BrotherRog

God: A Panentheistic View ... or ignorance what that world is and can respond to it, taking fully into account ... the panentheistic idea of God as being immanent and transcendent. ... http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/discontent/god.htm Biblical Panentheism: God in all things ... Jesus is fully and completely human, but fully divine, as well. Panentheism presents another one: God is completely transcendent, and yet, ... http://www.frimmin.com/faith/godinall.html MSN Encarta - God ... God may be conceived as transcendent (“above” the world), emphasizing his ... in panentheism God is understood as both transcendent and immanent. ... http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761567455/God.html

Indeed, according to Process thought, God is fully immanent in the world/universe AND fully transcendent from it. This notion is actually quite orthodox; e.g. that Jesus was fully human and fully Divine.

FYI, I'd like to offer the following resource to help people learn more about panentheism and Process theology: The Center for Process Studies - A Relational Worldview for the ... The Center for Process Studies was founded in 1973 to encourage exploration of the relevance of process thought, which is based on the philosophy of Alfred ... http://www.ctr4process.org

Yawn...

http://www.umc-gbcs.org/issues/issues.php?...r=y&auid=774937 Holy Week: Sustenance for the Journey: Seven Devotions for the Seven Days During this Passion Week as you recall the suffering of Christ, you will be reminded of your need to fortify yourself to respond to the challenges of faithful discipleship. We share not only in Christ’s persecution and suffering on the cross but also in the suffering he identifies with--that of the persecuted and the oppressed in our world. The Holy Spirit empowers us but we must cooperate and be intentional in how we respond to God’s call. Walking humbly – being guided by God - means that mercy and justice will follow: (click on link at top to see complete resources for the following days): Monday: Community Tuesday: Obedience Wednesday: Repentence and Reconciliation Thursday: Stay Awake and Pray Friday: Discipleship Saturday: Stewardship Easter Sunday: Sabbath Living the Fullness: What does the Lord require of you? Scripture: Micah 6:8b "... and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” Introduction: In the season of Lent, as we both do penance and look to the coming resurrection, we have an opportunity to reevaluate and discern God's prompting in our lives. John Wesley stressed both personal and social holiness. He not only focused on works of charity but also works of justice. Lent can be a time for us to examine and readjust how we live out our faith. How often do we live our lives as if Micah and Jesus said “or”? What would it mean to live fully into the “and”? The scripture challenges us to integrate personal spiritual disciplines, acts of charity and acts of justice. The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society is offering a weekly Lenten Devotional Calendar that gives ways to address all three aspects of Christian discipleship, balancing personal piety (walking humbly with God), and loving kindness (doing acts of charity) and doing acts of justice. We invite you join God in a quiet time each day to reflect on, strengthen and live into your faith. Prayer: Holy Creator, We thank you for your love and graciousness. We thank you foryour power and compassion. Open our hearts and minds so that we can know you better and see the world through your eyes. Help us to see Christ in all we meet, especially the invisible ones without power and whose voices are ignored. Forgive us for false acts of piety. Forgive us for feeling satisfied that our acts of mercy are sufficient. Forgive us when our passion for justice clouds the very Source of all that is just, loving and good. Through your Holy Spirit empower us to walk humbly with you, to love kindness and to do justice. In Christ's name we pray, Amen. Week One Ash Wednesday - The Federal Budget as a Moral Document (The United States Federal Budget was chosen as a topic of focus because of its implications for our global community.) Week Two Lifting the AIDS Crisis for prayer and action Week Three Create a Well, Not a Wall in Iraq Week Four Just Immigration Reform Week Five Addressing Genocide Week Six Caring for the Garden

Fred, Bravo! Indeed, consumerism is a major addiction that many Westerners find themselves bound by. A most approriate thing to ponder and seek to lessen during the Lenten season.

Specifically, he was removed as a scheduled speaker by a Kentucky Southern Baptist evangelism conference after a review of his book A Generous Orthodoxy and his statments on salvation.

