lifeasmission
exploring the mystery of life and mission as one and the same
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Archive of "justice" Category
Tending to Eden: An Interview with Author, Scott Sabin
About a month ago I offered a book review of Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God’s People by Scott Sabin. Scott is the Executive director of Plant with Purpose.
Plant With Purpose is an international environmental organization that transforms lives in rural areas where poverty is caused by deforestation. For over 25 years, Plant With Purpose has provided lasting solutions to heal the relationship between people and their environment by planting trees, revitalizing farms, and offering loans to create economic opportunity.
Yesterday, I had the chance to actually interview Scott and ask him a few questions about the book. Besides providing an overview of Plant with Purpose and the book, Tending to Eden, we spend some talking about the devastation in Haiti, one of the places where they serve, the vicious cycle of poverty and environmental degradation, and the relationship between creation care and the gospel. The whole interview (~ 22 mins.) is worth the selection of the book that Scott reads toward the end.
If you’re reading this in a feed reader and don’t see the audio player, click through to see it.
Use THIS LINK to see others who wil be participating in the blog tour today, to find out more about Plant with Purpose, and to purchase the book. If you buy the book through the Amazon link on this page, a portion of the proceeds will directly benefit the rural poor.
2 Big Days
Yesterday – Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Today – the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States, are two big days.
Especially as a citizen of Memphis, where Dr. King was assassinated, the importance of all he stood for comes powerfully home. Memphis is in many ways a broken and hurting city. Racial division (if not tension) remains thick. Systems and structures which perpetuate generational poverty and crime continue to plague us. And the dominant expression of church here in the mid-south seems unable or unwilling to powerfully engage this sort of brokenness. Memphis is a city desperate for the good news of God’s Kingdom breaking forth into the world.
I caught a glimmer of this hope the other day as I was remembering King’s famous, “Paul’s Letter to American Christians” and came across this quote (from that sermon) on one of the walls of the downtown YMCA where I workout…
Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.
I am happy to stand with those who are excited about the progress we have made as a country, evidenced in our election of a black President. I am even happy to stand with those inspired by the hope that this new President and administration aim to offer to a nation that has lost its way in war, economic crisis, and poor international reputation. Yet I long for more.
Yesterday we celebrated a man and his legacy of striving for racial reconciliation, care for the poor, and justice for all. Today we celebrate the dawn of a new era for our country, an era (perhaps) to be marked by change for the better.
But I long for the day that only God can bring about, a day when all our human striving and labor will be tested as with fire. The chaff of our striving will be burned away and the precious stones of our striving will be even further refined. On 2 days when it is so easy for me to get caught up in the acclaim of two good men, one who had a dream and another who represents, in part, the evidence of that dream coming to pass, I pause to remember the supremacy of the one man, who, at the height of his glory, was abandoned by all as he hung on a cross and proclaimed, “It is finished.”
Standing for Those Who Choose Nonviolence
I am certainly no expert on Israeli-Palestinian relations or the fighting that has been going on between them for so long. I do know that it has gotten worse recently and I am sure that the future holds only more of the same. I also know that, as with all conflict, people tend to support one side over another based on whatever criteria they deem to be most important. Whatever the case, it is an easy decision for me to support these folks, the Shiministim, Israeli’s (teenage) conscientious objectors who are being imprisoned for their refusal to serve in the military. Check it out in more detail here and see if you feel compelled, as I was, to sign and send the letter to have them released.
Change Your Life – Change the Lives of Others
My church community has been participating in Advent Conspiracy. The response has been great and I am really proud to be part of a community that has been so willing to embrace a new take on the Christmas season by shifting our focus in some key areas, especially keeping in mind the poor and oppressed here in Memphis and around the world.
While the Christmas-specific dimension of Advent Conspiracy has been a beautiful thing, it’s my sincere hope that our community (and the numerous others that participated) will carry the spirit of the movement forward, that we’ll maintain our enthusiasm to change the way we live our lives all year round so that we are always seeking to change the lives of others. In general, one of the best ways we can help others around the world (not to mention ourselves) is to simply consume less. We think we need way more than we do and we have become accustomed to a lifestyle of excess. We need to live simpler lives. But, over and above this, when it comes to making purchases that are just a part of life, we would do well to consider how we can make these purchases in responsible ways.
I have mentioned Better World Books before, but I just came across this video which speaks of their new partnership with Invisible Children and was reminded of just how great an organization they are. Please, if you need to buy books, forget Amazon and look to Better World Books. You might even think about taking up some donations of books!
Advent Conspiracy
I am really proud to be part of a church that is participating in Advent Conspiracy this holiday season. We have been talking and praying as a community about rethinking gift giving, generosity, and remembering the poor. Here’s a short promo video for the movement.
And here’s something a few folks from Living Hope put together for our community.
Especially in light of tragedies like this, I think scaling back our spending and consumption and asking God to help us remember the poor and oppressed is perhaps the best possible way us to celebrate the advent of the Savior of the world.Makes My Soul Smile
I may not have voted, but that doesn’t detract in the least from my enthusiasm over this.
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