground your analysis in scholarship and buttress your arguments in presentation… Thank you for all you’ve done for the Kingdom. I pray God will use and bless you more."
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My Next Book…
Publishers Weekly offers this first review of my upcoming book, Finding Our Way Again. This book was a pleasure to write, and I hope it will be of help to a wide range of readers.
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