More Than Stone

From N. T. Wright’s book “Evil and the Justice of God”

We are not told-or not in any way that satisfies our puzzled questioning-how and why there is radical evil within God’s wonderful, beautiful and essentially good creation. One day I think we shall find out, but I believe we are incapable of understanding it at the moment, in the same way that a baby in the womb would lack the categories to think about the outside world. What we are promised, however, is that God will make a world in which all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well, a world in which forgiveness is on e of the foundation stones and reconciliation is the cement which holds everything together. And we are given this promise not as a matter of whistling in the dark, not as something to believe even though there is no evidence, but in and through Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection, and in and through the Spirit through whom the achievement of Jesus becomes a reality in our world and in our lives. When we understand forgiveness, flowing from the work of Jesus and the Spirit, as the strange, powerful thing it really is, we begin to realize that God’s forgiveness of us, and our forgiveness of others, is the knife that cuts the rope by which sin, anger, fear, recrimination and death are still attached to us. Evil will have nothing to say at the last, because the victory of the cross will be fully implemented.

We return to the point at which we began. In the new heavens and the new earth there will be nor more sea, no more chaos, no more monsters coming up from the abyss. And, as with all Christian eschatology, the best news of all is that we don’t have to wait for the future to start experiencing our deliverance from evil. We are invited, summoned, bidden to start living this way in the present. I suspect that the problems this poses for us—the immediate problems of forgiving ourselves and our neighbors, and the practical and political problems of working for a world in which people no longer wish to become terrorists, in which people no longer enslave one another with crippling debt, and in which those who live at great risk of the natural elements receive special protection form civil authorities—are the real problems. The philosophical problems often function simply as a smoke screen behind which we try to hide. And I suspect, therefore, that the more we learn the meaning of forgiveness in our own lives, the more we shall glimpse the deep theological truth that all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well, and the more we shall be enabled to anticipate that reality even in the midst of our suffering world.

Technorati Tags: suffering, Virginia+tech, social+justice, poverty, aids

In response to my post on Nestle, Glen posted a comment on my site, and on his blog. Glen’s wife is a medical researcher and she disagreed with saying Nestle is “an evil” company. She cited lack of clean water sources, lack of adequate nutrition and HIV as reasons mom’s can’t breastfeed. All of which are valid concerns.

However, this does not negate Nestle’s role in undermining breastfeeding in women who SHOULD be breastfeeding. I would like to cite some sources to back this up.

The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes

FAQ on the code

Monitoring compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in west Africa: multisite cross sectional survey in Togo and Burkina Faso from BMJ

Nestlé’s violation of international marketing code

The Truth About Nestle

From WHO:

Difficult circumstances refer to situations faced by particularly vulnerable groups such as:

* HIV-infected mothers and their infants
* People suffering the consequences of complex emergencies, including natural or human-induced disasters such as floods, drought, earthquakes, war, civil unrest and severe political and economic living conditions.
* Low birth-weight or premature infants
* Infants and young children who are malnourished
* Adolescent mothers and their infants
* Children living in special circumstances such as foster care, or with mothers who have physical or mental disabilities, or children whose mothers are in prison or are affected by drug or alcohol abuse.

WHO is working on technical guidelines and materials for infant and young child feeding for vulnerable groups, in particular as it relates to HIV and infant feeding, infant feeding in emergency situations, feeding of malnourished children and feeding low-birth weight and premature infants.

The contribution of breastfeeding to mother-to-child transmission of HIV is an area of considerable concern. Evidence shows that up to 20% of infant born to HIV-infected mothers may acquire HIV through breastfeeding, depending on duration and other risk factors. Recent studies indicate a heightened risk of transmission during the early months. However, evidence from one study shows that exclusive breastfeeding in the first three months of life may carry a lower risk of HIV transmission than mixed feeding does. WHO is supporting research to estimate risks of transmission associated with exclusive breastfeeding and early cessation, as well as to develop interventions to ensure safe replacement feeding. Pending new information, the UNICEF/UNAIDS/WHO guidelines issued in 1998 remain valid. For more information on available guidelines and tools, please refer to the page on HIV and Infant Feeding.

