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August 30, 2007
International Day of the Disappeared- Today!
(a photo i took of friends at the ICRC monument in Geneva)
via wiki:
'The International Day of the Disappeared on August 30 is an annual commemoration day created to draw attention to the fate of individuals imprisoned at places and under poor conditions unknown to their relatives and/or legal representatives. The impulse for the day came from the Latinoamerican Federation of Associations for Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared (Federación Latinoamericana de Asociaciones de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos, or FEDEFAM), a non-governmental organization founded in 1981 in Costa Rica as an association of local and regional groups actively working against secret imprisonment and forced disappearances in a number of Latin-American countries.
Work on secret imprisonment is an important part of the activities for a number of international bodies and organizations in the fields of human rights activism and humanitarian aid, including for example Amnesty International (AI), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The International Day of the Disappeared is an opportunity to highlight these institutions' work, increase public awareness, and to call for donations and volunteers.
Of those agencies, the ICRC has additional privileges due to its special status as a non-governmental sovereign entity and its strict policy of neutrality. In some cases, the ICRC is the only institution granted access to specific groups of prisoners, thereby enabling a minimum level of contact and inspection of their treatment. For affected families, messages transmitted by the ICRC are often the first and only hint about the fate of these prisoners.
Imprisonment under secret or uncertain circumstances is a grave violation of some conceptions of human rights as well as, in the case of an armed conflict, of International Humanitarian Law. The General Assemby of the United Nations adopted a Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance as resolution 47/133 on December 18, 1992. It is estimated that secret imprisonment is practiced in about 30 countries. The OHCHR Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has registered about 46,000 cases of people who disappeared under unknown circumstances.'
Another article is here.
may peace be with them all...no matter where they find themselves...may God be there...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)
Which theologian are you?
So, after seeing this on Nicholas' blog and Andrew's, I thought I would give it a test and see what came of it.
I am...Jurgen Moltmann. I think this is good;) I'm apparently also, Paul Tillich. So Nicholas, I'm with you;) The difference between the two hinged on one question about whether God was the foundation of being, though not existing, or whether God's suffering made God more God. Effectively.
just for fun...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 08:03 AM | Comments (1)
August 29, 2007
Greg Boyd, Restoration, and the Kingdom of God
image ht.
So I have been doing some thinking lately about some of the things Greg Boyd said. I have also been teaching the last couple of weeks on reformation and Geneva. Reflecting on reformation today makes you ask all kinds of questions about the Kingdom of God. Here are some of my reflections.
a. Boyd's interview with CNN seemed to communicate to me something of a removal of Christianity from within politics in America (and possibly abroad). And, while i know Greg didn't think Jesus told people how to vote, Greg would also have to acknowledge that Jesus most certainly had a political message for the people of his day on how to live their lives in the kingdom of God and of Caesar.
b. The reformers in Geneva were very much about placing reformation at the heart of the city. And i think, living in a day and age of pre-rapture thinking in society, the reformers were very centered on getting the good news of the kingdom of God into every sector of society. People's work became their way of serving God; church became one of the biggest advocates of not merely salvation, but education, and personal responsibility for neighbor and family. For sure, Calvin and others were interpreting for their age what the kingdom of God would look like in Geneva; thus, the way that the reformation happened was shaped by the context they were in. It was about nation and city building, not merely church building. For them, the church was the center of the society (lots of reasons for this!)
c. Last night i watched the movie, 'Kingdom of Heaven' staring Orlando Bloom. It was a very interesting movie with some good themes. One of the theme's that seemed to be prevalent through out the movie was this wresting with doing the 'will of God'. Much like my 'Tuesday is for Thomas' post yesterday, Bloom, his Priest, and his father all seemed to understand the doing of the 'will of God' in terms of what made sense, as they would point, 'to head and heart'. That if what they perceived with their eyes was a vast wasteland, where the people had no water, to 'do what is right' is to get water for the people and to resotre the land to health.
However, as the movie deals with the Crusades in a little different way, it also brought up the theme of religious exchange between Christians and Muslims. On the one side, you have a group who believe the world is full of different religions and therefore, the kingdom of heaven (or as the movie keeps pointing out=Jersusalem) looks like those groups living together in peace, no matter which group (Christian or Muslim) is in power. On the other hand, you have the voices of those who think that the Christian, or Muslim worldview is the most pure view and that all others should be suppressed in the name of that rule. For these people, this is the way that the kingdom of heaven should be ruled. Sound familiar? And i am not just talking about Jerusalem..
