Blast from the present

Some revolutionaries with Doug Burr.

Africa

The Micah Challenge

Vision

The Micah Network and the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) have created the Micah Challenge campaign to grasp a moment of unique potential. A moment when the intention of all of the world’s leaders to halve poverty by 2015, echoes something of the mind of the Biblical prophets and the teachings of Jesus concerning the poor. A moment when the world has the means to dramatically reduce poverty and hunger!

Micah Challenge is a global campaign to mobilise Christians against poverty. The campaign aims to deepen Christian engagement with impoverished and marginalised communities, and to influence leaders of rich and poor nations to fulfil their promise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

These two aims - one looking inward and calling on Christians, and the other looking outward and calling on leaders - are interlocked. For many Christians, churches, and Christian organisations, engagement in political advocacy with poor communities will be a new step built upon a new understanding of Christ's mission for the church. Micah Challenge is encouraging these Christians to explore and embrace 'integral mission'. While for many Christians who are already engaged in work with poor communities, Micah Challenge offers a global framework for speaking up with the poor, particularly for achievement of the MDGs.

YOU HAVE GOT TO CHECK THIS SITE OUT!!!

Perfect Advertising Placement

I came across this the other day as I walked down Hastings street in Canada's poorest postal code... I read in Time that advertisers just spent a record 8 billion dollars in consumer research this year... wonder if Lexus thinks it was worth the cash?

Calling and Os Guinness

Went to Missions Fest to hear a great session by Os Guinness. The hour long session was on 'calling'. Fantastic stuff - here is an exert from an article on the same subject... it will give you a basic idea:

R&L: How do you define "the Call"?

Guinness: Simply put, the Call is the idea that God calls us to Himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we have, and everything we do is invested with a dynamism and a devotion because it is done as a response to His summons. In other words, those two words of Jesus Christ–"Follow me"–changed the world as millions since have risen up to follow His call.

R&L: In the book [Calling], you note two primary distortions of the concept of calling. Can you elaborate on them?

Guinness: Over the course of the past two thousand years, the concept of calling has been distorted in two ways. I label these–although this is slightly unfair–the Catholic distortion and the Protestant distortion, and both are reflections of a spiritual/secular dualism.

The Catholic distortion is the idea that spiritual things are higher than secular things; so, calling is reserved for monks, nuns, and priests, and lay people are let off the hook, so to speak. This idea was introduced first by Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, and was picked up by great thinkers like Augustine and Aquinas.

The Protestant distortion is the other way around. Both Martin Luther and John Calvin taught that calling includes your work, but about one hundred fifty years after the early Puritans, we see the words calling and vocation become merely synonyms for work and employment. Over time, that was distorted until it came to be seen that one’s work simply was his calling. So, we have a situation where calling is being secularized and work is being sacralized.

WHAT DOES IT MATTER? It matters a great deal... it matters even in the way we 'do church' and it matters even more in the way we 'do army'. Do you figure the current training/recruiting issues in the Salvation Army Western World has to do with this confusion?

Guinness suggests that we have almost become Catholic in our understanding of Calling again in Protestant churches. When people become saved it soon becomes evident that they should be 1. a missionary 2. a minister 3. a para-church worker
- every other profession is almost considered a distraction FROM ministry.

What is most horrible about this to me is that our tradition in the Army was established for exactly this reason. William Booth said, "if you want to get a mill-worker saved, send a mill-worker." Even here in Vancouver 614 (in the downtown eastside) we understand that when Isaiah 61:4 says, "THEY will rebuild' he is referring to the ones FROM the downtown eastside that have been set free... not us (the 'professional' Christian type). We empower people to respond to the calling God has on every believer, "Go, into all the world...."

A Cure for Hate?

Hope for The Children of Africa

We Believe

For the children of Africa we sing this song
Robbed of their families their nights seem long
Lonely and frightened; security gone
They deserve protection and care

For the children of Africa we sing this song
Without enough food to eat their days seem long
Hungry and thirsty, its all just wrong
For they’re children like you and like me

We believe that there will be a new day
When the sun shines on Africa in more than one way
We believe that justice should speak up and say:
“Let the children of Africa
Live a new day”

For the orphan children we sing this song
Caring for families tho’ they’re still young
Grieving and vulnerable something should be done
To look after these precious ones

We believe, oh we believe
That there’s hope for the children of Africa
We believe, oh we believe
That these children are the hope of Africa

© Copyright Emma Pears 2006/ Curious? Music UK 2006

MONDAY the song WE BELIEVE will be available on itunes.
Download, listen, be inspired and then let's live out what we believe!
All proceeds will go to HOPEHIV (here's the link to check it out):