In WHO’s most recent guidelines (2003) on HIV and breastfeeding it states

Exclusive breastfeeding during the first 4-6 months of life carries greater benefits than mixed feeding with respect to morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases other than HIV.

Replacement feeding carries an increased risk of morbidity and mortality associated with malnutrition and associated with infectious disease other than HIV. This is especially high in the first 6 months of life and decreases thereafter. The risk and feasibility of replacement feeding are affected by the local environment and the individual woman’s situation.

HIV, lack of proper nutrition, and no access to clean water are CLEAR issues that must be addressed when we are looking at poverty. However, corporate greed, as has been evidenced by Nestle, must be stopped as well. Nestle continues to violate the code, not only in third world countries, but also in second and first world countries as well.

If you are still reading, here are more issues with Nestle….

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHDOG SUES NESTLE, ADM, CARGILL FOR USING FORCED CHILD LABOR

Most Wanted” Corporate Human Rights Violators of 2005 from Global Exchange

Corporations and Worker’s Rights

Just two decades ago, Sri Lanka was a country where fresh milk was freely available and very cheap. In 1981, under the policy of liberalisation and privatisation, the government took a decision to close the National Milk Board and signed an agreement with Nestle to develop the dairy industry. After 20 years, there is no fresh milk available in the market, and the entire milk foods sector is in the hands of just two or three large companies, such as Nestle, Anchor and Maliban, which market only milk powders imported from the West.

Nestle Taken to Court for Trafficking, Torture, and Beatings of Child Laborers on West African Cocoa Farms

UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR APPALLED WITH THE DECEPTIVE TACTICS OF MILK
COMPANIES IN THE PHILIPPINES

Oh, and Nestle just acquired Gerber

Technorati Tags: nestle, boycott, malnutrition, starvation, formula, gerber

When a slave owner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment; for the slave is the owner’s property. (Exodus 21:20-21)

If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. (Lev 20:13)

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ; not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. (Eph. 6:5-6)

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, (1Co 6:9)

Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior. (Titus 2:9-10)

For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, (Rom 1:26)

Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful to them on the ground that they are members of the church; rather they must serve them all the more, since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these duties. Whoever teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness, is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words. From these come envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. (1Tim. 6:1-5)

realizing that law is not intended for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, sexually immoral people, practicing homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers — in fact, for any who live contrary to sound teaching.
(1Ti 1:9-10)

The Freedom which Christianity gives, is a Freedom from the Bondage of Sin and Satan, and from the Dominion of Men’s Lusts and Passions and inordinate Desires; but as to their outward Condition, whatever that was before, whether bond or free, their being baptized, and becoming Christians, makes no manner of Change in it.

Day in and day out, America is getting bombarded with ‘pro-gay’ propaganda. It’s relentless. You can’t open a newspaper or magazine, listen to the radio, or turn on the television without someone, somewhere pounding the ‘glories of gayness’ into your brain.

There can be no doubt that such doctrines, from such a source, will produce the best of consequences in our mixed population, and tend to make our servants not only more contented with their lot, but more useful to their owners. The great piety and learning of Doctor FURMAN, his long established character with the religious of every denomination throughout our State, will at once command the respectful attention of every reader.

The male-female union, introduced in Genesis, is the only model of sexual behavior consistently praised in both Old and New Testaments. While other forms of behavior (polygamy and the use of concubines, for example) are introduced and even allowed in the Old Testament, a monogamous relation between husband and wife is the standard upheld as the ideal within scripture. While the old phrase, “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” seems flippant, it is a fair assessment of created intent: whereas heterosexuality is commended throughout the Bible, not once is a homosexual relationship mentioned in anything but negative terms.

Before we conclude slavery to be a thing hateful to God, and a great sin in his sight, it is proper that we should search the records he has given us, with care, to see in what light he has looked upon it, and find the warrant for concluding, that we shall honor him by efforts to abolish it; which efforts, in their consequences, may involve the indiscriminate slaughter of the innocent and the guilty, the master and the servant. We all believe him to be a Being who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.

