Christianity | Tim Høiland

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Repaso: August 3, 2012

August 3, 2012 — 1 Comment

1. Seeing life through Latino eyes
David Kirkpatrick, who is pursuing a PhD focused on Latin American evangelicalism, writes about the reality of life for Latinos in the United States, as seen through Latino eyes:

I was recently struck by what a Latino pastor wanted me to see. Before immigration reform and other hot button issues, he said, “I would like Anglo churches to see that Latinos are a suffering community.” When you see a Latino walking down the street or sitting in a local business, what do you really see? The current immigration debate has poisoned the well of compassion and replaced it with the residue of resentment. While multicultural ministry brings an array of challenges, I believe our greatest need is to see rightly.

2. The good and the bad in medieval Christianity
Jake Belder, an assistant minister in the UK and a really thoughtful blogger, reminds us that despite what children of the Reformation tend to believe, “not all medieval church leaders were bad.” Church history is more complex than that:

The point is simply that we need to approach history with graciousness. Yes, the medieval church was in dire need of reformation, and was in many ways thoroughly unbiblical. Yes, men like Wycliffe played a major role in stirring up that reformation and reclaiming biblical and theological perspectives that had been lost. But it is important to remember that men on both sides had good intentions – some in the establishment were genuinely concerned for the preservation of unity and what they understood to be truth. Just as true, men on both sides had bad intentions – not all Protestants were solely motivated by a concern for the authority of Scripture and the glory of God.

3. The wisdom of renewal through rest
Chris Seiple, president of the Institute for Global Engagement (“a think-and-do tank at the forefront of the emerging field of religion and global affairs”), has a pretty demanding job, as do many of us in one way or another. In this piece, he reminds us all of the wisdom found in the biblical command to rest:

Do you believe that if you rest, your Creator will provide for you? Do you acknowledge that He understands you better than you understand yourself, that you need to be physically and spiritually renewed through rest? Although the New Testament never commands us to set aside the seventh day, how do you spend your “Sabbath”? Do you make time for Sunday every day? And when you do, are you truly resting in Him and anxious for nothing? As you vacation this summer, work at rest. Make time to focus on your relationship with God, resting in His gentle but mighty hand, knowing that He will provide for all those things that seem so important, so needing of your time. And commit to extending this habit into the fall and next year. If you can find time to rest in Him, you will, strangely enough, be more productive. For He will return the honor that you have given Him.

4. Introducing Bedford Ideas
Bo White, who serves as Director of Community Care with Word Made Flesh, has launched a new blog called Bedford Ideas, and it looks like it’ll be wonderful:

My plan is to explore the transformative impact of stories and how stories shape us, mold us, and frame so much of our life. I also want to continue to grow in my understanding of grace, which is unique to the Christian faith and truly amazing in its implications and applications. And finally, I want to engage with culture in such a way that we encourage one another to think deeply, but also act creatively. If these things interest you, then you’ll find some items of interest here that may be helpful, useful, and simply thoughtful.

5. Churches and social media
Mashable has published an infographic based on a recent survey about churches and how they’re using social media. Following this piece in the New York Times earlier this year, it’s interesting to see coverage of social media use among Christians. It’s interesting stuff to ponder, especially in light of concerns about how the Internet changes how we discuss things (included in last week’s Repaso).

6. Actor Chris Kipiniak reads a real Yelp review
This has been going around a lot this week, but in case anyone hasn’t seen it, it’s pretty funny. Think before you Yelp, or yours might be next!

Repaso is intended as a thought-provoking compilation of news and commentary from the past week related to the intersections of faith, development, justice and peace. As always, I welcome your thoughts on any of the links and ideas in this roundup!

