My recent trip to Birmingham, AL, has brought me to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. If you get a chance to visit, do it. It’s worth it. The Institute brought the harsh realities of segregation between blacks and whites in the American South.

As I walked the Institute, I saw images of blacks being hosed with high-powered fire hoses. I saw pictures of police letting loose dogs to attack demonstrators. I saw white people standing around two black teenagers hanging lynched in the trees, watching and smiling as if they were watching fireworks on the 4th of July. I saw images of the KKK, whites beating blacks, bombing their churches, and I thought, “Where were the ‘good’ people?”

(side-note: I know not every black person was innocent and white guilty. I know whites marched with Dr. King. That’s not the point. Just follow me here…)

Where were all the good people who thought segregation was evil? Where were they when black teenagers were being lynched for talking to white women? Where were they when the police of Alabama hosed down demonstrators and attacked them with dogs? Where were they when the Freedom Riders were being beaten to a pulp? Why didn’t the stop the oppression? Then it occurred to me - where am I when oppression happens around me?

I think of what a man in the Bible named James says that when you know that you should do something good and don’t do it, it’s wrong! Jesus also says that we must help the “least of these,” the down-trodden, the helpless (cf. Matthew 25:31ff).

Absence is a form of oppression. When I watch oppression happen and don’t do anything about it…that’s oppression in itself! When I watch the poor get poorer and the rich get richer and don’t say anything against it..I am the oppressor! When I consume more and more taking from others…I am the oppressor! You may not stop Darfur, third world debt, racism, war, or poverty; but you can start by sticking up for someone, or getting coffee with a hurt person, or buying a meal for a homeless man.

If we understand that we are all connected and Jesus calls us to love others as we love ourselves, we will realize –
Absence is oppression.

Amanda, Elle, and I are having a nice time with our family in North Carolina. Amanda, Elle, and I drove all night after Ron and Juli’s wedding and arrived in Nags Head around 7:30 AM. This will be Elle’s first time at the beach, North Carolina, etc. So far we’ve gone to the beach twice, ate at a restaurant called Dirty Dick’s (great seafood) where Phil, Jon, and I split a meal called the Trinity (not biblical), saw Hancock, ate at Slammin’ Sammy’s (where Jon asked a patron what time they closed, to which the guy said, “I don’t work here, but you can ask someone who does”…hahaha) and more.

Here are a few pics…

I know you’re saying, “Evan, you were cool before you got the iPhone.” Well, thanks, but now I feel really cool. Last Friday, I got up early and drove to King of Prussia mall to go to the Apple Store, which opened at 8 AM. I got there around 7:50 AM, walked up to the store, and saw about 50 people in line. So, I said, “Great! This won’t be long.” And then…I looked and saw the line wrapped around the other side of the mall across three or four stores. I decided to wait. 

The Apple Store actually brought around water and coffee and had workers walking around showing the new iPhone and assisting people with their questions to help the time fly by. It did help because after about an hour, I was half-way through. So, I said, “I can wait another hour.” Well, three hours later (!) I was finally in the store, and I got my iPhone. I did go with the 16GB so people would think I am even cooler (I am being facetious). However, I did run into the problem registering my phone, but it all work out eventually. 

Not to make everything spiritual (but everything is spiritual; thanks, Rob Bell). But, when Apple was bringing around water and coffee and sending workers around to assist people, I thought: What if the Church did stuff like that? Apple knows that if they help you out and are nice to you, you will come back. What if the Church went to places, gave out water and coffee, and ask people about the questions they may have about Christianity? I know some people have tried this, and I think it is a good idea. Maybe if we show concern for people (not as ideas but as actual people - sounds like another post is coming on) we can know that they will come back again for more. I know that I knew Apple cared about me as a customer and so maybe the Church could show the same care for others, as well.