For me, all three of these things seem to bring together major elements of a real wrestling which i believe many of us are doing in concern to the Kingodm of God (as opposed to the kingdom of Heaven or Jerusalem). For Greg, I hear 'take Christianity to the outer edges of politics', and yet, something in me (and many of us) believes that at the heart of Christianity there is, as Rob Bell says, 'good news for everyone'. I read the polarizing thoughts of many on the need for Christianity (or Islam) to run to the center of politics in order to preserve the history of countries and i think, but does your view include space for the now diversity of people and faith, or does it impose a uniform way of being? And while i can not speak for the Muslim world, I must also think, and believe, that not all leaders want a strickly Muslim state. There are some who, like us, think that the kingdom of God established on earth must have boundaries which are porous. That the kingdom of God, being established here on earth, must be the central force in society in order to restore order to the chaos that is called the world in 2007.
At the end of the day, the people of this restoration must in some way seek to love differently. To lead differently. To be open and responsible, and courageous to defend the hopeless and helpless of every religion and people group. To seek the best for all humanity, to love their neighbor, and to proclaim freedom to the captives. To say to abusive, mono-cultural regimes, 'look into the faces of your society, are your policies good news for all? Look into the faces of the sick, have your given them hope? Look at the wayfarer, those who have gone astray, do you have good news for them about life in the age to come? Does your Christianity, (or Islam) give them a path for restoration of their whole self, including their neighbor. Is it good news?'
These are our challenges...this is our age...let us reflect together and restore the good news to the Good Kingdom!
grace, peace, mercy,
joshua
Posted by joshuacase at 08:46 AM | Comments (2)
August 28, 2007
Tuesday is for Thomas
Merton wrote:
'I must lead a new life
Always very fine ideas in Romano Guardini on Providence.
For instance, that the will of God is not a "fate" to which we submit, but a creative act in our life producing something absolutely new (or failing to do so), something hitherto unseen by the laws and established patterns. Our cooperation (seeking first the Kingdom of God) consists not solely in conforming to laws, but in opening our wills out to this creative act, which must be retrieved in and by us- by the will of God.
This is my big aim- to put everything else aside. I do not want to create merely for and by myself a new life and a new world, but i want God to create them in and through me. This is central and fundamental- and with this one can never be a mere Marxian communist.
I must lead a new life and a new world must come into being. But not by my plans and my agitation.'
jeez. what a way with word. may we all seek simply that, to 'lead a new life and [allow] a new world to come into being'.
do your best today to let God create in you the world he wants to creat through you...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)
August 27, 2007
Funny, weird, and innovative..
First, funny. And thanks to Josh Brown for this.
Weird and Sad..REALLY! As reported by the BBC. Sorry for the digression, but my English friend Phil definately thought it was funny.
Innovative: Index Award winners 2007.
enjoy...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
God falls silent after outburst...
Ht to Mike at Waving or Drowning for this article from The Onion. Very nice, as one would say.
'NEW YORK—Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday.
"Look, I don't know, maybe I haven't made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again," said the Lord, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers. "Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don't. And to be honest, I'm really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand."
Worshipped by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, God said His name has been invoked countless times over the centuries as a reason to kill in what He called "an unending cycle of violence."
"I don't care how holy somebody claims to be," God said. "If a person tells you it's My will that they kill someone, they're wrong. Got it? I don't care what religion you are, or who you think your enemy is, here it is one more time: No killing, in My name or anyone else's, ever again."
The press conference came as a surprise to humankind, as God rarely intervenes in earthly affairs. As a matter of longstanding policy, He has traditionally left the task of interpreting His message and divine will to clerics, rabbis, priests, imams, and Biblical scholars. Theologians and laymen alike have been given the task of pondering His ineffable mysteries, deciding for themselves what to do as a matter of faith. His decision to manifest on the material plane was motivated by the deep sense of shock, outrage, and sorrow He felt over the Sept. 11 violence carried out in His name, and over its dire potential ramifications around the globe.