DJC, I respectfully disagree. Rather, IMO, it is conservatives who use religion for political gain. They talk the talk but don't walk the walk. FYI, the following are why we "liberals" feel that the communal/social level needs to be given proper attention and energy: Foundational Premises & Beliefs of Christian Justice & Peace: Our personal identities are shaped communally. One becomes a mature person in only in community. Full personhood is attainable only in community. There is no me without we. I am because we are. We are individuals-in-community, humans are only fully human when in relationship to others. Whatever happens to the individual happens to the whole group. Our own welfare depends on how well the others are doing. Oral events – especially narrative/story, help form community. Bible study and preaching informs the communal identity of the hearers who hear as a group. We develop our sense of right and wrong in community. No community, no moral life; no moral life, no society worth living in! Yet, without communities, people’s self-formation suffers. Each person becomes less of a person. Christianity is a corporate/social/relational community that is based upon a specific story. There is no such thing as a solo/lone Christian. The Christian faith is not a private one. It’s about the Body of Christ – not a fingernail of Christ. “P&J Christians” are ones who seek to help the Church remember and reclaim the relational aspects of our faith. We seek to correct the Church’s tendency to be accommodated to Western culture’s tendency toward hyper-individualism. Who we are is based upon Who God is. The God of Christianity is not a rugged lone individual, rather, our God is a relational God Who is relational within Himself (Trinity). The God Christianity is infinitely loving and always faithful. God wants all of His children to share a meaningful life, in all its fullness, here and now. God is the One in Whom we all live and move and have our being. God has created each person as “fearfully and wonderfully made” in God’s image and we each have a Divine spirit within us. Each one of us is precious to God and our lives have dignity and are sacred. The Christian God, the Holy One of Israel, the God of Jesus of Nazareth is One Who demands an ethical-prophetic life response. God demands righteous conduct. Because God love us, we are obligated to love God back and to love the rest of God’s children. By loving and respecting our sisters and brothers, we exhibit our love for the God Who cares about each of us. We are able to love because God loves us and because each of us was created in love. While God loves all of God’s children, God has a particular love and concern for those who are struggling and suffering the most in this world – for the “least, the last and the lost.” We therefore are to have particular love and concern for those whose pain God feels most. Christians are called to make God’s love manifest in the real life situations of those who are hurting the most, those who are the weakest and most vulnerable among us. God’s good news of salvation is intended for all, but it is especially life-giving and liberating to the poor and the suffering huddled masses – those at the bottom and margins of society. So, this good news may feel as bad news to those who are at the top of the humanly-constructed social pecking order. The human life of Jesus is a window that points to God’s nature, character, and priorities. Jesus made it clear in His inaugural address in Luke 4:18-19 that He came to proclaim good news to a specific group of people – the poor and suffering. This implies that God has a special concern for these persons, and that therefore Jesus did too. At the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the fundamental dignity and sacredness of all persons; the total liberation, and empowerment of oppressed peoples; and the envisioning and living-into the Dominion/Kingdom of God – life on earth that is transformed into the harmony of heaven – a fellowship of justice, equality, compassion, justice, and love. Christianity is about making real life possible for all persons in order to establish a world household, where all persons can be united by the will and love of God. While, not all are called to be prophets (officially called spokespersons for God), all Christians are called to be prophetic in word and action – especially in the face of injustice. I am for the God of Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and of Jesus, or I am for idolatry. That’s all there is! There is no allowance for “fence-sitting.” We’re called to say Yes to all that God desires for humanity and No to all that God every act of injustice and other acts that demean and dehumanize persons. We are called to be faithful to God’s faithfulness here and now – not tomorrow or the next day, but now. There is a sense of urgency – “justice delayed is justice denied.” We need to bear witness to the condition of those who are dearest to God – the weak, the poor, and the disinherited. Our societies are judged based upon how we treat these persons. Christianity calls us to a way of life that energizes us to remake the world in ways that are more consistent with God’s ideal community of love. Martin Luther King referred to this as “the Beloved Community”. One cannot be truly Christian and be indifferent to injustice, to be knowingly complicit in it, or to be a perpetrator of it. We’re called to repent of all of that and to live life in a new Way – Jesus’ sacrificial Way of the Cross. God has initiated loving concern for all persons. Our ministry must always rest on the assurance of God’s divine faithfulness, which has no end. Only because of God’s unrelenting compassion for the suffering are we able to join together in our faith communities to work for an end to suffering, oppression, and despair. With out the faithfulness of God, our efforts could not succeed. Because of Gods’ faithfulness, we too can be faithful. God’s Kingdom will come! (an abbreviated summary of the first two chapters of Daring to Speak in God’s Name by Mary Allice Mulligan & Rufus Burrow, Jr.)

