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  • Transcending and Escaping or Engaging and Transforming

    Transcending and Escaping or Engaging and Transforming
    2024/07/26
    John 6:1-21 “A focus on transcending this world comes from John’s gospel. But as Jesus followers, we must allow ourselves to be confronted by the fact that that focus has not always produced good fruit. The synoptic gospels admonish us as Jesus followers to engage our world, to transform it, to work alongside others working to shape our world into a home for everyone, a home where everyone has their needs met, a home that is safe, rooted in distributive justice, and founded on compassion and the recognition that each of us bears the image of the Divine and is part of one another.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    14 分
  • Jesus Following and Social Justice

    Jesus Following and Social Justice
    2024/07/18
    Mark 6:14-29 “Rev. Dr. Emilie M. Townes states, ‘When you start with an understanding that God loves everyone, justice isn’t very far behind.’ For those endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings, not being concerned with matters of social justice is a failure. It’s a failure to love. It’s a failure in our Jesus-following. It may derided by those who have something to lose from making our world a more just home for everyone. That’s okay. To believe in a gospel of love means to be about justice because justice is what love looks like in public.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    15 分
  • Embracing our Dependency

    Embracing our Dependency
    2024/07/11
    Mark 6:1-13 “Is our Christianity all about getting to heaven and saving our own individual soul? Or does following Jesus call us at the very first to be concerned with someone’s present material need? The very first test for someone who encountered one of these original twelve was not how they responded to a gospel presentation on Jesus’ death, heaven or hell, or whatever gospel topic is too often the soundbite version of sharing Christianity today. The very first test was how would this person respond to someone on their door step with no bread, no money, and no extra clothing.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    20 分
  • Preferential Options and Patriarchy

    Preferential Options and Patriarchy
    2024/06/27
    Mark 5:21-43 It initially looks like this story will affirm the social assumption that if we take care of those considered less than in our society then there won’t be enough for everyone else, assuming life is a zero-sum game. But then this story takes a sharp turn. This story ends up teaching us how to practice a preferential option for the marginalized of our society. Placing the synagogue leader next to the woman in this week’s reading affirms practicing a preferential option of the marginalized in general. Then, by placing the woman alongside this little girl too, the story calls us to reject specifically preferences practiced within patriarchy.For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    19 分
  • When the Wind and Waves Threaten Justice

    When the Wind and Waves Threaten Justice
    2024/06/21
    Mark 4:35-41 It seems like, no matter what area of justice we are working for, whenever we take three steps forward the winds and waves push us two steps back. Working from of a place of love to make our world a more equitable place continues to mean facing winds and waves from those who benefit from an inequitable world. This week’s reading is for those presently facing winds and waves. It reminds us that there will be storms, there will be winds, there will be waves that threaten to sink us. This passage doesn’t promise that these won’t be part of our story. In fact, they remind us that they most certainly will. Yet the disciples weren’t alone in the boat. And neither are we. You’re in the right story.For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    20 分
  • Hope Despite Appearances

    Hope Despite Appearances
    2024/06/15
    Mark 4:26-34 Just as we don’t have to understand how seeds work in order to plant the seeds, we don’t always have to understand how our world is going to be put right to take the first steps in reshaping it. Many times, the road to justice is made as we travel it. How justice is achieved from the modest beginnings of grassroots movements is often a path with twist and turns that surprise us and could not have been predicted. There is mystery in how our combined justice efforts combine with others’ justice efforts to create something that is often greater and more beautiful than the sum of all its parts.For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    16 分
  • Labelling Social Justice as Dangerous

    Labelling Social Justice as Dangerous
    2024/06/06
    Mark 3:20-24 “The Beelzebul controversy makes me think of how certain Christians have feared the women’s liberation movement, opposed the abolition of slavery, or are still opposed to making our world a safer place for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer/questioning. I think of how certain Christians are opposed to political movements attempting to make our world safer for children by passing background checks for firearms. The number one cause of death of school age children in the U.S. is not library books or drag queens, but mass shootings. Certain Christian leaders seek to inspire fear among middle class people about programs to have the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes to fund more programs for the poor and disenfranchised. This story serves as a warning and helps us consider whether we are genuinely using the wisdom of Jesus’ teachings as we assess the work and progress of those presently shaping our world into a safer, compassionate, just home for everyone.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    18 分
  • The Sabbath and Social Justice

    The Sabbath and Social Justice
    2024/05/30
    Mark 2:23-3:6 “Are there times when we have interpreted our own Jesus following in ways that have become death dealing for our society? Is our practice of Christianity socially life-giving? Are we obstacles to those around us working toward a more just, safer, compassionate society with room for everyone or are we, like Mark’s Jesus, standing up to those obstacles and being conduits of love, life, and healing? Where are we in the way? How can we get out of the way and come alongside, choosing to recognize those working to make our world a safer place for everyone, and adding our energy and effort to their work?”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    16 分