"I tried to put it in the simplest possible terms for you people, so you'd get it straight, because I thought it was pretty important," said God, called Yahweh and Allah respectively in the Judaic and Muslim traditions. "I guess I figured I'd left no real room for confusion after putting it in a four-word sentence with one-syllable words, on the tablets I gave to Moses. How much more clear can I get?"
"But somehow, it all gets twisted around and, next thing you know, somebody's spouting off some nonsense about, 'God says I have to kill this guy, God wants me to kill that guy, it's God's will,'" God continued. "It's not God's will, all right? News flash: 'God's will' equals 'Don't murder people.'"
Worse yet, many of the worst violators claim that their actions are justified by passages in the Bible, Torah, and Qur'an.
"To be honest, there's some contradictory stuff in there, okay?" God said. "So I can see how it could be pretty misleading. I admit it—My bad. I did My best to inspire them, but a lot of imperfect human agents have misinterpreted My message over the millennia. Frankly, much of the material that got in there is dogmatic, doctrinal bullshit. I turn My head for a second and, suddenly, all this stuff about homosexuality gets into Leviticus, and everybody thinks it's God's will to kill gays. It absolutely drives Me up the wall."
God praised the overwhelming majority of His Muslim followers as "wonderful, pious people," calling the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks rare exceptions.
"This whole medieval concept of the jihad, or holy war, had all but vanished from the Muslim world in, like, the 10th century, and with good reason," God said. "There's no such thing as a holy war, only unholy ones. The vast majority of Muslims in this world reject the murderous actions of these radical extremists, just like the vast majority of Christians in America are pissed off over those two bigots on The 700 Club."
Continued God, "Read the book: 'Allah is kind, Allah is beautiful, Allah is merciful.' It goes on and on that way, page after page. But, no, some assholes have to come along and revive this stupid holy-war crap just to further their own hateful agenda. So now, everybody thinks Muslims are all murderous barbarians. Thanks, Taliban: 1,000 years of pan-Islamic cultural progress down the drain."
God stressed that His remarks were not directed exclusively at Islamic extremists, but rather at anyone whose ideological zealotry overrides his or her ability to comprehend the core message of all world religions.
"I don't care what faith you are, everybody's been making this same mistake since the dawn of time," God said. "The Muslims massacre the Hindus, the Hindus massacre the Muslims. The Buddhists, everybody massacres the Buddhists. The Jews, don't even get me started on the hardline, right-wing, Meir Kahane-loving Israeli nationalists, man. And the Christians? You people believe in a Messiah who says, 'Turn the other cheek,' but you've been killing everybody you can get your hands on since the Crusades."
Growing increasingly wrathful, God continued: "Can't you people see? What are you, morons? There are a ton of different religious traditions out there, and different cultures worship Me in different ways. But the basic message is always the same: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism... every religious belief system under the sun, they all say you're supposed to love your neighbors, folks! It's not that hard a concept to grasp."
"Why would you think I'd want anything else? Humans don't need religion or God as an excuse to kill each other—you've been doing that without any help from Me since you were freaking apes!" God said. "The whole point of believing in God is to have a higher standard of behavior. How obvious can you get?"
"I'm talking to all of you, here!" continued God, His voice rising to a shout. "Do you hear Me? I don't want you to kill anybody. I'm against it, across the board. How many times do I have to say it? Don't kill each other anymore—ever! I'm fu&%ing serious!"
Upon completing His outburst, God fell silent, standing quietly at the podium for several moments. Then, witnesses reported, God's shoulders began to shake, and He wept.'
Posted by joshuacase at 09:53 AM | Comments (2)
August 26, 2007
Nick and Josh Podcast
My friends Nicholas and Josh have a podcast. I like it a lot. Here is the link. Check it out. Subscribe. Be bothered, inspired, challenged, and maybe most of all, laugh. They have a good time and challenge us all to do the same while taking faith, politics, and life seriously.
peace....
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:06 PM | Comments (3)
Boyd and Cizik: Jesus' friends
Here is a video of Greg Boyd much like the one i posted the other day with the extention of Richard Cizik. Cizik is a vice-president for the National Association of Evangelicals (USA) and one of belief.net's nominee's for 'Most Inspiring Person of the Year'.