Relevant Magazine put out this article called “Seven Burning Issues - War.” It is the most recent installment of their seven-part article asking a panel of Christian leaders (e.g., Shane Claiborne, Brian McLaren, N.T. Wright, Jim Wallis, and more) about current issues facing Christians today. He’s an excerpt - I particularly liked Jim Wallis‘ answer:

Followers of the Prince of Peace should be the hardest to convince to go to war, never the easiest. We should require the highest measure of proof from our government that a particular war is “necessary and just,” not the lowest. Final judgment over whether or not a war is just should never be left to governments. It should be left to the moral discernment of the global Body of Christ…(more)

N.T. Wright was interviewed about his book Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by Steve Colbert on the Colbert Report. It is nice to see Bishop Wright’s book being publicized like this. However, Steve Colbert must be the hardest person to have an interview with because he is always interrupting with jokes. But whatever..

See N.T. Wright on the Colbert Report

Also, another, possibly better, interview about this topic is below.

Agnostic AJ Jacob’s decided one day to follow the Bible to the letter in the way he lived. He focused mainly on the Hebrew Scriptures due to his Jewish descent (however, he did spend the last 4 months in the Christian Scriptures). His article in Relevant Magazine is very interesting. It is extremely interesting in how living biblically changed many parts of his life. He isn’t crazy. He just wanted to conduct an experiment. Enjoy reading the article “My Biblical Year.”

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are” (1 John 3:1a NRSV).

I never understood the God (Father)-Me (Child) relationship that much–or at least, now I realize that I didn’t know much about it at all. It wasn’t until I, myself, became a father that I began to realize the type of relationship God has with me. [I know Fathers' Day is coming up so I suppose this is more fitting].

I naturally love my daughter, Elle.

It’s not that I don’t love my wife, mom, dad, or brothers. I do. But it’s just that I naturally love Elle. In all my other relationships, I had to learn to love the people I mentioned prior. For instance, I didn’t just love my wife the first time when I met her in high school. As we began dating, I learned to love her over time, but I didn’t naturally love her. But I naturally love Elle.

This “natural” love (as I have called it) is a completely different feeling. It’s like nothing I have ever felt. Imagine - all of your joyful emotions coming up from within you, sticking in your throat, and, at that point, not knowing what to do with them (should you cry for joy? should you shout it on the rooftops? should you sit quietly and soak it in?). That’s partially what it’s like.

I suppose that’s how God feels about us (I refrain from speaking of just “me” for fear of being too individualistic). He just naturally loves us. We didn’t do anything to deserve it (Elle didn’t do anything to deserve my love). He just does. Isn’t that a wonderful feeling? He just does. How many - he/she just does’s - do we have in this life? Few, if any.

This Fathers’ Day - think about it…God naturally loves you, all of us. He just does [period] There is nothing else about it. His ‘He just does’ isn’t limited to what religion you are. God just loves you. Perhaps, you don’t have a father who ‘he just does’ loves you. Maybe you do. But God’s ‘He just does’ love transcends all our human relationships. He takes us, places us on his lap, holds us in his arms, and tells us, “I love you. I just do.” Imagine - all of our joyful emotions coming up from within us, sticking in our throats, and, at that point, we don’t know what to do with them (should we cry for joy? should we shout it on the rooftops? should we sit quietly and soak it in?)…but…if we, his children, stop there, we might explode. So, we have to raise our hands in the air and praise him. That’s how we feel because God naturally loves us…his ‘He just does’ love.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s like.

This week I was privileged to take a class at seminary with Pastor Tim Lucas from the Liquid Church . The class was titled “Ministry & Media.” I really enjoyed the class, and a few classmates and I created a “Man on the Street” video (above) asking people at Montgomery County Community College, “Why is there so much suffering in the world? Check out their responses.

I recently read the below article written by N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham in the Church of England, in which he takes on the issue of Third World Debt. I find Third World Debt to be a problem that stands in direct contradiction to the message of Jesus. N.T. Wright first brought this to my attention about a year back, and I am glad to see him write something more formal on the matter. You can view the article here.