Don’t Let the Car Fool You, My Real Treasure is in Heaven": Bushianity Makes a Mockery of Christ by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst A few days ago I saw a brand new PT Cruiser with a bumper sticker that, at first glance, didn’t make sense: “Don’t Let the Car Fool You, My Real Treasure Is in Heaven". Several classy-looking Christian symbols adorned the vehicle, along with the ubiquitous “We Support Our Troops and President Bush" and “W" window seals. As I stared at this odd assortment, the meaning dawned on me. Unlike the old bumper sticker that read, "My Other Car is a Mercedes", this one wasn’t an exercise in self-deprecating humor: It was bragging to passersby about the driver’s money, which isn’t too shabby, since a new PT Cruiser starts at $14,000. Bob Sheer writes about this new culture of greed, cleverly disguised as "Christian": "So why gut the bankruptcy law now? Greed, pure and simple. And, pathetically, this bankers' dream is becoming a reality through the support of Republicans who have decided, as they often do with social issues, to selectively pick and choose when to follow the teachings of the Bible. "A key sponsor of the bill, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), actively opposes abortion and same-sex marriage on biblical grounds yet believes the Good Book's clear definition and condemnation of usury is irrelevant. The Old Testament, revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike, mandates debt forgiveness after seven years, as was pointed out earlier this month by an organization of Christian lawyers in a letter to Grassley. "I can't listen to Christian lawyers," said the senator, "because I would be imposing the Bible on a diverse population." The Bankruptcy Bill: A Tutorial in Greed, Commondreams, 3/15/05 Of course, imposing the Bible on a diverse population is what the Bushians do best -- but not the whole Bible, as Mr. Sheer notes. Not only are inconvenient verses in the Old Testament ignored by rightwing politicians, but most of Jesus’ teachings are, as well. For the Bush administration, Christ’s most deplorable teachings are those that advocate nonviolence, love of one’s enemy, social justice, the refusal to store up riches on earth, praying privately without wearing one’s piety on one’s sleeve, and choosing instead to share with the needy and vulnerable. I do wonder how the strategy meetings must have gone in the months and years prior to November 2000. The primary question on the minds, if not the lips, of Bush’s more cynical strategic advisors must have been: How in the world can we get America’s huge Christian population to sign on with a wealthy movement aiming to disconnect Jesus’ non-Republican teachings from Christianity, hollowing out the last vestiges of charity and justice that remain in America’s legal codes, moral values and social contract? Easy, some bright fellow may have said while sipping his cappuccino -- just look Christian, talk Christian, pray Christian, and nobody will ever know the difference. When promoting unChristlike policies, be careful to surround them with a lot of prayer and somber-faced talk about "values" and "godliness". Always end with "God bless America", throw in "One nation under God", and talk a lot about Jesus saving you from this or that sin. But never quote Jesus if you can help it -- too liberal. The Difference Between Bushianity and Christianity: "That Poor-People Stuff" Bushianity is really all about power and wealth -- the divine right of the haves to get more of each, in order to better supervise the have-nots. Bushianity is quietly (discretely, always discretely) hostile to Jesus’ teachings, but loudly praises his birth (before he could teach) and his death (after he could teach). Nothing between those two events in Jesus’ life is of interest to Bushians, who greatly prefer the fire-breathing biblical writers advocating ruthless wars, slavery, female submission, the masses’ unquestioning obedience of rulers, and the death penalty for homosexuals and rebellious children. The faith-based Bush administration, disinterested as usual in "that poor-people stuff", is working fast and furious on a number of fronts to put working and financially strapped Americans in their place. Its hallmark strategy for stealing from the poor to give to the rich is to overwhelm the public with multiple simultaneous changes, thus pre-empting time to think about, pray about, or oppose them. The ultimate goal is to replace traditional American "we’re all in this together" culture with the Bushian "You’re On Your Own-ership Society". In this nightmare world, the working people are thrashed with measure after measure aimed at taking what once was theirs. The rationale underlying this "society" (a huge cluster of individuals with no obligations to one another) is as follows: "If you want to be a good Christian you have to be a good Republican, and to be a good Republican you have to be a pure capitalist -- no "safety net" garbage, please. Don’t get involved in other peoples’ misery. Take care of