Upcoming film on modern slavery

Yesterday I learned of a documentary set be released this fall that will expose the horrors of modern-day slavery. The creator of the film, Justin Dillon, a musician, was touring in Russia and witnessed first-hand the reality of human trafficking. He met young girls whose dreams of coming west were being preyed on by sex traffickers. He came back to the US and started recruiting other musicians to raise their voices on behalf of this tragedy. It worked. Backing him are Imogen Heap, Moby, Five for Fighting, Switchfoot, Natasha Bedingfield, Matisyahu, and others. Also contributing to the film are Gary Haugen, president of International Justice Mission, Dr. Kevin Bales, author of Disposable People, and David Batstone, author of Nor For Sale.

The film is titled Call + Response. Check out the website and watch a trailer here.

Filed under: Justice

Imitating Jesus

This morning I was reflecting on Thomas a’ Kempis’ thoughts on the importance of imitating the life of Jesus: “He who follows me, walks not in darkness, ” (Jn 8:12) says the Lord. By these words of Christ we are advised to imitate his life and habits, if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart. Let our chief effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ.”

I love studying the life of Jesus. It was the story of his life that first turned my lost heart to God. As a freshman in college, I would read and reread the four gospel accounts and take notes on the way Jesus spoke and interacted with a variety of people. I loved how he ripped into the religious people of his day, yet demonstrated great patience and forgiveness to the downtrodden and outcast. I gave my life to God because I wanted to live like Jesus (though at the time I had no idea how terribly difficult this is).

The students here in Kent arrived about a week ago and our new church has big dreams of reaching young people. More than ever before, I feel the weight of this truth that we are called to imitate Christ. We have no building, no advertising campaign, no critical mass of people, no flashy worship service. What we have is the Spirit of God alive in our hearts- moving us to engage with people as Jesus did. Moving us to reach out and give to those in need. Moving us to proclaim the arrival of God’s Kingdom through Jesus. Moving us to be a people set apart by God.

Filed under: Church, Life

A college student all over again

I feel like a college student all over again. For the past few days, our team of church planters from BG have been on campus helping freshmen move into their dorm rooms, attending events, hosting parties and playing sports in the grassy areas on campus. Our hope is that as we meet young men and women, God would lead us into friendship and that we might invite them into our faith community to experience God.

Pray for us as we meet the new students- that God would begin his work of building the church through us, his broken followers.

Filed under: Life

Remembering Amsterdam

Amsterdam is on my mind today. Two years ago I had the opportunity to travel there to visit some friends who planted a church in the city a few years ago. It was an amazing experience. Endless coffee shops and cafes, canals running through the city, a million people riding bicycles, friends hanging out in huge green areas and parks, street performers and artists, markets with fresh meats and produce, world-class museums and art galleries. 

But what I will remember most from the trip are the people. Those who left all they had ever known to follow a dream of seeing God’s Kingdom come to the city. Amsterdam is one of the most unchurched, post-Christian cities in the world. Some would say God is dead in the city.

And that is what makes the story of the people who moved there so powerful. They stepped in to a place the church had given up on and forgotten. A place that many believed would never turn back to God. And in his great mercy, God has blessed that group of people. The church has now multiplied to two neighborhood churches. And many lives have been transformed by the message of Jesus. 

I don’t always understand why Jesus left the earth and asked his fallen, imperfect followers to continue his work. And I don’t always understand how exactly he works through us today. But through the lives of my friends in Amsterdam, I know he is alive and at work in our fractured world.

Filed under: Friends, Mission

Luther Lee…ever heard of him?

For my History of Christianity course, I just finished reading a biography of Luther Lee written by my Ashland professor, Dr. Paul Kaufman. Lee is arguably the most influential person you’ve never heard of in the fight against slavery in America. Names like Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Beecher Stowe and William Lloyd Garrison you likely are familiar with. Before this biography, no one had ever told the story of Luther Lee.

After a conversion to Christianity in his teens, Lee sensed a divine calling to ministry. Having barely passed his deacon’s examination, he began his career as a circuit rider with the Methodist Episcopal church. Riding horseback from city to city throughout northern New York, Lee preached the gospel in open-air, public venues. It was during this time he heard the story of Elijah Lovejoy, a Presbyterian minister who was killed for his abolitionist views. Lee was so angered by this story that he set out on what would become a relentless 50-year struggle to rid the Methodist church of its tolerance of slavery.

With no formal education and with barely enough money to feed his family, Lee rose to the ranks of the fiercest, most well-trained abolitionists in American History. In a public speech (in a highly pro-slavery area) Lee called a law that supported slave-catching (requiring anyone to report to police if they found an escaped slave): “a war upon God, upon his law, and upon the rights of humanity; that to obey it, or to aid in its enforcement, is treason against God and humanity…I never had obeyed it- I never would obey it.” He then proceeded to tell the audience, which included police officers, his home address, knowing that if he were to be thrown in jail he had “friends enough to level it to the ground before the next morning.” 

He embarrassed pro-slavery preachers in public debates that filled schoolhouses and churches to overflow. He battled for women’s right to serve in ministry. He advocated fair labor conditions for women forced to work 15-hour days as seamstresses. He stood toe-to-toe with Harvard-educated Universalists to defend the Trinity, the authority of the Bible, and the exclusivity of Jesus for salvation…and he made them look silly! He was an outspoken advocate for temperance at a time when America’s consumption of alcohol was the highest per-capita it has ever been (yes, higher than today). He actively assisted runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad, begging train operators to let them ride to Canada where they would be free. 

If you want to know about about this obscure yet remarkable man, here is the link to the book.

Filed under: Justice, Theology

A Franciscan blessing

“May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart. May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people. May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.”

Filed under: Justice

Jeremy Taylor (1613-67) on God’s grace

“That we should intend and design God’s glory in every action we do, whether it be natural or chosen, is expressed by Saint Paul, “Whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:21). Which rule when we observe, every action of nature becomes religious, and every meal is an act of worship, and shall have its reward in its proportion, as well as an act of prayer. Blessed be that goodness and grace of God, which, out of infinite desire to glorify and save mankind, would make the very works of nature capable of becoming acts of virtue, that all our lifetime we may do Him service.

This grace is so excellent, that is sanctifies the most common action of our life; and yet so necessary, that, without it, the very best actions of our devotion are imperfect and vicious. For he that prays out of (mere) custom, or gives alms for (his own) praise, or fasts to be accounted religious, is but a pharisee in his devotion, and a beggar in his alms, and a hypocrite in his fast…”

-Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667)

Filed under: Theology