Voice Box

sign up today for Project Green Light

Nearly 100 people, 10 churches, and many other networks, neighborhoods, organizations, and businesses will be at Heritage Christian Church on Saturday, January 30th, from 9:30 to 11 to participate in the launch of a new initiative in Columbus, Project Green Light. Will you?

Combat underground red light districts in Columbus. Be Green Light.

Find out more here.

good news for outcasts (sermon from Epiphany 3, Luke 4:14-21, Isaiah 61:1-4, 10-11, Leviticus 25:2-5, 8-10)

You can listen to my sermon from Sunday here.

Good News for Outcasts

the new moderate evangelicals

I just read an interesting story: Evangelical activists call for Haiti debt relief, stake new claim to the 'e-word'. 

So, are you one of those e-words?  If so, what does the e-word mean to you?  In addition to these questions, Grossman also asks, if you do consider yourself an evangelical, could your umbrella also shelter people with different political or social views, even if you agree on Jesus?  What do evangelicals have to agree on to be considered evangelicals?

friday listening party: The Abolitionist Hymnal

I love this idea and I'm anxious to hear the music.  Carl Gladstone has launched an effort called The Abolitionist Hymnal to raise resources and awareness for the 27 million people caught in slavery even today through putting songs in the mouths of anti-slavery activists and communities.

is Pat Robertson an anti-evangelist?

(Recently I called Joel Osteen a Gnostic, today: Pat Robertson is an anti-evangelist.)

This is NOT a time for pure speculation, from our safe news studios, white American mansions, and Friday morning coffee shops.  This is a time for ACTION and PRAYER (as Tito Colliander, a theologian, artist, and mystic, reminds us - 'prayer is action').

There is a moment of speculation circulating the media outlets.  It is when Pat Robertson, of CBN and The 700 Club, said that Haiti's earthquake is God's punishment for a pact with the devil 200 years ago to free them from French rule.  What do you think?  Is this true?  Is Pat Robertson an evangelist?  He may be other things, but he's not an evangelist.  My working definition of an evangelist is someone addicted to telling good news, telling the good news.  Maybe Robertson is an anti-evangelist?  Here are some other thoughts on the subject...

Don Miller gives a mature and comprehensive response here.

Jarrod McKenna calls him 'the greatest evangelist of atheism' here.

Jim Wallis talks about a God who is with people in their suffering here.

What do you think?

Now stop thinking, and ACT and PRAY.  You can go here to give to C.O.C.I.N.A., an organization closely aligned with and supported by my church.  They were not affected, but are gathering resources and sending relief teams to Port-au-Prince as we speak.  All funds received through April 2010 will go in their entirety to the earthquake relief efforts.

a baptized life (sermon from Epiphany 1, Luke 3:15-18, 21-22)

You can listen to my sermon from Sunday here:

A Baptized Life

today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. stop red light districts. be GREEN LIGHT.

Did you know there are currently 27 million people living in slavery?

Did you know that every year, 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders?

Did you know that 80% of them are female and at least 50% of them are children?

Did you know that in the US, up to 18,000 youths are exploited for sex every year?

Did you know that 300,000 more are at risk?

Did you know that in the US, the average age of entry into prostitution is between 12 and 14?

Did you know that in Columbus, Ohio, there are 21 cases per month of local youth victimized as sex slaves or forced prostitutes, with many more living in secret and isolation?

Forced prostitution, human trafficking, and modern day slavery is a problem that affects every nation, city, suburb, and neighborhood.  You can not isolate yourself from it, because if you do, it will find you.  Criminals are buying and selling people for labor, conflict, and sex.  My faith tells me that God made humans in God's image, the theological term is Imago Dei.  Because of this, then, I want to combat these underground red light districts.  I want to be GREEN LIGHT. 

This month, Doma International is launching Project Green Light in Columbus, Ohio.  Find out how you can start or join a Green Light Community.  We will be meeting on Saturday, January 30th, from 9:30-11am at Heritage Christian Church in Westerville, Ohio.  Childcare is provided.  Please email julie@domaconnection.org to RSVP and to receive an invitation letter to send to your church members and leaders, friends and associates.

give to meet an urgent medical need

On Wednesday, I blogged about Doma's trip to Ethiopia in the Fall, and their upcoming trip to Ethiopia in April: carry hope and help to Ethiopia with Doma this Fall.

In October and November, when we had a team there, we saw a we saw a woman that desperately needs further help.  After giving birth to 3 children, she has a prolapsed uterus – I will leave the details of this out but if you google it and find pictures, beware, not for weak stomachs.  Surgery is the only way she can have this corrected – surgery in Addis, which is a 3 hour walk and an 11 hour drive away.  She told us that she has no way of paying for the surgery or of getting to Addis.  Doma has decided to help her.  We need to raise $1,000 for her surgery, hospital stay, and travel to Addis.  Will you help? You can make a donation right on doma’s website or mail a check in (made payable to doma, P.O. Box 21987, Columbus, OH 43221). 

Since Wednesday, we've raised $600, only $400 to go.  Can you help us change this woman's life?

friday listening party: How He Loves by John Mark McMillan and David Crowder Band

What happens when heaven and earth meet?  What happens when we sing about it?  What happens when raw, desperate, and indie song-writing meets the Christian mass market?

John Mark McMillan wrote a moving song called 'How He Loves.'  It shows up on his 2005 album, The Songs Inside the Sound of Breaking Down.  It was picked up by David Crowder Band and rerecorded (and rewritten) for their 2009 album, Church Music.  I like both versions for different reasons.  But a lyric change has some people talking - and gives us the opportunity for a little discussion.

In the original version, verse 2 says this...

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way… he loves us...

But here's what Crowder did with verse 2...

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way… he loves us...

Read what McMillan has to say about that change here.  So, what do you think?  How do heaven and earth meet?  Do they meet at all?  If so, is it like a kiss or like something else?  If it's like a kiss, is it a sloppy wet one or an unforeseen one?  Does it matter?  Discuss...

what's important to Colt McCoy?

Colt McCoy only got to play in 5 plays of his team's effort to win the BCS championship.  He was hit - legally but lethally - and pinched a nerve.  So he stood on the sidelines and watched Alabama take the prize.  In the post-game interview, McCoy speaks clearly with conviction, humility, and a confidence in the God of the universe.  Sure, he loves the game, has a passion for it even - but it's not where he finds the true meaning of his life - instead he 'stands on the rock' and 'gives God the glory.'  I'm a Big Ten fan, and I'm still grieving Ohio State's recent loss to Texas, but in honor of McCoy's character, HOOK 'EM HORNS!