In what ways does a godly presence in a society lead to social justices?
Photo credit: Gustave Deghilage - Flickr
Reviewed by Beth Snodderly
WCIU constituents will find much to interest them in this book. In addition to four familiar names finding a place (Ralph Winter, Glenn Schwartz, Jim Harries, and Viv Grigg), this book resonates with a number of Winter’s key themes.
Read Moreby Ralph and Roberta Winter
Excerpts from their articles in the Foundations Course Reader give a biblical perspective on the role of God’s people in relation to refugees fleeing dangerous or unlivable conditions,
By mechanisms of going or coming and whether voluntarily or involuntarily, it would seem that God is in the mission business whether God’s people fully understand that fact or not. Sometimes God’s people go, sometimes voluntarily, sometimes kicking and screaming like Jonah did. Sometimes the people who did not know God came voluntarily, like the Queen of Sheba. Today, they may come involuntarily, like the people arriving in our country as refugees.
Read Moreby May Nor Clara Cheng
When the video of George Floyd’s killing has popped up on the news screen repeatedly and I’ve seen the other police officers just standing there doing nothing, initially without being charged, my heart became sad. I started to feel a holy sadness rising inside me. I started to feel the Lord’s sadness for how the churches stay passive and the moral standard of this country is being degraded and drifting away from him.
Read MoreSummary of a Podcast with therapist, trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem
Menakem advocates intentionally creating cultures that will allow the intrinsic value of people of color to supersede the structural value placed on them by the historic supremacy of white bodies.
Read Moreby Kevin Higgins, WCIU President
George Floyd, Christian Cooper, Ahmaud Arbery. It just feels like this keeps stacking up. Not that it is new, of course. And how many such events and people never make the news?
In the aftermath of these events, I have wanted to speak to you all, from my heart, as a brother in Jesus and a fellow human being, as a man who, like I am sure is true for you each, is shocked and pained and perplexed by the events of these days and weeks. I have wanted to speak, but words have failed me. I turned to some lines from the music catalogue I know.
Read Morefrom Be the Bridge
In light of the brutal murder of George Floyd and many other black men, what now are Christ's followers called to do?
The recommended books show that to confront and alter the state of white privilege requires a proactive yielding and purposeful laying down of power by those who are beneficiaries of white privilege.
Read Moreby Ralph D. Winter
These excerpts from Winter’s lectures for the course, Foundations of the World Christian Movement, can help us understand the historical context for American’s current social upheaval. Winter’s insights and analysis can give hope. He saw a pattern in history of chaos followed by societal flourishing, which he challenges believers to purposely work toward. A major concern of Winter’s in his last years was that evangelicals would become aware of the schemes of the evil one and engage in organized efforts to overcome evils in society as well as in the realm of disease. In this way, he strongly believed, God’s reputation could be restored and the peoples of the earth could be winsomely encouraged to choose to be part of God’s Kingdom.
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
First John 3:8: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Ralph Winter quoted this verse frequently in his last years. In my doctoral studies I explored this verse in great detail to discern what the original audience might have thought was included in the phrase, "the works of the devil." I used a Social Science model called a "Status Degradation Ritual" to understand some of the dynamics in the First Epistle of John. The author’s community is having to distinguish between “the children of God,” and those who are having their status degraded to “children of the devil.” In this article I ask if this model also applies to the way some politicians talk about asylum seekers at America's southern border who are fleeing violence and intolerable conditions. Do the degrading comments by top leaders put those people in a position of being non-persons in the eyes of many people? How should believers respond?
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
In the Gospel of John, two out of six signs the author selected for emphasis relate to the physical need for food and drink. God’s love is made evident through works that meet human needs (1 John 3:17, 18). International development in the sphere of production and eating of healthy food can be a sign of God’s Kingdom at work in this world.
Read MoreGlobal voices call for the church to represent God well in the world.
Read Moreby Moussa Bongoyok, PhD
Our contemporary societies have beaten all the speed records of previous generations. However, these apparent achievements hide a weakness that deserves attention: the slowness to draw lessons from the past in order to prevent or solve social conflicts. Yet King Solomon, whose wisdom is legendary, seems to continue pointing his finger at a salutary path through this profound verse: "What has been, that is what will be, and what has been done is what will happen, there is nothing new under the Sun.” (Eccl. 1:9).
Let us examine together one case, drawn from among many others, on which the Bible speaks powerfully: the hesitation of Rehoboam, described in 1 Kings 12:1-24, which resulted in the division of the kingdom that he inherited from his father. It is full of lessons for our contemporary communities. We will approach this story from three angles: first, we will revisit the historical facts narrated by the Bible, then we will identify some principles, and finally, we will propose some avenues of application with particular emphasis on the negotiations between the government and corporatist groups.
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
• Why do bad things happen to good people?
• Why has the human species been allowed full, unfettered measure of violence for so long?
• Why am I alive? Does my existence count for anything?
People are searching for meaning in their lives and answers to questions like these. Missionary-historian Ralph D. Winter highlighted this when he asked in an Editorial Comment,
How is a wretchedly poor, dispossessed family in Darfur similar to a comparatively wealthy, retired believer in the USA? In both cases they need a good reason to live. Their primary bond is not the need for food, or money, or security. The wealthy, retired person may think that with enough food and shelter he can get along. But retired people die prematurely if they do not have a reason to live (Winter 2007b).
Because the gospel is a message of hope, the poorest must see some concrete reason for hope before they can understand the gospel (Winter 2008, 338). Winter wanted mission and church practitioners to recognize that they need to lead the way in organizing specialized structures to restore God’s reputation in the eyes of the on-looking secular world. Believers must demonstrate to potential (and former) followers of Jesus that disease, suffering, wars, violence, and evil are not God’s will and are not from him.
Read Moreby Zhongxin Wang
What is “fairness”? It means equality and justice. In this world full of inequality, how can we achieve equality? To understand equality, we will need to look at this in a bigger picture, and in a more transcendent perspective. The abstract provided here links to the full original article, written in Chinese.
Read MoreA 60-second whiteboard animation illustrates these and other key principles:
• “Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:4).
• “Give the hungry something to eat; welcome the stranger; look after the sick” (Matthew 25:34-36).
Read Moreby Jim Harries
While this analysis of anti-racism is based upon case studies from Black African communities, it also applies to the situation in the United States in 2017 when racist attitudes and actions are publicly resurfacing after having been somewhat subdued by anti-racist legislation and general culture.
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
In the past the prophets were persecuted because they championed righteousness
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
In some ways Ralph Winter was a prophetic voice “crying in the wilderness,” and some of what he had to say before he died in 2009 is becoming more relevant as events have unfolded since then. His concern was that evangelicals not tear down God’s reputation by failing to push back against the works of the devil, wherever these are found.
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
After decades of progress with laws prohibiting racial discrimination our country is proving that “you can’t legislate morality.” Although, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me but it can keep him from lynching me and I think that is pretty important.”
Read Moreby Beth Snodderly
The need for international development exists because societies and their land are in chaos to one degree or another. In Isaiah 32 societal chaos is being overcome by the intervention of God’s Spirit. In this chapter we see a metaphorical image of the consequences for societies whose people practice ungodliness, who use wicked schemes to leave the hungry empty, and who destroy the poor with their lies: “The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever” (Isa. 32:14).
Read Moreby Mark Mihalyov, WCIU MA Student
The Church in America is being distracted and deceived on the left and on the right. The result for us is severe social chaos. The “Christian” culture displaced peoples are now exposed to is in many ways reminiscent of that of the Middle Ages; more focused on forms and traditions than on power and passion for missionary service.
Read More