Number One. You don’t owe them anything. Don’t share with others, except in little dribs and drabs called "faith-based" -- sharing is for girly-men, makes lazy people lazier, and sets a bad precedent that your Ownership neighbors will resent. Oh, and don’t look to us for help if misfortune strikes; you brought it on yourself. The Bushians have been incredibly successful in their efforts to strike Jesus’ teachings from the record and from the hearts of Bush supporters. They decry any attempt to remove four words, "one nation under God", out of the pledge, while working to purge Christ’s values from something that’s a matter of life and death for many vulnerable Americans: the national budget. Bob Sheer sheds light on the sorrow that lies ahead: "Sadly, when it comes to serving the prerogatives of banks, you can forget about those family values that folks such as Grassley prattle on about. The bill he wrote placed mothers and their children behind credit card companies in the line for a bankrupt ex-husband's paycheck, for example, which is positively Dickensian. Expected to sail through the House and onto the president's desk in the next few weeks, the bill turns the federal government into a guardian angel of an industry gone mad, placing no significant restriction on soaring interest rates and proliferating fees. "One extremely modest amendment that was rejected by the Senate would have blocked creditors from recovering debts from military personnel if the loans had annual rates higher than 36%. Also killed were sensible amendments designed to protect those ruined by a medical emergency, identity theft, dependent-caregiver expenses or loss of income due to being called to full-time military duty through the National Guard or the Reserve." Jesus Didn’t Plead The Bush budget is indeed immoral, and as Sheer points out, it’s unpatriotic too! Progressive Christians are terribly upset and worried about what lies ahead, and are trying to get this administration, falsely advertised as "Christian", to change course. I agree wholeheartedly with the objectives of the "Christian Left" -- but something is missing. We are tilting at windmills because we don’t really see what we’re up against. "U.S. church activists rallied on Capitol Hill on Monday to protest the proposed 2006 federal budget, which they contend provides too little funding for children and the poor. "It's quite troubling," said Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, speaking of the Bush administration's budget request. "There's not enough money for public education, health care and children." "…The Bush administration's $2.5 trillion budget request for fiscal 2006 gives a 5 percent increase to the Pentagon and a 7 percent increase to the Department of Homeland Security, while cutting 11.5 percent from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 4.5 percent from community development programs and $45 billion from the Medicaid health program for the poor. "It was the second time in less than a week than a coalition of church groups gathered in Washington to plead their case." Church Coalition Takes Aim at US Budget Plan, Reuters, 3/14/05 Yes, the Bush budget is troubling, and will harm American citizens, particularly the young, the old and the sick, from sea to shining sea. But I’m afraid that the good churches can plead for an eternity and see nothing more than a condescending nod from the White House. Sorry to be a pessimist, but the truth of the matter is that we can’t expect Bushians to listen to Christians. That’s because, in spite of their joint use of the label "Christian", these religions are quite different. You can’t fight what you don’t understand. Until we admit that Bushianity is the mirror opposite of Christianity, we’ll keep "pleading". Such entreaties may make us feel better but they’ll fall on deaf ears. Christians, if we hope to be actually help the poor, the weak and the suffering, must stop making the soothing but dangerously mistaken assumption that "we’re all Christians, after all", following the same teachings and worshipping the same God. We are not. It’s time we woke up and smelled the coffee, as Ann Landers used to say. When Jesus saw the corruption of the temple by "the money changers" -- actually a highly political use of religion with monetary rewards for the "haves" -- he didn’t plead. He didn’t expect the hypocritical religious and political leaders of his day to have ears to hear, and focused his energies instead on calling sincere religious people to turn away from their greedy leaders and back to God. It’s time we did the same. * * * Dr. Teresa Whitehurst is a clinical psychologist, author of Jesus on Parenting: 10 Essential Principles That Will Transform Your Family (2004) and coauthor of The Nonviolent Christian Parent (2004). She offers parenting workshops, holds discussion groups on Nonviolent Christianity, and writes the column, "Democracy, Faith and Values: Because You Shouldn’t Have to Choose Just One" as seen on her website. http://www.buzzflash.com/whitehurst/05/03/whi05001.html

