Why Am I So Optimistic?
posted by Josiah Garber on February 19, 2010
in Church, Economics, Fun, Politics, War & Peace
In the End… We Win.
The Church – A Call to Action
posted by Josiah Garber on February 1, 2010
in Church, Personal Development
Yesterday I heard a friend’s encouragement to spend less time talking and more taking action. This a difficult charge, but an important one. It is not easy to put our words into action, but words without action are rather empty.
I think this is a call, to all who would profess to follow Christ. Following Christ isn’t only discerning what to do, we must take the next step and do it
So I put forth this challenge to focus on taking action. I am accepting my own challenge and I hope you will too!
John James of the Newsboys is speaking at Creation 2010
posted by Josiah Garber on January 31, 2010
in Church
I’m excited to hear John James of the Newsboys speak at Creation 2010. Things certainly aren’t always as they seem: John has gone through some rough times and made some poor choices, but God has been faithful is bringing restoration to John’s life.
Here’s an interesting interview about his life with the Newsboys and after leaving them.
Born Again – Newsboys Video
posted by Josiah Garber on January 28, 2010
in Church, Fun
newsboys “Born Again” *Official Music Video* from newsboys on Vimeo.
Martin Luther King Jr, “I Have a Dream”
posted by Josiah Garber on January 18, 2010
in Church, Politics
Partisan Politics and The Church
posted by Josiah Garber on January 11, 2010
in Church, Friends, Politics, War & Peace
Take a look at art about partisan politics and the Church by Bethany Tobin.
There is hope in the Kingdom of God!
Gerald Celente predictions for United States:long decline, war, & terror 2010.
posted by Josiah Garber on October 26, 2009
in Church, Economics, Health, Politics, War & Peace
Christians Largely Mum on Torture
posted by Josiah Garber on August 29, 2009
in Church, War & Peace
by Ray McGovern, August 01, 2009
Email This | Print This | Share This | Comment | Antiwar Forum
Anyone harboring doubts that the institutional Church is riding shotgun for the system, even regarding heinous sin like torture, should be chastened by the results of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center.
Who but the cowardly crew leading the “Christian” churches can be held responsible for the fact that many of their flock believe torture of suspected terrorists is “justified?”
Those polled were white non-Hispanic Catholics, white Evangelicals, and white mainline Protestants. A majority (54 percent) of those who attend church regularly said torture could be “justified,” while a majority of those not attending church regularly responded that torture was rarely or never justified.
I am not a psychologist or sociologist. But I recall that one of the first things Hitler did on assuming power was to ensure there was a pastor in every Lutheran and Catholic parish in Germany. Why? Because he calculated, correctly, that here would be a force for stability for his regime.
Thus began another horrid chapter in the history of those professing to be followers of Jesus of Nazareth but had forgotten his repeated admonition, Do not be afraid.
Should the Church Wave the Flag?
posted by Josiah Garber on July 11, 2009
in Church, Politics
The Catholic Church in America in the 19th century would have never featured an American flag anywhere in sight. This trend began in World War I: the German parishes were pressured to show their loyalty to the state and its war.
The trend picked up steam in World War II, when the Italians too were suspected and so had to declare their loyalty. The flag issue became universal during the Cold War when everyone was expected to rally around the nation in its fight against its foreign adversaries.
But looking in back in time to the 18th century and before, to say nothing of the European middle ages and back before the invention of the very idea of the nation state, this entire project would have been completely unknown: the Church nowhere swears allegiance to the state and Christians are citizens first of a universal kingdom with a ruler chosen from all eternity.
Their vows are made unto the Lord, which is precisely why intellectuals like Rousseau said that the Christians make such bad citizens. He was right about that, if by citizens you mean a person whose loyalties are first owed to the civic collective.
Today, however, people think nothing about singing hymns of praise to the state in the very hallowed halls of the Church: America the Beautiful, The Star Spangled Banner, and more. A house of worship in my own town enjoys unfurling the largest American flag I’ve ever seen and pasting it on the side of the building, oblivious the reality of the intellectual and theological dangers here.
In recent times, very recent times, the Catholic Church in the U.S. has been singled out for special pressure from courts and judges, and this has changed many aspects of parish management in ways that truly do represent an intrusion of politics and state issues in a sacred space. This is a tragedy that is gravely regrettable, even deeply threatening, and one that should not go unnoticed.
Gods Come Cheap These Days
posted by Josiah Garber on July 2, 2009
in Church, Politics
by Chuck Baldwin
When President George W. Bush was first elected back in 2000, I well remember the way Christian conservatives went gaga over him. They would deny it, of course, but it was more than hero worship: they acted as if he were a god. Life-size posters filled Christian bookstores. Religious broadcasters and televangelists swooned over him like 16-year-old girls used to swoon over Elvis Presley. Pastors invoked his name almost as a prayer. The Religious Right acted like they had died and gone to Heaven. In the minds of Christian conservatives, G.W. Bush could do no wrong. The result of all this sophomoric silliness was that the Religious Right became blind, impotent lackeys to a Big-Government, big-spending, Orwellian, and inept administration – maybe one of the worst in U.S. history.
And all of this was not lost to the political left. They called Christian conservatives “dupes,” “buffoons,” “gullible,” and a whole lot more. But now it is the liberals’ turn to take a voyage in the vehicle of villainous vulnerability.
First, there was the major media’s “anointing” of President Barack Obama. Yes, I use the word “anointing” on purpose. Make no mistake about it: in the minds of the major media, Obama was not inaugurated; he was canonized. No pope, king, or potentate of history received the coronation that Barack Obama received. To the liberals who dominate the news media and entertainment industry in this country, Obama is not a President: he is a god.
