Épisodes

  • Hope Despite Appearances

    Hope Despite Appearances
    Jun 15 2024
    Mark 4:26-34 Just as we don’t have to understand how seeds work in order to plant the seeds, we don’t always have to understand how our world is going to be put right to take the first steps in reshaping it. Many times, the road to justice is made as we travel it. How justice is achieved from the modest beginnings of grassroots movements is often a path with twist and turns that surprise us and could not have been predicted. There is mystery in how our combined justice efforts combine with others’ justice efforts to create something that is often greater and more beautiful than the sum of all its parts.For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    16 min
  • Labelling Social Justice as Dangerous

    Labelling Social Justice as Dangerous
    Jun 6 2024
    Mark 3:20-24 “The Beelzebul controversy makes me think of how certain Christians have feared the women’s liberation movement, opposed the abolition of slavery, or are still opposed to making our world a safer place for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer/questioning. I think of how certain Christians are opposed to political movements attempting to make our world safer for children by passing background checks for firearms. The number one cause of death of school age children in the U.S. is not library books or drag queens, but mass shootings. Certain Christian leaders seek to inspire fear among middle class people about programs to have the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes to fund more programs for the poor and disenfranchised. This story serves as a warning and helps us consider whether we are genuinely using the wisdom of Jesus’ teachings as we assess the work and progress of those presently shaping our world into a safer, compassionate, just home for everyone.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    18 min
  • The Sabbath and Social Justice

    The Sabbath and Social Justice
    May 30 2024
    Mark 2:23-3:6 “Are there times when we have interpreted our own Jesus following in ways that have become death dealing for our society? Is our practice of Christianity socially life-giving? Are we obstacles to those around us working toward a more just, safer, compassionate society with room for everyone or are we, like Mark’s Jesus, standing up to those obstacles and being conduits of love, life, and healing? Where are we in the way? How can we get out of the way and come alongside, choosing to recognize those working to make our world a safer place for everyone, and adding our energy and effort to their work?”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    16 min
  • Reuniting the Material and the Spiritual

    Reuniting the Material and the Spiritual
    May 23 2024
    John 3:1-17 “This division between the flesh and the spirit, between the physical, material world and the spiritual has born seriously destructive fruit throughout Christianity. The Jesus in the synoptic gospels did not separate the spiritual from the fleshly or material. He taught his followers how to navigate their material world by righting injustice, ending oppression, and offering healing alternatives to violence. That Jewish Jesus did not separate the spiritual and material to offer a path of escape from the material world. Rather he taught his followers how to lean into their material world in life-giving ways.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    15 min
  • Pentecost as Connectedness and Distributive Justice

    Pentecost as Connectedness and Distributive Justice
    May 16 2024
    John 15:26-27; 16:4-15; Acts 2:1-4 “In the synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts, we see a fruit of the Spirit included the restoration of social justice. In these stories, whether the Spirit is poured out on Jesus or his followers, it is evident in their profound concern for the suffering caused by societal structures.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    18 min
  • Sent to be Socially Life-Giving

    Sent to be Socially Life-Giving
    May 10 2024
    John 17:6-19 “Although we may be different, we belong to each other. What affects one affects us all. We either thrive together or decline and wither together. Humanity is far from homogeneous, but we are all still part of each other. Like it or not, our shared humanity connects us all.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    16 min
  • Loving One Another and Social Justice

    Loving One Another and Social Justice
    May 2 2024
    John 15:9-17 “Whatever we say about love, the Jesus of the gospels, and the Divine, these beliefs about love must transform us into more loving human beings. We can teach, preach, and believe in love, and still not let those beliefs become anything more than mental assent to ideas. We must choose to apply our beliefs about love not just to how we imagine God relates to us, but also to how we relate to one another! And we can’t love one another and not care about the things each of us suffers as a result of the way our society is shaped.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    14 min
  • Different Kinds of Christianity Produce Different Kinds of Fruit

    Different Kinds of Christianity Produce Different Kinds of Fruit
    Apr 25 2024
    John 15:1-8 “Today, it is no secret that many kinds of Christianity are failing to produce the kind of fruit that makes this world a better place. We can, if we choose, be a part of shaping a world that is just and safe for everyone. It will require change for some types of Christianity. And this change, difficult as it may be, in the end, will be worth all the effort it takes.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    16 min