BTW, I wonder how the members of the Jesus Seminar would rank the writings in "The Course on Miracles"... ; )

Jeep, thanks for sharing, but regardless of their origins, I work with the Scriptures as they are. There is much Divine Truth, wisdom, insight, inspiration, and instruction in those passages - even the ones that the Jesus Seminar has deemed as "black."

This said, I tend to prefer Centering Prayer (sort of like a Christian version of Zen meditation). Here's some links: Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. - Resources and Programs for ... Christian spirituality and centering prayer methods, meditation and theology. Contemplative Outreach. A non-profit organization that teaches and promotes ... http://www.centeringprayer.com Centering Prayer by Thomas Keating ... Centering Prayer is a method designed to facilitate the development of ... You may read more about Centering Prayer and lectio divina by visiting our ... http://www.thecentering.org/centering_method.html Centering Prayer (also referred to as the Prayer of the Heart) is the ... Centering Prayer is one of the contemplative prayer forms St. John of the ... http://www.kyrie.com/cp Centering Prayer Method An ecumenical contemplative prayer group in Dallas meets weekly to practice Lectio-Divina and Centering Prayer. http://www.cellofpeace.com/cp_method.htm Thomas Keating: Centering Prayer as Divine Therapy Thomas Keating has devoted a lifetime to understanding and teaching the practice of Centering Prayer. In this conversation, he explores the techniques and ... http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/ newsh/items/article/item_2947.html Centering Prayer : Renewing an Ancient ... Christian Prayer Form by BASIL PENNINGTON. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385181795 Centering Prayer is a form of Christian meditation that leads to ... + The Centering Prayer Method + Methods to Facilitate Contemplation Prayer + ... http://www.soli.inav.net/~catalyst/center.htm Notes from a Truth Seeker: Centering Prayer, Severely Messed With ... The centering prayer guru, as far as I can tell, is M. Basil Pennington. He has a simple, thin book with instruction on centering prayer and lectio ... http://www.thursdaypm.org/blog/rachelle/archives/000030.html Centering Prayer Guidelines ... 4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes. ... http://www.beliefnet.com/story/3/story_306_1.html ========================================== And here's a prayer that one simply cannot go wrong in praying! God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference. http://open-mind.org/Serenity.htm http://www.addictions.org/serenity.htm http://www.link4u.com/serenity.htm

Many people of faith believe that praying for various circumstances in the world makes a positive difference. This thread is aimed at exploring this notion. -------- Probing the power of prayer When Aretha Franklin crooned the words "I say a little prayer for you" in the hit 1960s song she probably didn't imagine that the soulful pledge would become the stuff of serious science. But increasingly, scientists are studying the power of prayer, and in particular its role in healing people who are sick. ... - Catherine Rauch story: http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/altern...ayer.power.wmd/ ========================== IMO, Christians are called to pray without ceasing and to not be afraid to ask for what we need. Some caveats: - We are not to treat God as some kind of Cosmic Bellhop or Waiter who lives merely to please us and our perceived needs. - We need to be prepared to have prayers be unanswered and/or answered in ways different than we may have predicted or preferred. Clearly, if all 6 billion + people on the planet were to have each of their prayers answered in the way that they each would want, this would lead to all sorts of chaos as many of these prayers would be mutually exclusive; e.g. that cancer-ridden Aunt Matilda die as quickly as possible - AND - that she live as long as possible. - It is best if the things that we are concerned about and pray about jibe with and and are in sync/tune with the things that God showed us that S/He is concerned about through the life of Jesus; i.e. for the needs of others, esp. those who are hurting and suffering the most among us. - We need to be open to allowing God to work through us to answer our own prayers. Moreover, IMO, the following order of things makes most sense: 1. Prayers of Thanksgiving (thanking God for blessings you notice in your life and/or around the world) 2. Prayers for the needs of others. 3. Prayers of confession (owning up to our failings) 4. Prayers for yourself. 5. Prayers for God's will to be done. My Answers to commonly asked Questions: 1. When is prayer most powerful? I think prayer is appropriate and potent at most any time. Yet, IMO, it is "most" powerful when you're praying for your perceived enemies - especially when they're about to attack you. 2. Is it better when more people pray at the same time? Well, perhaps. Most churches have "prayer chains" (via phone trees) to get as many people praying as possible over various situations. With the notion that God works with the world as it is, God would have more to work with- and the world would be that much different - if people are praying about a given situation than if they aren't. So, to the extent that this is true, a world in which a thousand people are praying for the successful brain surgery for someon's Aunt Ethel, would give God more "energy" to work with and the medical team is that much more empowered and bolstered in their work. I guess it may make some sense that prayer is more "effective" if: - as many people are praying about X as possible. - as many of them are aware of the details of the situation as possible, e.g. name of patient, names of doctors, exact type of proceedure being conducted, etc. - as many of them are praying during the time of the surgery as possible. - as many of the people who are praying have a real and sincere faith as possible. - if the person/s being prayed for are aware that they are being prayed for. More conservative Christians often claim that prayer is most effective if it is done "in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord." 3. How long should people fast? Well, the human body can typically only go 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. But most people who fast, do so for say 14-40 days, but they only fast during the daylight hours (sunrise to sunset), and most drink water throughout. I don't really think that fasting makes prayer more effective, but I do think it is a useful means to help people become more humble and aware of their dependence upon God and other people in the world. It can also help with breaking addictions (physical or psychological). ========================= I cannot explain how "intercessory prayer" works, but I do know that we're called to do it. An excellent, and highly readable, book on this subject is: In God's Presence: Theological Reflections on Prayer, by Margorie Hewitt Suchocki http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/082...4701391-5304163 Click on link to read description and reviews. ========================== And here's the text of a look at intercessory prayer via a classic (now out of print) short-story by John Cobb Jr. called "Praying for Jennifer." I highly recommend reading this: http://www.religion-online.org/showbook.asp?title=622

