Dreams Unlocked

On Monday this week I was invited to speak on a panel about the proposed "Ithaca Plan", put forward by the Mayor's office in the city of Ithaca. This is a comprehensive proposal to treat a drug epidemic in our county which claimed 3 lives over Mother's Day weekend this year. It was a meeting which ran from 12:30-4:30 (My involvement was about an hour long.) I sat on a panel with a clergyman from Chicago who leads a national movement of Clergy for Drug Renewal, and a former District Attorney from Washington D.C. who also campaigns for drug law reform. Here are 2 things that I shared that I think are worth passing on to you: My motivation to speak out -  One is the nature of God. The God of the Bible is revealed as a God on the side of the poor, marginalized and rejected. Constantly choosing the younger and weaker to accomplish his purposes. Another  motivation is the nature of humanity. Human beings are created in the image of God and because of that fact both de...

I am currently teaching an adult education class in my church called "Personal Spiritual Formation". It is based on material put out by the dean of the seminary I currently attend, Dr. Ron Walborn. 25 adults signed up for the class and I ended up having to turn away others who showed interest. As we have been working through the material someone commented to me that this class is not what they thought it was going to be. This class covers things like grieving and honesty. I think what has happened is that for many of us spiritual formation simply means learning more things - head knowledge. But, the material I am teaching goes deeper - it goes to the heart. The reason I feel this material is important is because there is something missing in contemporary Christianity. We have lost our hearts. What I mean is is that we have absolutely excellent academic training in areas of theology, hermeneutics, exegesis and biblical scholarship. Almost anyone can now access some of the ...