See both video's here:
Greg and Richard
Cizik's nomination
Lammert and I are both reading a book which Cizik wrote the forward for. It's written by Matthew Sleeth and is entitled, 'Serve God Save the Planet'. One word: WOW.
check it out...read it...be changed...be challenged...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:46 PM | Comments (3)
August 25, 2007
Greg Boyd: A Real Christian Warrior
For those of you who missed it, here is the interview with Greg Boyd, 'The Heretic'.
enjoy...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:40 PM | Comments (2)
August 22, 2007
More on the Minnesota Bridge Collapse
Well, I've been waiting for it, and Tony Jones has chimed in. After both Greg Boyd and John Piper responded, Tony said he as going to, and now he too is putting out some thoughts on God in this trajedy. Below are Tony's thoughts in full as posted over at Sojourners.
Before that however, I want to remind everyone who can to watch Christiane Amanpour's special CNN broadcast entitled 'God's Warriors'. Should be good. I saw some of Greg Boyd's interview today, and it as pretty good stuff!
enjoy....
jc
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
My Minnesota
by Tony Jones
But for three hiatuses for school, I've lived my whole life in the Twin Cities, and my heritage and skin tone match the Lake Wobegon image of my city and state. I'm the descendant of German, Norwegian, Welsh, and British immigrants. I've even been known to utter "you betcha" on occasion. But the new faces of Minnesota have been on display in the wake of the I-35W bridge collapse on August 1.
Yesterday, nearly three weeks after the collapse, the remains of the final victim, Greg Jolstad, were recovered. The list of victims tells a tale of today's Minnesota. There's the very Scandinavian last name Engebretsen, which belonged to a middle-aged mom who worked for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. But alongside the victims who were of Northern European descent (Hausmann, Holmes, Sathers, and Eickstadt) are surnames from around the globe: Trinidad-Mena (Mexican), Sacorafas (Greek), Sahal (Somalian), Peck and Chit (Asian), as well as Native American: Blackhawk (Winnebago).
They were white-collar and blue-collar, Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim, married dads, and single moms. The oldest was 60, the youngest was 2. One was pregnant. One had Down syndrome.
Their pictures are a mosaic of diversity.
Pollsters tell us that our quaint land here in the Upper Midwest is changing, that immigration is reshaping Lake Wobegon. But in the information age, those macro-polls are often lost on us.
However, when a bridge collapses during rush hour, it takes a tragic snapshot of just who lives around us.
"Who is my neighbor?" a questioner asked Jesus.
The bridge collapse gave me a new answer to that question.
Posted by joshuacase at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2007
Tuesday is for Thomas and ilife 08
For my Tuesday is for Thomas clip, I'd like to direct your attention to Alan Creech. Here is his post from today on Thomas Merton.
Rereading a bit of Thomas Merton the other day (Love and Living) and came across the chapter named "Rebirth and the New Man in Christianity." Good, good, good. He touches on a couple of things that are and have been problematic in all realms of Christianity. Here's a lengthy quote...
The all too familiar oversimplification of Christian belief, which makes it seem to be a formalistic method of gaining for oneself a place "in the other world" as a reward for good work and sufferings in the present life, obscures the real meaning of the Christian's metanoia, his participation in the death and resurrection of Christ by baptism and the eucharistic life of self-forgetfulness and fraternal love. This death to the "old self" and new life in the Spirit sent by Christ "from the Father" means not only a juridical salvation "in heaven" and "in the hereafter" but much more a new dimension of one's present life, a transformation and renewal not only of the Christian as a person but of the community of believers, the brotherhood of those who have received "the Spirit of Christ" and live in "the grace of Christ."
This is a statement directed at all of us who may be tempted, in whatever Christian tradition, to look at the point of our salvation in Christ as merely "getting to heaven." I have heard and do hear this kind of focus in every corner of the Christian world - well, every one that I've been involved in enough to speak about. This is not only a Protestant disorder, it is well evident in Catholic circles as well. When the focus of our Christian lives, what we do or don't do, how we worship, whether we receive this Sacrament or that and how often, how and how much we pray, what we believe or don't believe - all that is really only about making sure we "make heaven" or "get to heaven." Wow, have we actually developed a way to make salvation selfish? Hmmmm, looks like. If it's really only about ME getting into the heavenly country club, then ME needs to re-figure how we think of salvation, what it means and what it's for.
