Giving it all away in May

Storyville Coffee is donating all its revenue in the month of May up to $1,000,000 (yes, that is one million) to International Justice Mission. IJM rescues people victimized by modern-day slavery and restores the broken public justice structures that perpetuate this atrocity. Why would they do such a thing, especially in light of our strained economy? Here is the answer they provide on their site:

“At Storyville, coffee is about a ritual that gives us time to think, create, and dream. As we dream, we think of all those who can’t.”

So here’s what you can do:

1. Go to the Storyville website linked here. 
2. Buy a half-pound of coffee for $13.99 (includes shipping to your house).
3. Forward this post to a few of your friends so they can help.

Filed under: Justice, Life

Gospel: personal or social?

Last week I was made aware of this quote about the gospel. The content is great, but what I find most impressive about the quote is the year it was written- 1929. The “new” debate over the nature of gospel is not new at all. The church has been wrestling with this issue for decades if not centuries. Is the gospel about personal salvation only? Or is it about social justice only? Eighty years ago, someone accurately said it’s both…

“We must preach the whole gospel of personal salvation and social service, and whatever it means, have no fear of giving actual expression to love of the neighbor. It is imperative that social service should not be substituted for evangelical religion, as it sometimes has been, but be shown to be one of its integral characteristics … the gospel of salvation must be preached not only as a gospel of personal redemption, but also of social reconstruction, if we are to reach this age, and if, indeed, we are to preach the whole gospel of the New Testament.”

J. Ernest Rattenbury, 1929 

Filed under: Justice, Theology

Prophetic property damage?

My friend and fellow church planter Mark Brewer just put up a provocative post about God-inspired property damage. He cites as a biblical example Gideon (from the Old Testament), who demolished his parents’ Asherah pole and altar to Baal because their worship of false gods offended the one and only God. He poses the question: are there modern structures that so offend God they warrant property damage?   

Read the post here.

Filed under: Friends, Justice

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

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

The atrocity of modern-day slavery

Most of us think slavery is over. It’s not. In fact, today there are an estimated 27 million enslaved people- that’s the entire state of Texas plus another four million. The slavery of our day comes predominantly in the form of human trafficking and bonded labor. Both prey on the poorest and most vulnerable of our world. Deceptive brothel owners promise families money if they give their young daughter to them and, with the fear of starvation on their minds, they agree. These girls, some as young as six, are then sent on an international sex trade circuit. They end up in India, Malaysia, Cambodia, even the United States, to work as prostitutes. They were told their jobs would be in restaurants or hotels, but instead they are put out on the street for sex. And because their “owner” has “rescued” them from a life of poverty in their homeland, they are forced to pay him an insurmountable amount of money in return. What money they do earn in the sex trade he controls, so these young girls have literally no chance of ever repaying him. The same process is true of bonded labor, wherein poor families are promised jobs and financial freedom, and instead are forced to work 18 hours a day in brick kilns or factories to “repay” the person who owns them.

This blog’s theme is eikon, the Greek word for ‘image reflectors’ of God. We are called to reflect back to God the image of Him stamped on each of our souls. As I read about the injustices of our day, I can’t help but think… there’s nothing as contrary to God’s plan for humanity as this. The worst of humanity is revealed here.

And the heart of God is roused by this tragedy. His plan- to rouse our hearts. Proverbs 24:11-12 says:

“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing of this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” 

We know about this. Now let’s act. Here are some things you can do to be educated and then mobilized as a modern-day abolitionist fighting what is unquestionably the greatest atrocity of our generation.

>> Visit these websites: www.ijm.org / www.freetheslaves.net / www.notforsalecampaign.org

>> Consider giving financially. It takes money to prosecute the offenders and rehabilitate the victims.

>> Pick up a copy of this book: Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade by David Batstone. You will read about these terrible situations but also about people who are fighting against it today.

>> Tell as many people as you can. We will not be moved into action if we remain ignorant. 

If you want, post a comment to let me know you are moved by this tragedy. Or if you want more help in learning how you can get involved, just let me know.

Filed under: Justice