[Photo credit: Door of St Saviour’s Cathedral, Goulburn, NSW via redbubble.com]

Repaso: Easterly on institutions; Springsteen’s latest; Christianity in the Americas; Undocumented.tv interview; famous last words; FLW’s unbuilt projects; Half the Sky film

March 30, 2012 — Leave a comment

1. Easterly on the roots of hardship
Bill Easterly, economics professor at NYU, has a review of a new book on development economics in the Wall Street Journal, emphasizing the critical role healthy and inclusive institutions play in overcoming poverty. In what he says here (and particularly the part where I’ve added italics), I see this as a huge challenge for Latin America:

The arrival of “Why Nations Fail” is thus a hugely welcome event, since economists Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson take on the big questions and in doing so present a substantial alternative to the dominant thinking about global poverty. For Messrs. Acemoglu and Robinson, it is institutions that determine the fate of nations. Success comes, the authors say, when political and economic institutions are “inclusive” and pluralistic, creating incentives for everyone to invest in the future. Nations fail when institutions are “extractive,” protecting the political and economic power of only a small elite that takes income from everyone else.

2. Springsteen’s “Wrecking Ball”
Last weekend my buddy Matty (who’s also a remarkable singer-songwriter and music guru in general) let me know I ought to check out The Boss’s new record, Wrecking Ball. “I got a sneaky feeling you’d really like it,” he texted. I got it and he’s right: it’s great. Here’s what Roger Nelson at ThinkChristian.net had to say about it:

Originally written as acoustic folk tunes, Springsteen took this collection of songs to producer Ron Aniello, who pushed them into new sonic territory. Using samples, drum loops, trumpets, choirs and the guitar solos of Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, Wrecking Ball has a glossy and varied musical texture. Lyrically, it stands in a direct line with Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad, but this collection is an eclectic-electric mash-up of gospel, blues, Irish stomps, protest songs, big-stadium rock anthems and even a little rap. What was conceived in the tradition of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger is transformed into a post-modern pastiche.

3. Christianity in the Americas
In December, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life published the latest data on the size and distribution of the Christian population in the Americas. There’s a cool interactive map and a couple of charts, in case you’re a nerd like me when it comes to these kinds of things.

4. Mexico’s evangelical shift
Speaking of Christianity in the Americas, PRI’s The World took a look at the changing religious demographics of Mexico, with a visit to the town of Zongozotla in the central highlands:

It was once unheard of in Mexico to consider not being Catholic. But here in Zongozotla, where different faiths are gaining ground, spiritual shifts are possible—and underway. And while some members of the Catholic Church stress that change is needed to compete with the evangelical presence, it’s unclear whether Catholicism’s centuries-old traditions and hierarchies will be flexible to reverse its losses here.

5. Evangelicals on the rise in Latin America
How about one more while we’re at it? This is from Al Jazeera English, ahead of the Pope’s visit to Mexico and Cuba. This piece by Chris Arsenault provides some helpful background on the history of religion in the region, including Pope John Paul II’s visit, the liberation theology movement during the Cold War years, and recently, the rise of evangelical churches throughout Latin America.

6. Interview with undocumented student
In case you missed it last week, here is part one and part two of my interview for Undocumented.tv with Ricardo, an undocumented college student here in Phoenix.

7. Last words in Texas
Texas, as well all know, sends a lot of people to death row. Of the 1289 people who have been executed in the United States since 1976, over a third of them — 481 – have been in Texas. Another 317 are on death row in that state. Whatever you think of the merits of capital punishment, GOOD has an infographic with the most common last words said by death row inmates.

8. Frank Lloyd Wright’s unbuilt projects
Katie and I recently got to see the FLW exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum. It was really interesting, and while it’s cool that he lived in this area and some of his projects were built here, I really don’t know why I never visited Fallingwater when I lived in Pennsylvania. At any rate, we were both curious about the fact that so many of the renderings on display were for unbuilt projects. Lo and behold, the polis blog (a Repaso favorite, as you may have noticed) has a post taking a look at three of Wright’s unbuilt projects.

9. Half the Sky: The Movie
I’m looking forward to watching the Half the Sky documentary when it airs on PBS this October. I read the book a couple of years ago, and had this to say about it. Here’s the trailer for the film, laden with celebrities.

[Photo credit: thepolisblog.org]

Repaso: Reject Apathy, faith & science, culture-shaping moments, globalized Christianity, “social” justice

December 30, 2011 — Leave a comment

1. Reject Apathy, #2
The second issue of Reject Apathy is now out and available for online viewing for free. Lots of good stuff in it, intended especially, I think, for twenty-somethings interested in doing good (tag line: “Sustainable Change. Sacrificial Living. Spiritual Formation”). I blogged about the debut issue back in July.