Our vision of what salvation is all about needs to widen. Really, we're looking at God, as He has gotten our attention, and learning to listen to what HE wants for the whole world, us included. By saying yes to Him we are stepping into a holistic fixing of the cosmos. It is neither only about believing something, praying a prayer and getting your soul stamped, nor being good, praying right, making sure you go to confession enough and don't think about sex too much. There are elements of both those ways of looking at things that are completely legitimate and which factor into the whole thing, but by themselves, as "the point" - nope. OK, I'll end with another section of the chapter, just after the first there - another statement of needed balance...
This renewal of life cannot be understood if it is seen merely as a ritual affair, the result of certain formal, exterior acts (though to some Christians it means little more than this). Nor is it an emotional conversion followed by adherence to a set of new attitudes and convictions, based on this sense of inner liberation (though here again some Christians attach undue importance to somewhat superficial psychological experiences and seek to bring them about).
As I said - good, good, good stuff. Good stuff for all our minds to chew on. Peace.
--------------
I've also been getting accustomed to iLife 08. The new iphoto is great. Or at least i am enjoying it. Unfortunately, like Fernando, I have a 12 inch Powerbook and its not fast enough to run the new imovie. Its ok. My wife's can run it...i think.
For more on iLife 08, check out Fernando's pretty thorough thoughts here.
Have a great week...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2007
Seriously good conversations...
There are a few here, so enjoy!
Treehugger.com's 'Eco-Sexuals Rule Dude. Go Green, Get the Girl'
Byron Smith's 'The gospel: what is it? I, II, III, IV' Starting here.
Josh Brown's 'The Evolutionary Trajectory of of the Story of God: A Local Text & A Theology of Place'
Mike Clawson's 'Parables Aren't Always About God'
Justin Taylor's 'Jesus & Health Care'
Jason Smith's 'Intercouse and Intellegence'
Enjoy...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2007
YES! Godtube is online!
Godtube.com is online! Here's a taste of what i found there.
enjoy!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:44 AM | Comments (40)
Suicide and 'Reactivity and Iraq'
Yesterday the US military released a report stating that suicide among servicewomen and men was the highest in 26 years. Today, the number of coalition force deaths reaches 4000 with over 3600 US casualties. These numbers apparently do not reflect the deaths of Iraqi government or police forces.
Wednesday, Brian McLaren also posted these blogged thoughts at Sojourners/God's Politics. I thought the two are interesting side by side. Frighteningly so.
'In his July 20 commentary, James W. Skillen of the Center for Public Justice struck a non-partisan note of honesty and balance that I wish I heard more often.
He summarized the basic narrative of the Iraq War that both our president and his party and many Democrats seem to share:
... first, America liberated Iraq from Saddam Hussein; second, we returned sovereignty to the Iraqi people; third, sectarian violence tragically increased; and now, in the fourth phase, we are "deploying reinforcements and launching new operations to help Iraqis bring security to their people."
The elegant word Skillen chooses to describe this narrative is "delusional."
He counters:
U.S. forces did not liberate Iraq; they wiped out its government, and the Bush administration then failed to exercise American responsibility to govern the country so it could be rebuilt and eventually governed by Iraqis themselves. We opened the floodgates to chaos, civil war, the death or flight of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and a continuing influx of terrorists whom our 'war' was supposed to destroy. That is not liberation.
He follows with a withering critique of both the "stay the course" proposal of the executive branch and the quick withdrawal plans increasingly popular in Congress. Both lines of reasoning, he says, lay the blame for our dilemma on "the nearly powerless Iraqi government for not climbing out fast enough from the hole we dug for it." We may well criticize the Iraqi government for taking a long summer vacation in the midst of its crisis, but that doesn't negate our culpability for them being in this particular crisis in the first place.
He chooses another elegant word to describe a nation that creates a crisis and then blames the victims for it: "immoral."
Delusional and immoral are strong words. Whether you believe the invasion was an ill-conceived and badly-planned mistake or you believe that the invasion was justifiable but the problems have been in the execution, either way, we're in a mess. We need a way out.
