Sean McDonough, one of my great professors at GCTS, posted this on the 15th chapter of Luke, famous of course the parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son. He rightly points out that these parables are directed at the Pharisees, who are grumbling about Jesus' acceptance of sinners.
In other words, the real point of the parables is not - as is so commonly preached - to encourage the sinners about God's great love and forgiveness for them, but to rebuke the (self) righteous for failing to welcome and celebrate their repentance with him and the father. A needed word for many of us who have been sitting in the pews for years.
11.30.2009
11.28.2009
Follow-up
I think I am becoming infatuated with this guy. Here is an interesting interview with Dan Phillips the builder from my previous post. There are a lot of things to chew on here.
Here are the things that I think are very cool about him.
(1) He is using the market and a for-profit model for the common good. There are so many non-profit organizations that are trying to create these results. And even though they have great intentions and goals, they are dependent upon giving, grants, etc. to do their work. But if one can develop a profitable business that accomplishes the same goals, well then all the better.
(2) He is exposing many of our assumptions about what is possible. It is so easy for us to go with the flow or keep up the the Joneses, and get caught up in a certain way of life that is unhealthy and unsustainable. Until you see something like this, it is sometimes hard to imagine what is possible.
(3) He is able to critique much of the negative fallout of industrialization, capitalism, and market-forces; but has come up with a way to initiate positive change within the same system. In other words, he recognizes that these forces are driving us and unless we start to drive them, they will destroy us.
(4) He recognizes the value and dignity of work. He is helping the poor by employing them to work and teaching them skills, which will enable them to gain a level of independence and create a sense of dignity they have perhaps not felt in a long time. Plus, they become owners of their own property, which gives them a vested interest in maintaining it.
Check it out in three parts.
Here are the things that I think are very cool about him.
(1) He is using the market and a for-profit model for the common good. There are so many non-profit organizations that are trying to create these results. And even though they have great intentions and goals, they are dependent upon giving, grants, etc. to do their work. But if one can develop a profitable business that accomplishes the same goals, well then all the better.
(2) He is exposing many of our assumptions about what is possible. It is so easy for us to go with the flow or keep up the the Joneses, and get caught up in a certain way of life that is unhealthy and unsustainable. Until you see something like this, it is sometimes hard to imagine what is possible.
(3) He is able to critique much of the negative fallout of industrialization, capitalism, and market-forces; but has come up with a way to initiate positive change within the same system. In other words, he recognizes that these forces are driving us and unless we start to drive them, they will destroy us.
(4) He recognizes the value and dignity of work. He is helping the poor by employing them to work and teaching them skills, which will enable them to gain a level of independence and create a sense of dignity they have perhaps not felt in a long time. Plus, they become owners of their own property, which gives them a vested interest in maintaining it.
Check it out in three parts.
Cool Companies
Two in one day. Meet Phoenix Commotion in Huntsville, TX. This is perhaps one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Dan Phillips started Phoenix Commotions building low-cost homes out of reclaimed materials. In so doing, he is able to build homes for low-income folks like single mothers, train unskilled laborers (often-times the homeowners themselves), and reduce the amount of trash going into landfills. See some of pictures of their creations here. Other videos here.
This is practicing resurrection.
This is practicing resurrection.
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Cool Companies
Meet SWAP, Inc (Stop Wasting Abandoned Property). Started in the 70's in the face of a terrible trend of abandoned and blighted property, SWAP began with the mission of revitalizing neighborhoods and properties. As a Christian, I wonder about what a business model that practices resurrection might look like. I think it would be something like this. As the growth and wealth moves out to the edges, eating up more land and wildlife, moving people further from their places of work, and seeing the depreciation of neighborhoods in the interior; is there a place for businesses like this?
Chime in all you business and real estate minded folk.
Chime in all you business and real estate minded folk.
Read an interesting and moving passage from the intertestamental work, 2 Maccabees. This is a story of the martyrdom of seven brothers and their mother set in the Jewish revolt against Antiochus IV Ephiphanes. It is illustrative of a belief in a bodily resurrection in Judaism before the time of Jesus, and how that belief fueled courage and faithfulness in the face of death. Click on over to Resurrection and the Source of the Tyrant's Power.
11.25.2009
Moral Constipation
Cornel West is a very controversial figure with whom I think I disagree on quite a bit, but whom I find incredibly challenging AND entertaining, nevertheless. Over at BigThink.com, he did a short interview on "What to Die for." You get a good flavor for what kind of character he is. I especially liked this quote:
"So many folk dealing with spiritual malnutrition, brother. The emptiness of the soul, which is often times inseparable from a moral constipation. Where the good and right just get stuck, and you can't get it out. You need a little ethical diarrhea to get the flow going That is what we need right now."
Priceless!
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