There are cases on record where a marriage license was issued to persons of the same sex. I recall one such incident in Phoenix, Arizona. A marriage license was issued in the Maricopa County clerk’s office to two men 39 and 21 years old respectively. The two men are reported to have “married” in a private ceremony.

However, to call a union of two persons of the same sex a “marriage” is a misnomer. In the Bible, marriage is a divinely ordered institution designed to form a permanent union between one man and one woman for one purpose (among others) of procreating or propagating the human race. That was God’s order in the first of such unions (Genesis 1:27, 28; 2:24; Matthew 19:5). If, in His original creation of humans, God had created two persons of the same sex, there would not be a human race in existence today. The whole idea of two persons of the same sex marrying is absurd, unsound, ridiculously unreasonable, stupid. A clergyman might bless a homosexual marriage but God won’t.

In the New-Testament, the Gospel History, or representation of facts, presents us a view correspondent with that, which is furnished by other authentic ancient histories of the state of the world at the commencement of Christianity. The powerful Romans had succeeded, in empire, the polished Greeks; and under both empires, the countries they possessed and governed were full of slaves. Many of these with their masters, were converted to the Christian Faith, and received, together with them into the Christian Church, while it was yet under the ministry of the inspired Apostles. In things purely spiritual, they appear to have enjoyed equal privileges; but their relationship, as masters and slaves, was not dissolved. Their respective duties are strictly enjoined. The masters are not required to emancipate their slaves; but to give them the things that are just and equal, forbearing threatening; and to remember, they also have a master in Heaven. The “servants under the yoke” *[upo zugon Douloi: bond-servants, or slaves. Doulos, is the proper term for slaves; it is here in the plural and rendered more expressive by being connected with yoke—UNDER THE YOKE.] (bond-servants or slaves) mentioned by Paul to Timothy, as having “believing masters,” are not authorized by him to demand of them emancipation, or to employ violent means to obtain it; but are directed to “account their masters worthy of all honour,” and “not to despise them, because they were brethren” in religion; “but the rather to do them service, because they were faithful and beloved partakers of the Christian benefit.” Similar directions are given by him in other places, and by other Apostles. And it gives great weight to the argument, that in this place, Paul follows his directions concerning servants with a charge to Timothy, as an Evangelist, to teach and exhort men to observe this doctrine.

The Bible is very clear about its condemnation of homosexual conduct. Both the Old and New Testaments speak with one voice on this subject. In spite of the publicity given to pro-gay theologians in recent years, serious and consistent exegetical study still allows no other interpretation.

Those who take seriously the authority of God’s Word should be aware that perhaps no subject poses a greater threat to the place of Scripture in our world today. If the world (and too often, even the church) can be convinced that we can ignore what the Bible teaches about homosexuality, then every other teaching of Scripture can be rationalized. Rejecting its teachings means confidence in the Bible as the inspired Word of God will be seriously eroded.

…Jesus Christ recognized this institution as one that was lawful among men, and regulated its relative duties… I affirm then, first (and no man denies) that Jesus Christ has not abolished slavery by a prohibitory command; and second, I affirm, he has introduced no new moral principle which can work its destruction…

All modern philosophy converges to a single point — the overthrow of all government, the substitution of the untrammelled “Sovereignty of the Individual,” for the Sovereignty of Society, and the inauguration of anarchy. First domestic slavery, next religious institutions, then separate property, then political government, and, finally, family government and family relations, are to be swept away. This is the distinctly avowed programme of all able abolitionists and socialists; and towards this end the doctrines and the practices of the weakest and most timid among them tend.

If same-sex relationships acquire marital-type status in the law, several things will occur:

* Businesses that decline to recognize non-marital relationships will increasingly be punished through loss of contracts and even legal action. This is already occurring in San Francisco and in Canada.

* Other groups, such as bisexuals and polygamists, will demand the right to redefine marriage to suit their own proclivities. Once the standard of one-man, one-woman marriage is broken, there is no logical stopping point.