A friend of mine says that we're only as sick as our reactivity. If our reactivity to Sept. 11 played a part in getting us into this terrible situation, we will not be well served by reacting to the status quo with still more reactive behavior.
For those of us who supported the war, and for those of us who opposed it but failed to stand up and speak up strongly enough, this is not a time for reactive behavior. It's an opportunity, as Senator Obama recently said, to be as careful in planning our next steps as we were careless in planning our steps in the past. With more foresight and forethought, with less blame-gaming and partisanship and more deliberate collaboration, we can take the next steps—whatever they will be—with more honor, intelligence, sanity, and responsibility, and less reactivity than we have employed so far. Voices like Skillens' can slow us down to indulge in second and third thoughts, perhaps breaking the cycle of unwise and destructive reactivity into which we have plunged the Iraqis and ourselves.'
be less reactive...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:54 AM
August 16, 2007
Micheal Vick Sued for 63 Billion, Billion!?!#
Laura always keeps me abreast of the good articles found at Good Magazine. This one is pretty funny, sad, and yes, real.
An incarcerated man in South Carolina is suing the alleged canine-killer Michael Vick to the tune of (drum roll), "63,000,000,000 billion dollars," whatever that means. With a comically frivolous figure such as "63,000,000,000 billion" there must be an equally preposterous set of charges to match, right? Ding. The inmate, one Jonathan Lee Riches, alleges that Vick stole two of his pit bulls, used them for fighting, sold them on Ebay, and "used the proceeds to purchase missiles from the Iran government." Why missiles? Because of Vick's alliance with Al Qaeda of course. Hell, we're convinced.
Demanding that the money (remember that by money we mean 63,000,000,000 billion dollars) be backed by "gold and silver" and be delivered directly to the gate of The Williamsburg Federal Correctional facility, Riches implores Vick to "stop physically hurting my feelings and dashing my hopes."
All we have to say is, Vick better pay up.
here are the pages handwritten and filed as such...jeez.
Page Two:
Page Three (please note the 'allegiance to Al-queda' and 'microwave testing' on the guy! Laughing out loud! hahaha
hope you laughed too!!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)
Elvis, America, and Bono
ht to maniac hispanic for this photo.
America loves their Elvis, but apparently the world does too. The Elvis brand continues to grow even as this week 75'000+ gather together at Graceland in Memphis Tennessee (USA) for a vigil in honor of his death, and life. It is estimated that Elvis has sold over 1 billion records. And the numbers just keep growing.
I am not sure how many other stars, or people, gather this kind of worship post-mordem. I am not sure how many others there are who did with their lives contribute to the evolution of their trade and who represent the tragedy of stardom like Elvis. Elvis was a pauper, who became 'king', who died a lonely man only to become immortalized as father to many in his death. Indeed, it could be said of Elvis, that in his dying he came even more to life. Maybe even, that it took his dying, for his influence on music and life to take root. Afterall, it is often only when people lose something, that the blessed unrest of its absence creates a searching for the truth that its presence possessed. As Jimmy Carter said, 'When Elvis died, so did part of America'.
As for me, I'll let St. Bono have the final say on Elvis:
rip...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:37 AM | Comments (1)
August 15, 2007
I am no Tiger Woods;(
Today i lost. I am finished for the season. I lost in my quater final match play match in the tournament. I have been competing good so far; however, I hav edelveloped a severe case of the 'shanks' which i can not get rid of. Maybe its spiritual;)
The only holes i lost against this 4 handicap were on 'shank' holes. I competed well. I feel good about it.
i could have won..till next season!
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:25 PM | Comments (2)
Upcoming CNN Special and Greg Boyd
I was already excited about this special put together over the course of the last year entitled, 'God's Warriors'. It looks and has the feel of a good Karen Armstrong book. Comparing and interviewing leaders and communities of Judiasm, Christianity, and Islam, Christine Amanpour looks at the way each of these religions seek to, as the advert implies, 'deal with the fact that things have gone astray'..
I did not know who all was to be interviewed, and then Greg Boyd posted this message on his blog:
'Multitudes of people around the country, and around the world, have grown concerned about the widespread fusion and confusion of faith and politics. Over the past several years, Greg has had many opportunities, through the media, to explain his perspective on the beauty of God's kingdom, a kingdom that transcends partisan politics and always looks like Jesus, giving himself in loving service to all people.
