Monday, June 25, 2007

UCC General Synod Speakers

Here are two GREAT presentations from the United Church of Christ's 50th celebration and 26th General Synod (all church, national gathering.) Both speakers are UCC members and I'm sure you will recognize their names. Great testimonies, relations of faith to civic life, and the prophetic power of faithful people.

Moyers is especially good at describing the threat of INACTION by people of progressive and inclusive faith...

Bill Moyers

Barak Obamma
-- Text of Senator Obama's speech --

Monday, June 18, 2007

Too poor to pay attention...

I received Bono's book On the Move for my b-day a few weeks back (thanks Ellen!) and in addition to the interesting graphics and images it contains most of the text of Bono's speech at the February 2, 2006 National Prayer Breakfast.

I highly recommend giving it a read or a listen... Bono speaks as a person of faith to those who are gathered together, calling themselves faithful.

His main point is that poverty, whether around the world or around the corner, is a destabilizing force. It pulls families apart, causes a very visible divide in the "fabric" of society, and is ultimately a prevailing cause of political and religious extremism in our world. The affects of AIDS and other diseases only accentuate the chasm between those who have, and those who don't.

Bono ends by challenging the leaders of America and the Western world to increase their foreign aid budgets by 1% in an effort to address poverty, hunger, agricultural development and disease control (hence the ONE Campaign.) He also challenges our notions of justice and equality - asking how greatly they are influenced by race and economic opportunity...

The "rock star" comments are a little tiresome but overall there have been few better speeches/sermons on the issue of AIDS, poverty, and western ambivalence.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Mission Minded Moneyed

We talked a bit about Acts 8 and the disciples being thrown out of their comfort zones this last weekend. We were challenged to find the "borders" we need to cross for the cause of the gospel. Here is some great satire as a funny follow-up.

Please remember - it is satire...

Compare with the Vrettos/Barton mission team.