* As society rewards homosexual behavior, more young people will be encouraged to experiment and more will be discouraged from overcoming homosexual desires.

* Popular understanding of what marriage is and what it requires will undergo change. Homosexual relationships, which usually lack both permanence and fidelity, are unlikely to change to fit the traditional model of lifelong, faithful marriage. Instead, society’s expectations of marriage will change in response to the homosexual model, thus leading to a further weakening of the institution of marriage. Some homosexual activists have acknowledged that they intend to use marriage mainly as a way to radically shift society’s entire conception of sexual morality. See appendix.

Conclusion

“Marriage” for same-sex couples (or the counterfeit equivalent under pseudonyms such as “civil unions” or “domestic partnerships”) is being promoted as an extension of tolerance, equality, and civil rights. But they are really wedges designed to overturn traditional sexual morality and to win official affirmation, celebration, subsidization and solemnization of behavior that is harmful to the people who engage in it and to society, and that is still viewed as morally wrong by a majority of the American public.

For the well-being of children and of society, we must not allow the creation of government-imposed counterfeit “marriage” by any name. Marriage is civilization’s primary institution, and we tamper with it at our own peril.

As you may have noted, I have not added much commentary to this, other than a few bolds and italics. I’d love to hear your gut reactions to this post…

Of course, I was very behind in putting together my post. So late in fact, that I just pulled out a post from a few months ago that I thought fit perfectly with the subject of “Persecution, and
Suffering for Righteousness:”

Matt 10:22
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved

Mark 13:13
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Luke 6:22
Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Luke 21:17
All men will hate you because of me.

These 4 verses are thrown around in the US Christian culture a lot. It’s a “badge of courage”. The problem is that Jesus was not only talking to His disciples, many of whom were martyred, but also, across the ages to Christians in places like China, Sudan, and the Middle East. I do not think that Jesus was talking to us, here and now, to give us an excuse to be careless and unkind. If my basic understanding of the Scriptures is correct, those who were persecuting Jesus, and then the church, were the religious system and the empire of Rome. Persecution came as a result of challenging the Pharisees. Persecution came because Jesus challenged the empire that oppressed and abused those who were weak. I do not see evidence that persecution came because Jesus hated first.

“All men will hate you because of me.” How we love this statement. We love it because, if we can say it’s true, it somehow proves that we are genuine followers of Jesus. We love it because, if we can say it’s true, it puts us in good company. We love it because, if we can say it’s true, we will grow spiritually through the persecution. The problem is that most people that throw this statement around are taking it out of context and using it to be insufferably arrogant and cruel.

Think about the times you have heard one of the above Scriptures used. What was the context?

· People will hate you because they don’t like their sinfulness being exposed.
· People will hate you because they look pretty good until contrasted with true righteousness.
· People will hate you because you don’t laugh at their dirty jokes.
· People will hate you because you believe in 6-day creation.
· People will hate you because you picket at abortion clinics.
· People will hate you because you call homosexuality an abomination.

AMEN, Brother! REJOICE in the persecution!!! Now, perhaps the above examples are the far leaning “right” kinds of examples. However, I recall a conversation recently with a friend. This friend is not what I would call a fundamentalist. I was talking to him about Rob Bell, and how I love the fact that Rob focuses on the redemption of the world and Jesus’ love, the fact that Rob doesn’t use all the “churchy” language like “substitutionary atonement”. My friend replied, “It doesn’t matter how we talk, or if we change our approach to presenting the Gospel, because the world hates us.” It doesn’t matter. Really? It doesn’t matter…because all men will hate us. Then what are we doing? What’s the point? No wonder we all just sit around waiting to get to heaven. There’s no point doing anything in this world, because all men will hate us, anyway.