Last spring, Greg was interviewed by CNN's Christiane Amanpour for the upcoming CNN special, God's Warriors, which will be airing August 21-23. Greg's segment in this documentary may turn out to be small, but CVM is excited for another opportunity to share our vision of the kingdom.
Check out the following link:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/gods.warriors/'
So I am not sure if you are to be around on August 21-23, but if you can, do plan to watch. Should be very interesting...
enjoy...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2007
I'm from Barcelona..what fun!
ht to Josh Brown for this!!!
Josh Brown thanks. I was needing a good laugh today, and you gave it to me in the form of I'm From Barcelona. Indeed, this is a fun band. Now, I am wondering if my friend Darryl will actually call them a band, but they are in their very essence creatively communal. And yes Josh, I'll join, and I bet we can convince nicholas and leslie too as well!
I've posted two videos here. The first is the one Josh posted. The second, is the one i found while looking around on youtube for them a little bit more. What joy!
enjoy...and build a treehouse;)
jc
'We're from Barcelona'
Pause...Smile...
'Treehouse'
Posted by joshuacase at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
Tuesday is for Thomas
Merton writes:
'I have finished reading the proofs of the Divine Milieu by Pere Teilhard de Chardin which were sent by Harpers.
Certainly, the world is to be loved. For God loved the world and sent His Son into the world to save it. Here the world means the cosmos, and all is centered on God. All seek HIm.
Christianity should make us "more visibly human"-passionately cocerned with all the good, that is, that wants to grown in the world and that cannot grow without our concern.
The stoic indifference cultivated by a certain type of Christian spirituality is then a diabolical temptation and an emptying of pity, of charity, of interest. A hardening of the heart, a regression and an isolation.
His concern is admirable. And his indignationation that "Christians no longer expect anything." It is true. Nothing great. But we expect everything trivial.
Our indifference to the real values in the world justifies our petty attraction to its false values. When we forget the Parousia and the Kingdom of God in the world, we can, we think, safely be businessmen and make money.
Those who love the world in the wrong sense love it for themselves, exploit it for themselves. Those who truly love it develop it, work in it for God, that God may reveal Himself in it.'
enjoy. reflect. act.
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 10:42 AM
August 13, 2007
Pretty dang interesting...'i' think
Reformed Heart posted this video on youtube , and apart from a wrongful linking of Brian McLaren and Rob Bell to the message that is being spoken in the background, it is pretty interesting. I am not sure who the voice is in the background, but the only other person I have heard talk 'like this', meaning in person, is John Piper. And as my friend Nicholas Fiedler said of the same talk which we later found out we were both at, 'it was scary!' (paraprhase). Nicholas, clear me up on what you really thought...
So yeah, its interesting, but if it leads to a theological processing likened to what Piper has been saying about the Minnesota bridge collapse, ummm...umm..well, just look at Greg Boyd's blog response here. Not advocating..just processing. It is a tragedy in the community of each Pastor. Yet each seems to have handled it differently from their understanding of God. Isn't the diversity beautiful?
What do you think, is this a fair treatment of Brian and Rob? I can't speak for Olsteen and Meyer; however, i guess it was good for me to see that Rick Warren has personally focussed even more on mission in a 'different way' in Africa, and he thanks is wife for that. Plus, he is also a friend of Obama;) and has had to defent it. YES!
let me hear from you..what do you think about the video..or the bridges...or..?
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 11:33 AM | Comments (9)
Ok, really back now;)
Well, after a week of transitioning back and spending some good time with Laura, I am back to blogging. Though, you will hopefully see this site change a bit in appearance over the next few weeks as I tranisiton to a different blogging system.
And what would a return to blogging be on a Monday without a celebratory blog post about Tiger Woods' 2007 Major win? Well, it wouldn't be a Joshua Case blog post;)
So, he did it. He took it to the course and to the players this weekend. After not leading during days one or two, Tiger Woods took the lead on day three and never looked back. Did I mention that Tiger is 13-0 in Majors when leading after the 3rd round and that this was the first event that his daughter was able to be there for? You can read more of the story here, or here. Well done Tiger.
From Tiger Woods to Brian McLaren (an easy jump for me), here is Brian's next reading from his upcoming book entitled 'Everything Must Change'. You can pre-order the book here.