2. Faith and science
My friend and former pastor/coworker Brian Moore has a series going on his blog about faith, science, and often uncomfortable relationship between the two that seems to be driving a lot of young people away from the church. Brian’s a thoughtful guy, and his series is worth your time. Parts one and two have been posted so far.

3. Top culture-shaping moments of 2011
The folks at Q Ideas have compiled an inspiring list of the most memorable culture-shaping moments of the past year. Despite the many caricatures that evangelical Christians have in our culture (many of which are not entirely undeserved, in my estimation), it’s cool to see how in every sphere of culture there are evangelicals seeking the common good. Let’s support them, cheer them on, and join in the fun, what do you say?

4. Five observations about globalized society and Christianity
With the next Urbana conference just a year away, missions consultant and member of the Urbana leadership team Paul Borthwick shares five insights into our changing world and what it means for Christians.

5. Who put the “social” in social justice?
Scot McKnight shares a Sojourners post from Tim King from earlier in the month (originally here), and offers perspective on the debate over the redundancy or necessity of lumping the words “social” and “justice” together.

[Graphic credit: Reject Apathy, Vol. 2, p. 41]

Repaso: CEO integrity, Brazilian culture wars, rethinking nuclear weapons, Guatemalan war documentary, Derek Webb on free music, Christianity and culture, good economic news, top global thinkers, and justice for all

December 2, 2011 — 1 Comment

1. What does a CEO with integrity look like?
Michael Lindsay, president of Gordon College, had an op-ed yesterday in the New York Times about Gerard Arpey, the American Airlines CEO who just walked away after 30 years out of a belief that filing for bankruptcy — a procedure that’s become standard in the airline industry — is wrong. That he is a man of integrity is worth celebrating; that he is a rare exception among CEOs, though, is lamentable. Lindsay writes:

Over the last eight years, I have interviewed hundreds of senior executives for a major academic study on leadership, including six airline C.E.O.’s. Mr. Arpey stood out among the 550 people I talked with not because he believed that business had a moral dimension, but because of his firm conviction that the C.E.O. must carefully attend to those considerations, even if doing so blunts financial success or negates organizational expediency. For him, it is an obligation that goes with the corner office.

2. Culture wars and Pentecostalism in Brazil
The days of the Religious Right might be mostly behind us here in the US, but in Brazil, it seems to really be catching on. The New York Times has a profile of Silas Malafaia, a televangelist with a massive following who is known for his polarizing views, and takes a look at the rise of Pentecostals and other Protestant groups in Brazil:

About one in four Brazilians are now thought to belong to evangelical Protestant congregations, and Pentecostals like Mr. Malafaia are at the forefront of this growth. In a remarkable religious transformation, scholars say that while Brazil still has the largest number of Roman Catholics in the world, it now also rivals the United States in having one of the largest Pentecostal populations. Not everyone in Brazil is enthusiastic about this shift.

3. Evangelicals rethink nuclear weapons
Members of the National Association of Evangelicals board of directors have written a piece for Washington Post’s “On Faith” column that’s worth prayerful consideration:

Christians hold that all people bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27).Therefore, human life and freedom are precious and should be defended from injustice and tyranny. Nuclear weapons, with their capacity for terror as well as for destruction of human life, raise profound spiritual, moral and ethical concerns. We question the acceptability of nuclear weapons as part of a just national defense. The just war tradition admonishes against indiscriminate violence and requires proportionality and limited collateral damage. New scientific studies reveal that even a limited nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would have profound global consequences, harming billions of innocents. The very weapons meant to restrain evil could potentially destroy all that they were intended to protect.

4. “Our voice, our memory”
Mike at the Central American Politics blog shared this 30-minute documentary about the 36-year civil war in Guatemala, which, according to the makers of the film, meets the international criteria to be considered genocide. Needless to say, it’s not for the faint of heart, but is important for the understanding of history, as well as what you might call “the roots of the present illness.” It’s in Spanish, too, by the way.

