What Heaven Must Be Like
Sojomail - October 25, 2007
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If we sent them home, there wouldn't be a home to go to. - Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), on the Senate's rejection of the DREAM Act, which offers the children of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they serve in the military or complete two years of higher education. McClatchy papers also report that Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) unsuccessfully sought the arrests of several undocumented immigrant students who had been invited to Washington to lobby for the bill. (Source: McClatchy Newspapers) + Sign up to receive "Verse and Voice" - our daily quote and Bible verse e-mail
We were there two hours early watching the Colorado Rockies take their batting practice. Luke, proudly wearing the brand new Red Sox jersey I had splurged to buy him that afternoon, just kept saying, "Wow," as Rockie hitters kept putting balls over the "Green Monster" wall in left field. "Dad! Did you see that one? Awesome!!!" We talked about the only other time Luke had ever been to Fenway, in his mother’s womb when I took my new English wife, Joy Carroll, to her first baseball game in I don’t think I’ve written about my "other life" much on this blog, as a Little League baseball coach every weekend for Luke and 13 other fourth graders whom I’ve had now for the last four baseball seasons, beginning with t-ball. My first instructions were things like, "Throw the ball overhand." They’re the veteran AA Astros now, and are undefeated again this season (but we all know that, as Christians, winning and losing doesn’t matter). I also would never brag about my son’s play - like ever tell anyone about the recent game where he went four for four, with a double and three homeruns (including a grand slam), or that he is an Little League All Star first basemen who backhanded a smash ground ball that would have gotten through on the right side of the infield and then outran the other kid to first base, winning the game. I would never talk about such things. Those batting practice hits over the Wall were about the only ones the On Sunday, one of the other kids from our team gets to go to + Comment on this article on the God's Politics Blog
Video: Jim Wallis and Richard Land Debate Voter Values On Friday, Jim Wallis and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, engaged in a dialogue on the role of faith in politics at the Family Research Council’s "Values Voters Summit," tackling such issues as abortion, poverty, the environment, and national security.
Video: Jim Wallis and the Evangelical Electorate on CBS On the eve of his dialogue with the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land at the Family Research Council's Values Voters Summit, Jim appeared on CBS News with Katie Couric last night to talk about changes in evangelical political engagement. A Message to All 'Values Voters' (by Jim Wallis) I'm grateful to Tony Perkins and FRC Action for hosting the Oct. 19 dialogue focused on the "values" for values voters. I also thank Richard Land, my frequent dialogue partner and friend. I believe we found areas of real agreement and also healthy disagreement - and that is good. We both agreed that the issue is not whether faith should help to shape our public life, but how.
+ See what's new on the blog of Jim Wallis and friends Waking Up to War with Iran (by Brian McLaren) I am afraid, but not for the reasons our government is telling me to be afraid. I am afraid that I may wake up one morning soon to discover that our government has launched a preemptive attack on Iran. While our government is issuing national orange alerts about "them," I wonder whether we Christians should be issuing global orange alerts about our own government. Why Rich People Will (or Won't) Go to Hell (by Dr. Marvin A. McMickle) Dr. Marvin A. McMickle delivered the following sermon on the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) at a public witness and rally during Sojourners' "Reviving Our Spirits: Transforming Our Politics" conference in Cleveland last weekend. Dr. McMickle is pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Mystery Quote Quiz of the Week (by Ryan Rodrick Beiler) Who made the following statement in a recent television interview? I'm not sure that that group in Washington is really representative of evangelicals across the spectrum. This is the Family Research Council and some of the James Dobson supporters; I just think that's just a narrow slice of evangelical thought. A) Jim Wallis Condi and Holy Land Christians (by Deanna Murshed) I couldn't help but wonder what was going through your mind as you stood in the midst of some of the "living stones" of the Holy Land last week. Hearing the stories of fellow Christians who have carried on the teaching and ministry of Christ since antiquity – holding firm and weathering the elements of history for the sake of the church's witness. For what it's worth, I commend you for breaking from your diplomatic meeting schedule to sit down with top religious leaders – Christian, Jewish and Muslim. I read that you listened as leaders spoke about "real life" complaints such as the failure of Israeli authorities to recognize the Greek Orthodox patriarch. But were you surprised to find that so many of your own Christian brothers and sisters are Palestinian – and suffering as a result of the occupation, and less than enthusiastic about the U.S.'s role in the matter? You don't often hear about these folks in American media. How Many Values Does it Take to Make a Values Voter? (by Ryan Rodrick Beiler) No doubt there are critics who will dispute Jim's description of the Religious Right as having an overly narrow agenda. Case in point: Witness this dynamic observed by Faith in Public Life's (former Sojourner intern) Dan Nejfelt, live blogging from the FRC Summit on Friday: "Earlier [FRC head Tony] Perkins said 'values voters' aren't single issue voters. Brownback - 'you're right, I care about two issues.' [Okay, that's a paraphrase, but he said it. Those issues are abortion and 'restoring decency' to America's culture.]" Let the Little Children Suffer - Again (by Obery Hendricks) There is a good deal of contention about President George W. Bush's reasons for vetoing the SCHIP legislation that would have provided a much needed expansion of medical coverage for America's poorest children. Bush's supporters assert that the legislation would extend coverage to middle class families with incomes up to $83,000 a year, while hundreds of thousands of poor children would remain uninsured. They also share his argument that the bill would be a major step toward "socialized" medicine and government-run health care. Evil Is Innovative (by Bob Massey) Sunday we had the big sendoff at church. David Batstone (author of Not For Sale) spoke about his findings on slavery worldwide and here in California. It's completely NUTS. Like, the world should be embarrassed. People, didn't we sort this out a century or two ago? But evil is innovative. It seems there are endless ingenious ways to exploit one another. And they say there's nothing new under the sun...
+ Sign up to receive our "Daily Digest" e-mail - the latest headlines on critical issues Top Stories: Video: CBS Evening News extended interview with Jim Wallis G.O.P. Candidates at 'Values Voters' Conference Values Voter Summit, Morning Session Mobilizing the Religious Left Campus Cleansing New Century, Same Crisis Land, Wallis debate faith & policy issues Progressive, Conservative Evangelicals Debate Divisive Issues Values Voters Summit: Land, Wallis debate how faith influences politics Without defining them, Wash. Post asserted Brownback "talk[ed] about Christian values" Respect Opponents-and Voters: Commentary Evangelicals gather in D.C. and reaffirm that climate is not their focus "Sojourners in the news" articles are the most recent news clippings that mention Sojourners in any way - whether favorably or unfavorably. Though we provide the text on our site for your convenience, we do not necessarily endorse the views of these articles or their source publications. |
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