James, in my experience, there are many women who enjoy having sex for recreational enjoyment and/or relationship building. Such women would NOT agree that sex for such purposes that don't seek to produce a child is necessarily "devaluing of women." But agreed, there are way too many straight men who treat women merely as sex objects, and there are way too many people who are far too promiscuous (have sex too often with too many partners).

A Lenten devotional for week 6 from the United Methodist Church's General Board of Church & Society: http://www.umc-gbcs.org/news/viewnews.php?newsId=952 Lent Devotional--Week Six: Caring for the Garden New Testament Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11 United Methodist Social Principles: The Natural World All creation is the Lord’s and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy, resources, plants, animal life and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God’s creation and not solely because they are useful to human beings. Walking Humbly with God... Read Matthew 21:1-11 and prayerfully reflect on the following discussion and questions: Confronted with the massive crisis of the deterioration of God’s creation and faced with the question of the ultimate survival of life, we ask God’s forgiveness for our participation in this destruction of God’s creation. We have misused God’s good creation. We have confused God s call for us to be faithful stewards of creation with a license to use all of creation as we see it.--2004 United Methodist Book of Resolutions, p. 84 We have not inherited the earth from our ancestors. We are borrowing it from our children.--Native American Proverb Jesus entered Jerusalem humbly, riding a donkey. Jesus could have chosen to use his power to take control, yet he chose the way of radical love. In his mission to create a new order he allowed the Roman Empire to kill him rather than use his power to destroy others. Christ’s new order calls us to share power and sacrifice by honoring all that is around us: our neighbors and our environment. When you give thanks and praise for God’s earthly resources, are you honoring those gifts or using them excessively for self-satisfaction, personal gain or comfort? What does it mean to be a faithful steward of creation? How is that different from using destructive power over the earth? Name ways that you both honor the earth and misuse the earth’s resources on a daily basis. As you ask God’s forgiveness for the misuse, what changes will you need to make in order to follow Jesus’ example of a new order? If you do nothing, what will you tell your children and grandchildren? And Loving Mercy... (Shishmaref, Alaska, USA)-- Thousands of years ago, nomads chased caribou here across a now-lost land connection from Siberia, 100 miles away. Scientists believe those nomads became the first Americans. Now their descendants are about to become global warming refugees. The village is being swallowed by the sea…Recently, four homes tumbled into the sea while villagers huddled in the Lutheran church.(See Global Warming Forces Inuits to Abandon Swamped Homes) Steps To Take: Learn more about The United Methodist Church positions related to: our natural world, including clean air and climate justice: The Natural World Global Warming Fact Sheet: Climate Basics If you have a sister congregation in another country that has signed the Kyoto Protocol and/or is being impacted by global climate change (Click here to find out), stand in solidarity with them and write letters from your church asking for forgiveness for the U.S.’s unwillingness to accept our responsibility. Make a pledge for personal, congregational and community action to address the global climate crisis How much do you consume? Find out how many resources are required to support your standard of living: Ecological Footprint Exercise Conserve energy (individually and as a community of faith): Turn off lights. Use Compact fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFBs) that last up to 10 times as long as incandescent bulbs and will keep half a ton of CO2 out of the air. Read More. Evaluate your need for air conditioning. Investigate using “green energy” such as wind or solar power. -Go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Check the Interfaith Power and Light link. Consider using a fuel-efficient car or choose an alternative method of transportation – public transit, biking, or walking. Fewer miles behind the wheel equals less CO2 in the atmosphere. And doing Justice: Those who are most affected by pollution are least able to respond: The industrial nations are practicing a new kind of colonialism with the stratosphere and we have to put a stop to that.--Stefan Edman, The Cry of Creation The UM Book of Resolutions specifically calls on the U.S. to: move beyond its dependence on high carbon fossil fuels that produce emissions leading to climate change, ratify the Kyoto protocol under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (p. 82) ...And, The UM Book of Resolutions calls on all nations to: support measures calling for the reduction of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, which contribute to acid rain and global climate change (p. 86)... Steps To Take: Urge your Congressional representatives and the President to address the real threat of global warming now. Visit UM-Power to contact your elected leaders. Ask Congress to support S. 139, the bipartisan Climate Stewardship Act introduced by Senators Lieberman and McCain. Click here for a sample letter. Prepare for your church to participate in the Festival of God's Creation on April 24. Talk to your pastor and put it on the church calendar. These resources highlight a number of ways individuals and congregations can celebrate and protect this integral part of Gods creation.

