Last night a young woman from our church came over to talk and hang out a bit. There were some things in my sermon on Sunday that had connected with her and her experience as a single woman, and it was great to hear her share her perspective on being single in our church. I… Continue reading A compliment
Category: Culture
Sexy missions
I received an email recently from a dear friend who shares our passion for loving justice and mercy among America’s urban poor. In her email concerning a new initiative that Doug and I may play a part in, she says this: “We, so far, have not succeeded that way because gang kids and other urban… Continue reading Sexy missions
Quotation of the Week
Many often say the reason for this issue [Women in Ministry] today is because some are trying to be “biblicalâ€. But that raises this question: Why pick this biblical issue and not some other? Like the poor (more are awaking on this one I’m happy to say) or the reality of miracles or tongue-speaking (clearly… Continue reading Quotation of the Week
Good enough
A few weeks ago, Doug and I had the privilege of attending an event hosted by Northwest Neighbors that celebrated ten years of their ministry in Northwest Pasadena. As an organization, they do significant work in the lives of youth in their community, ranging from tutoring and mentoring to leadership development and discipleship. They are… Continue reading Good enough
Ghetto no more
A few things have struck me recently about the changing identity of “urban” as it is used to describe America’s inner cities. As an “urban” minister, this word holds great weight and is filled with meaning for me in terms of the kinds of communities I feel called to: things like under-resourced, underprivileged, multi-ethnic, immigrant,… Continue reading Ghetto no more
Ghandi, Job and the ghetto
I have received a great deal of encouragement these past few days from a wide range of people through phone calls, emails and the like. This weekend I got a kind email from fellow blogger, Jamie Arpin-Ricci sharing his concern for me and my family and offering us some encouragement. I wrote him back and… Continue reading Ghandi, Job and the ghetto
Women, pizza delivery and the church
The Don Imus controversy has again brought issues of race and gender to the forefront of public discussion, and it is interesting to me how quickly we forget that we still live in the midst of deep prejudice and stereotype. Where I live, people wear their disdain pretty openly: gang killings along racial lines; a… Continue reading Women, pizza delivery and the church
Quotation of the Week
Whatever my child may face in public school, I can assure you that none of it is subtle. On the other hand, the pernicious nature of the subconscious message of the exclusive private Christian school is the the message of upper-middle-class suburban Evangelicalism: materialism. Fourth-graders putting condoms on bananas OR materialism. Which one damages the… Continue reading Quotation of the Week
“The kind people easily dismiss…”
For all of the jokes and smiles our little phone-line bullet has provided the past two days, I find myself occasionally glancing over at the little lump of metal and shuddering. I have fought back the visual memories of standing in my Chicago apartment bathroom helping one of the young men who had been one… Continue reading “The kind people easily dismiss…”
Holy Week
Our first year living here, there was a homicide on our street on Easter Sunday. I remember sitting on our little second story porch watching detectives work the crime scene, and the coroner arrive to remove the body. The victim was shot and killed while sitting in his car, and no one we spoke with… Continue reading Holy Week