Can't wait till tomorrow. I have a couple of great thoughts by Thomas Merton I came across this week. They will jump off the page they were written today..but no, oh no, they were written in the 1950's and 1960's.
Just you wait;)
peace and grace for today....
joshua c
Posted by joshuacase at 11:04 AM
August 07, 2007
Tuesday is for Thomas...and I am home.
Well, I am back in Geneva and very glad. To be home with Laura, and to see friends, is great. Still getting through my jet lag, but very much excited about being home. Lammert and Conny are away. There return will be sweet.
Merton once wrote...
'The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt.'
Suffering...don't try to avoid it...or you'll find it. Hurt...is suffering.
speak more soon...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:51 PM | Comments (1)
August 04, 2007
The Bealtes, Restoration Village, and Worship
I love music. It moves me. One of the earliest worship experiences I can remember moving me to dance was performed by the initiators of Restoration Village. Even today, bands like: U2, Coldplay, Matt Redman, the David Crowder Band, Iron & Wine, Alanis Morrisette, Sufjan Stevens, Bob Marley, and Miles Davis move me towards a deeper understanding of how infused song is with God's dreams for creation.
A song which has most recently spoken to me has been the above Beatles' track entitled 'Let it Be'. Many of you will remember that while i was visiting Brussels I worked with the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity in the order of Mother Teresa. Indeed, their praying, waiting and calling to Mother Mary, and to Mother was deep and rich experience. It was calm. It was assuring. It hopeful. For some, such experiences and expressions of faith will be written off as trite, supersticious, or even pagan. Yet, some how, I wonder as Scot McKnight and others have more recently, if many within the protestant tradition haven't written off Mary (or even the company of the saints) a little too quickly.
So what does this all have to do with anything? One of the things I long for is a rearticulation of song in the life of the Church which not only speaks with a clearly prophetic langauge, but that articulates God's heart for redemptive change today. I long for songs which aren't just those from an earlier generation (I am not knocking them, I love them too and come from their rich expressive history) but which wrestle with the issues of today in authentic ways.
This video shows something of what i think it might could look like..it's a wrestling...with real issues today...by artists of today...about the events of today...in the context of belief today that is from the ages.
What about you? Are you finding others who are wrestling with finding new song(s) for new faith? Can you share the links with others? Me?
peace...wrestling...listening...
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 09:21 PM | Comments (4)
August 03, 2007
Brian's Second reading from 'Everything Must Change'
Here is Nicholas Fiedler's review of Brian McLaren's upcoming book. Can't wait to read it for myself. I've heard it will be the best one yet! Here is Brian doing a second reading from the book.
enjoy...and pre-order here.
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 08:54 PM | Comments (43)
August 02, 2007
Check out these blogs...
Yeah Yeah, so I have missed a couple of 'Seriously Good Conversations', but here are a couple of conversations going on right now that you will not want to miss...
Paul Mayer's 'Things I Learned From Church (That Didn’t Prove True) And What I Am Learning Lately: a synchroblog'
Alan Mann's 'Deepening Our Story' and Jason Clark's earlier post entitled 'The Will to Action: Deconstruction and Recontruction in Church' at Deep Church
enjoy..
jc
Posted by joshuacase at 03:10 PM | Comments (4)
Back in action...
After a few days offline, I am back now and beginning to reconnect myself. Lots has happened since i disappeared into a land without lots of wifi options that I have wanted to comment on or even discuss.
I hope to be able to address some of them in the next few weeks before the new school year starts back for us in Geneva. But be not alarmed, the blogging will increase here, as well at a couple of other places the next several months as I make new spaces for writing and the such.
Couple things I wish to comment on soon:
Rights: Civil, Human, Humane? (In light of the Micheal Vick trial)
Engage: Authentic Living in a Secularlized Culture as People who Deeply Love the Church and the Culture
God is Green and Slaves Exist
I also hope to be doing a reveiw of Brian McLaren's new book entitled 'Everything Must Change' in a couple of weeks. You can pre-order the book here which is due out in stores on October 2.
Here is quick video of Brian reading from the new book. Good fun.
peace and grace for today...
joshua c
Posted by joshuacase at 02:54 PM | Comments (0)