FYI, an excellent book (short and readable too!) about Intercessory Prayer from a progressive perspective is: In God's Presence: Theological Reflections on Prayer, by Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki Click here, the read the description and reviews: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=books&n=507846

A.R, IMO, something that the evangelicals refer to as "Openness theology" is actually what I'd call "Process lite." The basic difference: For process theology, God cannot intervene in the world via breaking the laws of physics, etc; whereas for Openness theology, God will not intervene in those ways. They still wish to maintain God's ontological omnipotence, but speak to how God, wishes to allow His/Her Creation to have as much free will as possible - in order to allow for real, true, and genuine relationship with Him/Her. Openness theology fails to satisfy the problem of theodicy (for me), but frankly, many American Christians probably maintain such beliefs even if they don't know it. Examples of proponents of Openness theology include Gregory Boyd, Clark Pinnock, etc. Use your favorite search engine, say http://www.google.com, and look up Openness theology to learn more.

MGF, but does Borg really state that "we" are the ones who make this transformation happen? Or, does he maintain traditional Christian thought that it is God Who initiates and provides the impetus and means for such transformations via Grace?

I've recently read the following book and found myself in a "love-hate" relationship with its concepts. I lean toward the idea of having a personal relationship with a personal God, but that author's insights sure ring with the sound of truth. Apohpatic theology is central to Eastern Orthodoxy and has natural linkages to Christian mysticism of all sorts. The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spiritualityby Belden C. Lane "Talk about God cannot easily be separated from discussions of place..." (more) SIPs: apophatic prayer, fierce terrain, apophatic tradition, fierce landscapes, mountain spirituality http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=books&n=507846

1. To make it clear, those "Biblical posts" that people are referring to in this thread weren't written by me, but rather, they are cut and pastes from emails I receive from the General Board of Church & Society of the United Methodist Church. I've provided weblinks for each of these. 2. But in the spirit of brevity, here's another helpful reading re: Lent (Palm Sunday) Dr. Marcus J. Borg Two Processions Entered Jerusalem- Which Procession Are We In? http://www.calvaryjc.org/homiliesLent/20050307.html

Jeep, okay, to make it clear, re: your words from your previous post: I couldn't help but note that all the Biblical references you used have one thing in common: Their historicity is largely denied by the Westar Institute's "Jesus Seminar".-------- IMO, their "historicty" (real or otherwise) is not what gives weight, meaning, or authority to Biblical texts.

1. Jeep, Since this is a Christian bulletin board/discussion forum, I feel that it is very comfortable, relevant, and appropriate to mention and cite from the Bible. Indeed, one could discuss various social problems from a secular or humanist perspective, but why would one expect to do this on a Christian forum? This said, I take the Bible seriously, not literally. 2. Des, LOL, I can take a hint. Here's another Lenten related article, but I'll let the reader click on the link if they wish to explore it! ; ) Date: 2005-02-09 Fasting Also Needed in Politics, Says Jerusalem Patriarch Michel Sabbah Invites Authorities to Purify Their Intentions JERUSALEM, FEB. 9, 2005 (Zenit.org).- At the start of Lent, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem has invited "those who hold power" to fast, in order to "purify their intentions and their individual or national egoisms." .... http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.ph...phtml?sid=66129

