Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh heaven is a place on earth
They say in heaven love comes first
We’ll make heaven a place on earth
Ooh heaven is a place on earth

- 80’s pop sensation (and inadvertent theologian) Belinda Carlisle.

So I’m listening to this show on the radio the other day, and people are fighting about Heaven.

Heaven's Rays. Image courtesy of wallpaper-s.org

Go ahead, let that one sink in for a minute.

The panel that was discussing had gotten worked up and heated, all because they disagreed on some of the finer points about what Heaven looked like and what the Bible means when it talks about the new Heaven and new Earth.

Did I mention this was a Christian radio program?

Sigh.

Personally, my vision of Heaven does not include sitting on clouds playing harps or honest to goodness streets of gold - But I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea…

The Right Reverend George Wayne Smith, Bishop of Missouri

Growing up in Hawaii (and for a couple of years before that in the western Pacific region of Micronesia) I learned to think of “missionary” as a dirty word.  My childhood experiences taught me to understand mission primarily as the thing that well-meaning but clueless people did when they were sent off to convert the natives, an enterprise that all too often ended up destroying the indigenous culture in the process.

My understanding of mission has evolved in recent years, so that I now think of it more in terms of social justice, but social justice always rooted in the Gospel and especially the message and work of reconciliation.  In the first chapter of Mark, Jesus gains a lot of attention as he travels through Galilee, healing people and performing exorcisms.  But while the people are focused on these miraculous doings, Jesus tells…

Hearing about the poverty, violence, and oppression that grip other parts of the world can be overwhelming, and it’s hard to imagine that there’s anything one individual can do. My own faith challenges me to move past that feeling of helplessness, to trust that God will bless whatever efforts, small or large, we can make to reach out to our brothers and sisters in need. Being informed is a good place to start.

To that end, I would like to invite everyone to take advantage of a rare opportunity. The Most Reverend Daniel Deng Bul Yak, Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, will be speaking from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, in Room 458 of Louderman Hall at Washington University. The event is free and open to the public.

An email I received notes that “The Archbishop will be discussing the political situation in Sudan , concentrating on the…

A reader (Centrist) commented on my first posting asking 2 questions. I answered the first question last week. The second question was as follows:

“… why do Muslims vote Democrat. The Democrats support abortion on demand and gay marriage, two things that the Muslim religion is so opposed to.”

I do not know how accurate it is to generalize in absolute terms that Muslims vote Democrat. But judging from my immediate circles, I would say a lot of them vote that way. I am aware of at least few Muslims that are hard-core republicans who are active in the party, and are fund raising for it. I admit, they are in the minority among the Muslims I know. As for those Muslims who vote Democrat, they do it for predominantly the same reasons that non-Muslim vote Democrat.

Social justice and collective social responsibility has been a pillar concept of the Muslim community since the birth…

In the forty years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the theologically informed social justice credentials of African American clergy have been a bit shaky. Of course, Black clergy have been engaged in protest, politics and prophetic preaching. But, to be sure, it seems the marriage of deep theological reflection and prophetic social agitation experienced a separation of sorts. If this is true, the evident “outing” of the Black pulpit’s prophetic edge in recent coverage of the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright of Trinity United Church of Christ and public exploration of Black Liberation theology by mainstream, armchair theologians has caused or contributed to a forced reconciliation.

In recent weeks, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced finalists for its revered, vacant national presidency. Among the three candidates is the Rev. Dr. Frederick Haynes III. Haynes, interestingly enough, is co-chair of the Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference,…