Lodi United Methodist Church
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Homes Show Where the Christian Heart Is By Laura Pfeffer I still remember the first time I went to work on a house for Habitat for Humanity. It was while I was a graduate student down in North Carolina. My group was assigned to add trim to closets. It was a small closet, but we packed ourselves in it like clowns in a circus car. We were all eager to get in there and pound nails. Since then I have worked on a number of different Habitat projects. Each one has been fun and rewarding, but more importantly it has changed the lives of families by providing affordable housing. Being able to work beside those who benefit from the program is a powerful gift both as a witness of faith on the one hand and as a way of building true community crossing boundaries of circumstance and opportunity. In Creating A Habitat for Humanity: No Hands But Yours, Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity, describes the philosophy and hard work which empower the work of his organization. Habitat seeks to answer God’s call to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8) by eliminating poverty and homelessness by building affordable housing all around the world. It is a strong Christian witness derived from Christ’s call to love and serve our neighbors. Interested in other books about acts of Christian witness in the world? Try some other books from the United Methodist Women’s reading list: Send Me! The Story of Salkehatchie Summer Service by Andrew, Culp and Dexter; God’s Golden Acre: A Biography of Heather Reynolds by Dale le Vack; The Blindfold’s Eyes: The Journey from Torture to Truth by Sister Dianna Ortiz; Minding God’s Business: The Stories of Women in Mission in the United Methodist Church by Megan Simpson and Robert Simpson; and, William Sheppard: Congo’s African American Livingstone by William Phipps. ____________________________________________________
Being Faithful in the Political World By Laura Pfeffer God is not Republican or Democrat. This is true, but not always fully appreciated. God’s politics is not the same as those of any of our political parties and we are at great peril if we claim or act otherwise. The democratic process is a great privilege and I always take every opportunity to vote not just because I am aware that many people in the world do not have such a chance, but also because for much of the history of the United States women could not vote and were considered too stupid to grasp the arguments and nuances of politics. I feel every vote I make is a direct contradiction of such narrowness of mind, but more than that I want to be a part of the way politics works. It is an imperfect and sometimes depressing or cynical system, yet at heart it is about entrusting the decision making power to the people – you and me. That reminds me of the way God works – by entrusting the power of faith to each of us in the hope that we will use it to fulfill the ultimate kingdom of God. Jim Wallis lays out the elements he sees as being distinctly a part of God’s political philosophy in his book God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It. Coming from a prophetic, progressive angle, Wallis takes both political major parties to task for ignoring the overwhelming evidence of God’s call for justice, peace and concern for the poor seen in the biblical text. God’s view of the world is a direct challenge to all of our politics by siding with the parts of society the world neglects the most. As an activist as well as a preacher, Wallis calls for all of us to wake up and make change happen in order for the values of the kingdom of God to be made manifest in our world today. Asking the tough questions of "When did God become pro-rich?", "When did God become pro-war?" and "When did God become a Selective Moralist?" Wallis brings a consistent, yet challenging ethic into the political arena it has been severely lacking. Interested in other books about the roll of faith in politics? Try some other books from the United Methodist Women’s reading list: For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire by James Yee; Living Peace: A Spirituality of Contemplation and Action by John Dear; Silencing Political Dissent: How Post-September 11 Anti-Terrorism Measures Threaten Our Civil Liberties by Nancy Chang; and, Embracing the World: Praying for Justice and Peace by Jane Vennard.
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Lodi United Methodist Church
Office Hours: 9:00am - 3:00pm M-Th Office Phone and Fax: (608) 592-3480
Rev.
Scott Walters, Pastor
Julie Wilson, Pastoral Assistant
For comments or questions about this web site please contact rschmie@chorus.net Last updated: December 23, 2008 |