What Jesus Wouldn't Do By Jim Wallis, AlterNet. Posted March 9, 2005. Excerpt: Much of the religious right's agenda is in direct contradiction to Christ's own teachings – and most devout Christians know it. Editor's Note: The following is an edited excerpt from Jim Wallis' new book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (Harper San Francisco). The politics of Jesus is a problem for the religious right. In Matthew’s 25th chapter, Jesus speaks of the hungry, the homeless, the stranger, prisoners, and the sick and promises he will challenge all his followers on the judgment day with these words, “As you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” James Forbes, the pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, concludes from that text that, “Nobody gets to heaven without a letter of reference from the poor!” How many of America’s most famous television preachers could produce the letter? The hardest saying of Jesus and perhaps the most controversial in our post–Sept. 11 world must be: “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.” Let’s be honest: How many churches in the United States have heard sermons preached from either of these Jesus texts in the years since America was viciously attacked on that world-changing September morning in 2001? Shouldn’t we at least have a debate about what the words of Jesus mean in the new world of terrorist threats and pre-emptive wars? Christ commands us to not only see the splinter in our adversary’s eye but also the beams in our own, which often obstruct our own vision. To name the face of evil in the brutality of terrorist attacks is good theology, but to say they are evil and we are good is bad theology that can lead to dangerous foreign policy. Christ instructs us to love our enemies, which does not mean a submission to their hostile agendas or domination, but does mean treating them as human beings also created in the image of God and respecting their human rights as adversaries and even as prisoners. The words of Jesus are either authoritative for Christians, or they are not. And they are not set aside by the very real threats of terrorism. The threat of terrorism does not overturn Christian ethics. The issue here is not partisan politics, and there are no easy political solutions. The governing party has increasingly struck a religious tone in an aggressive foreign policy that seems much more nationalist than Christian, while the opposition party has offered more confusion than clarity. In any election we choose between very imperfect choices. Yet it is always important to examine what is at stake prayerfully and theologically. This examination among evangelicals became clear in the 2004 Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility, an unprecedented call to social action from the National Association of Evangelicals. In contrast to the Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson era, evangelicals are now showing moral leadership in the fight against global poverty, HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, and sustainability of God’s earth. These changes represent both a reaction against overt partisanship and a desire to apply Christian ethics to a broader set of issues. Many people of faith have grown weary of the religious right’s attempts to narrow the moral litmus test to abortion and gay marriage. For example, when likely voters were asked in a 2004 poll whether they would rather hear a candidate’s position on poverty or on gay marriage, 75 percent chose poverty. Only 17 percent chose gay marriage. Any serious reading of the Bible points toward poverty as a religious issue, and candidates should always be asked by Christian voters how they will treat “the least of these.” Stewardship of God’s earth is clearly a question of Christian ethics. Truth telling is also a religious issue that should be applied to a candidate’s rationales for war, tax cuts, or any other policy, as is humility in avoiding the language of “righteous empire,” which too easily confuses the roles of God, church, and nation. War, of course, is also a deeply theological matter. The near unanimous opinion of religious leaders worldwide that the Iraq war failed to fit “just war” criteria is an issue for many Christians, especially as the warnings from religious leaders have proved prophetically and tragically accurate. The “plagues of war,” as the pope has referred to the continuing problems in Iraq, are in part a consequence of a “Christian president” simply not listening to the counsel of religious leaders who tried to speak to the White House. What has happened to the “consistent ethic of life,” suggested by Catholic social teaching, which speaks against abortion, capital punishment, poverty, war, and a range of human rights abuses too often selectively respected by pro-life advocates? The religious right’s grip on public debates about values has been driven in part by a media that continues to give airtime to the loudest religious voices, rather than the most representative, leaving millions of Christians and other people of faith without a say in the values debate. But this is starting to change as progressive and prophetic faith voices are speaking out with a confidence and moral urgency not seen for 25 years. Mobilized by human suffering in many places, groups motivated by religious social conscience (including many evangelicals not defined by the religious right) have hit a new stride in efforts to combat poverty, destructive wars, human rights violations, pandemics like HIV/AIDS, and genocide in places like Sudan. In politics, the best interest of the country is served when the prophetic voice of religion is heard—challenging both right and left from consistent moral ground. The evangelical Christians of the 19th century combined revivalism with social reform and helped lead movements for abolition and women’s suffrage—not to mention the faith-based movement that directly preceded the rise of the religious right, namely the American civil rights movement led by the black churches. The truth is that most of the important movements for social change in America have been fueled by religion—progressive religion. The stark moral challenges of our time have once again begun to awaken this prophetic tradition. As the religious Right loses influence, nothing could be better for the health of both church and society than a return of the moral center that anchors our nation in a common humanity. If you listen, these voices can be heard rising again. Jim Wallis is the editor of Sojourners magazine. http://www.alternet.org/story/21428/

Well, this is the "Debate" forum after all... ; ) Good to be blessed however. : )

Yikes!