5. How free music makes more than sense
Derek Webb, one of my favorite artists who started NoiseTrade (a great place to get free music legally!), has a new reflection on the state of the music industry and what it means for those who make and listen to music (hint: he’s not a fan of Spotify):

There has never been a better moment to be a middle-class or an independently thinking artist making and performing music than right now. The costs and complications of creating, recording, manufacturing, and distributing music are at an all-time low, enabling more music to be made and more artists to make a living than ever before. If your ego can bear not being rich and famous, you can make a respectable and sustainable living as a blue-collar musician. The problem used to be access; now it’s obscurity. And this brings with it a completely new set of problems and opportunities.

6. Andy Crouch on Christianity and culture
If you haven’t read Andy Crouch’s Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, you really should. But if you don’t want to do that, here’s a 50-minute podcast about Christianity and culture, the big themes of that book. If even that is too much to ask, at least take a listen to the four and a half minute snippet about how cultural change can — and often must — start small.

7. Good economic news from Latin America
The BBC reports:

Poverty in Latin America is at its lowest level for 20 years, the UN’s regional economic body, Eclac, says. From 1990 to 2010, the rate fell from 48.4% to 31.4%, which means 177 million people currently live in poverty… “Poverty and inequality continue to decline in the region, which is good news, particularly in the midst of an international economic crisis,” said Alicia Barcena, Eclac’s executive secretary. “However, this progress is threatened by the yawning gaps in the productive structure in the region and by the labour markets which generate employment in low-productivity sectors.”

8. Top 100 global thinkers
Foreign Policy has released its latest list of top global thinkers for the past year. A number of the leaders of the Egyptian revolution are atop the list. I was especially interested to see that Yoani Sánchez, Cuban dissident blogger, and Dr. Paul Farmer, medical anthropologist with a long history in Haiti, made the cut as well.

9. And justice for all [infograhic]
GOOD and Column Five Media have produced an interesting infographic on how the US is doing in terms of income equality and providing all citizens with access to the market economy (click on the image below to view the full-size infographic).

Repaso: Religion in development, immigration as civil rights, Mayan voter frustration, scavenging for gold in Guatemala, and integrated Latin America policy

November 18, 2011 — Leave a comment

1. A ‘devout atheist’ on the role of religion in development
The From Poverty to Power blog, by Oxfam research guru and ‘devout atheist’ Duncan Green, had a post a few weeks ago with an interesting case to make for the importance of religion in international relief, development and advocacy work.

2. New civil rights movement?
The New York Times has an interesting editorial and slideshow on the fallout from Alabama’s “oppressive” new immigration law, suggesting that immigration reform has become a new civil rights movement.

3. Mayan Guatemalans frustrated that their government can’t spell
Guatemalans went to the polls earlier this month for a runoff election in which Otto Perez Molina, a former army general, was elected president. The Christian Science Monitorhad an interesting story leading up to the election about how some 400,000 Mayan citizens have had trouble getting ID cards because of the complicated spelling of their names. Some aren’t buying the government’s excuses, though, saying this is just the latest evidence of anti-Mayan discrimination by the state.

4. A different kind of gold mining in Guatemala
My friend Tomas shared with me this heartbreaking story about those trying to make a living by scavenging through Guatemala City’s landfill in search of discarded jewelry and metal scraps:

At dawn, the scavengers arrive much as if coming to a regular work place. Many are wearing clean, ironed shirts and even whistling. They carry shovels and backpacks filled with their garbage bags, snacks and change of clothes. They leave their dry clothes at an improvised camp and start looking for treasures. Scavenging, which is prohibited by the government, can get particularly dangerous during storm season. The workers say many have died while trying to pick garbage out of water raging through the ravine. Dozens perished one day in 2008 when a mountain of garbage collapsed on them… Still, the “miners” call the dangerous heavy rain “the blessing of winter,” because the increased flow of water improves their chances of finding more metal.

5. Migration & development in Latin America
In October Bread for the World and Church World Service released a fact sheet about the connections between migration and economics in Latin America. Not surprisingly, economic hardship is the number one reason for migration from Latin America to the United States. These two groups are calling for an integrated approach to US development aid in Latin America with domestic immigration reform, which seems like a no-brainer to me. You can’t really address either problem on its own. I’d love to hear a presidential candidate offer a compelling vision for this sort of an integrated approach.