Isn’t this just a tired old excuse to be judgmental and hateful? Or an excuse to not have to examine the way we’ve been doing things in the Church? Or an excuse to stay locked within the church walls fraternizing with all the other Christians that the world hates? Could it be that when Jesus said the world will hate us, he meant that they will hate us because we are breaking the dominions, empires and structures of this world that oppress? That we are truly setting captives free, not just from their own sin, but also from the sins of others? That we are setting people free from religious institutions that keep people from the freedom that Jesus promised? Could that be what he meant?

Jesus challenged the power hierarchies. He challenged the hierarchies of kingdom, religious structures, wealth and social status. When Jesus said the world will hate you because of me, could it be that we would be hated because we;

· Love everyone, not just those we call our “brothers and sisters”.
· Invite the lame, poor, maimed and blind to our parties.
· Do not continue to amass wealth within an unjust system.
· Proclaim that in the Kingdom of God there are no slaves or masters, no men or women, no teachers or students.
· Challenge the systems that tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders.
· Have fellowship with outcasts, thus rejecting the views of those who demand separateness from an unclean world.

Could that be what Jesus meant?

Take some time to check out the other synchrobloggers

David Fisher - Be the Revolution
Fishing for Trouble - Phil Wyman’s Square No More
Mike Bursell - Mike’s Musings
Restoring Our View of Humanity - Eternal Echoes
Persecuting the Marginalized - JohnSmulo.com
The Ends Justify the Means - Calacirian
Billy Calderwood - Billy Calderwood
Seeking First Righteousness - Tim Abbott
Jamie Swann - More Than Stone
Persecution and Martyrdom - Handmaid Leah
“Don’t squash the counter-revolutionary/the plank in my own eye” - Jeremiah
The Martyrs of Epinga at Notes from the Underground
Terrorism in Christianity at The Rivera Blog
Persecution or Poor Elocution? “Hello,” said Jenelle

Ten propositions on political theology

1. The doctrine of the ascension is the basis of all political theology – and why there can be no such thing as apolitical theology. The church cannot be a cultus privatus because Jesus of Nazareth, “crucified under Pontius Pilate,” reigns and his edict is public truth. Remove Christ from the forum and it does not remain empty: nature abhors a vacuum; idols love one and soon fill it.

2. God is political. Cut the political bits out of the Bible – as Jim Wallis and some friends once did – and you’re left with “a Bible full of holes.” God is political – and God takes sides. In the Old Testament, Yahweh’s exodus and covenant “bias / preferential option for the poor” is now a well-worn phrase – but an undeniable fact. And the New Testament – Luke in particular – doesn’t drop the ball: the Magnificat and the Jubilee Manifesto suggest the game plan.

3. In my view it is legitimate to speak of an “epistemological privilege” of the excluded and oppressed. Bonhoeffer, writing in prison, was avant la lettre of liberation theology: “We have for once learnt to see the great events of world history from below, from the perspective of the outcast, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the oppressed, the reviled – in short, from the perspective of those who suffer.” Here is the “more rewarding principle for exploring the world in thought and action than personal good fortune.”

4. With a shrug of their shoulders, conservatives love to quote the text, “You always have the poor with you” (Mark 14:7), as if poverty were an order of creation (cf. “the rich man in his castle, / the poor man at his gate”), and there is nothing we can – or should – do about it. But Jesus was not being cynical, or even realistic, about the inevitability of an excluded underclass, rather he was reminding his disciples where they will be found if they are faithful – among the poor and oppressed.

5. The point is not that the poor and oppressed have a monopoly on virtue, let alone that they are an elect group, rather it is simply that they are the ones who get screwed – and God doesn’t like people getting screwed. So God sends his servant Moses, his spokesmen the prophets, and finally his Son Jesus, their Big Brother, to take care of the bullies, though he fights with his mouth not his fists. Not, of course, that God loves the oppressor any less than he loves the oppressed; indeed his rescue mission is to liberate them both, the latter from their humiliation and suffering, and the former from their pride and violence.

Read the other 5 propositions….

John Stackhouse has a great article entitled “William Wilberforce as an Evangelical Leftist?”.

Stackhouse says, with tongue in cheek-

Whatever happened to proper evangelical social concerns: abortion, promiscuity, euthanasia, homosexuality? You know: beginning of life, end of life, and sex in between?

