for the love of panic

I was out of town & offline this weekend when everything started breaking loose with swine flu.  I believe it’s tragic that people have lost their lives because of this disease & I hope that people wiser than i are able to quickly and effectively provide treatment and help for those suffering from it.

however, i’m deeply, deeply concerned by the media and general public’s response to this disease outbreak.

alleys of kingdom come

Jesus had just started.  he was just getting going.  and some guys came to ask him questions.  his cousin, John, had heard the rumors that Jesus was claiming to be the One.  the One that generations had longed for.  the One that John was wacked out for, living a life so outside the box that people couldn’t help but pay attention.

and so he sent some guys to find out the truth.

they arrive and ask this Jesus character if what they’ve heard is true.  is he the One?!  and Truth answers:

Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

wait.

that’s not what i was expecting.  if the church today were “the guys,” what would we have told John?  because this seems a bit off message…  

poverty of love

From Josh Reid @ Barclay Press:

“The overwhelming nature of the world’s needs too often paralyzes the church—and so we do nothing. We see that a meal, a haircut, and a warm sleeping bag are really not changing any of the underlying causes of peoples’ hardships—and so we do nothing. When we act this way we reduce poverty to something that can only be measured in dollars and we objectify people by reducing them to a problem.