HT JR Woodward

To quote Bono…

“His Truth is Marching on….And to those in the Church who still sit in judgment on the AIDS emergency, let me climb into the pulpit for just one moment. Because whatever thoughts we have about God, about who He is, or even if God exists, most will agree that God has a special place for the poor. The poor are where God lives. God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is where the opportunity is lost and lives are shattered. God is with the mother who has infected her child with a virus that will take both their lives. God is under the rubble, in the cries we hear during wartime. God, my friends, is with the poor.”

Technorati Tags: bono, AIDS, Africa, NAACP

Today I came across an internet site celebrating warrior women. It is dedicated to “TV heroines who could really kick ass.” Indeed, this is the theme of the action/adventure genre of film and television. Favorite heroes and heroines accomplish the absurd and performing ridiculously impossible stunts against all odds. Perhaps this taps into our love for fantasy and the desire to escape reality. My favorite productions have this very element of the impossible and improbable—Shawshank Redemption, Gladiator, Braveheart, 24, on and on. Folks such as Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, Arnold Swarzchenegger, Russel Crowe, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Garner (Alias), Lucy Lu, Angelina Jolie, Farrah Fawcett . . . and countless others have gotten wealthy winning against seemingly undefeatable evil.

I am indebted to the world of Greek mythology for its indirect influence on my conversion to Christianity. It was either in late elementary school or early junior high that I fell in love with the stories of Poseidon, Zeus, Hercules, Achilles, and Helen of Troy among others. Though ancient they resemble the current mythological gods and heroes of our own day with their exercise of their remarkable powers against incredible obstacles. Of course, let us not forget the winners in fantasyland that kids love; we celebrate with Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Mary Poppins, etc. Should we not throw in the marvel comic gang also? Gotta love me some Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman . . .

As G.K. Chesterton says, “we all like astonishing tales because they touch the nerve of the ancient instinct of astonishment.” I love to be astonished. Yet, to take it one step further, I want to be astonishing! I want to do the impossible and overcome the odds. As a Christian I have my shot.

Christianity is built on the absurd. A living God who “invades” earth in human form, does some wild miracles, teaches outlandish kingdom stuff, defeats demons, and overcomes death ranks up their with the greatest mythology and most popular superheroes. Though you may choose to disagree, it also happens to be true myth. The hero lives on and all who follow Him are called to join in the impossible.

Jesus commands all the world to become His disciples and to observe all that He has commanded. He isn’t concerned about people knowing and quoting His ways and instructions. He doesn’t need or want parrots. He commands observance; my “doing” is His primary concern.

As His disciple I am commanded to do my part to make this happen in all nations. We call this the Great Commission. How crazy is that? I mean, even Jesus Himself said that it was darn near impossible for people to get into the kingdom of heaven. Narrow is the way; many are called, few are chosen; it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Dang! But then we read the magic that we all have loved since we were children: “All things are possible with God.”
Because of belief in the impossible Christians like myself have hope of making a difference in this good world through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In the face of overwhelming injustice we fight for making things right for people. In the midst of a decaying creation we seek to bring about the redemption of what is rotting. Among walking dead people we seek to give true birth. To those who are discouraged, disgruntled, and disappointed we seek to give living and enduring hope—all the while struggling to experience the same for ourselves.

It takes a hero to win against such odds. And though part of me wants to be that hero (like Larry Boy in Veggie Tales) the only true Victor in all that is accomplished in the name of Christianity is Jesus Himself. Without Him I do nothing. In my own strength I fail. When I seek to become one of the mythological or fantasy heroes that I have adored I depart from Christianity. Nevertheless, I am fulfilled when God decides to act out miracles and bring freedom and joy to creatures through me. It is what I was made for so that in all things he might receive the glory. That is why I have given my life to a life of mission for His name. As Isaiah 26:8 says concerning the relation between our walk and our God, “Your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.” Nothing beats living in the world of a mythology, which is true. I beg you to join me. Let’s run together until all things are made new.