Written on 12/29/2008 10:02:00 PM by Miles
So, I just came across this today and was quite intrigued. It's from May of this year, but it's completely new to me. Wright defends his opinion that the obscenely massive debt that Africa owes to Western countries and banks should be cancelled. Here are a few quotes from Wright to get you started. Read the entire thing HERE.
In the 1970s, for example, Western financial institutions loaned the best part of a billion dollars to Idi Amin of Uganda - a vicious psychopath and known to be such. By doing so, they not only saddled that impoverished country will a millstone of debt, but financed the dictator's reign of terror. These actions were both financially irresponsible and morally reprehensible. After Amin's fall, the debts were inflated by massive rates of compound interest (up to 20% p.a.!) resulting mainly from economic policies pursued by the developed world, not least as long-term results of the Bretton Woods agreement. At the same time, the bottom fell out of the market for Uganda's main exports.
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Here in North East England, Christian Aid received an unsolicited email from Dr Simon Challand, when he was working in southern Uganda with the Church Mission Society. He wrote that: "Debt relief means money stays in the country instead of pouring out to Europe and the US and there have been huge improvements in health and education...The Ministry of Health has just increased the grant to all the health centres by 85%... four years ago they got nothing. Many health centres are able to provide immunisation, growth monitoring, health education and antenatal care to remote rural areas...Everywhere you go you can see new classrooms going up to support the Universal Primary Education programme which gives every child 7 years of free schooling." [Uganda used its first tranche of debt relief to improve basic medical provision and to abolish fees for primary school.]
Posted in
Africa,
debt,
NT Wright
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Written on 12/28/2008 08:51:00 AM by Miles
So, I've posted earlier entries on this blog regarding living life as Jesus would and called them "Gut Check." These were posts that dealt with things that I personally struggle with doing as a Christian. But, I don't know if I've ever really posted any opinion(s) that I have on the church, partially because I have some guilt with it and more so because I know several of you that read here are directly involved in church leadership. But, blog communities are supposed to be the most authentic, right? Well, here goes...
I came across an article yesterday morning that really confirmed a lot of things that I've been thinking about church since I moved to Arizona just over two years ago. The article was titled, "How Many Christians Does it Take to Unscrew the Church?" (you can read it by clicking on the title)
Let me say that my church history (if you will) would be that I came from a church with 100 attendees on Easter that had a very inward-focused congregation to a much larger church of ~1200 attendees that seemed totally outward/community-focused. It was definitely a big culture shock for me. What I found with this experience, along with many others since, is that I feel that what we're making "church" in our culture is a far cry from what Jesus designed it to be. Keith Giles gives his take on this in the article, and says that we have changed the model of church to an organizational one versus the organism model that God designed it to be. Here's a quote from Giles:
I know that Jesus had something amazing in mind when He designed His Church. It wasn't meant to be a burden to His people. He modelled and inspired a family of faith where everyone was gifted to serve and empowered to encourage and heal and edify and inspire the rest. Of course, the problem is that we have chosen to try it our own way and this is what we get - tired and empty and run down.
Read the rest of the article and let me know your thoughts. Do you agree or disagree? I'd love to hear what you all think.
Posted in
church,
community,
Gut Check,
relationships
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Written on 12/23/2008 10:15:00 AM by Miles
...I challenge you all to conspire. See below:
Go here for more...
Posted in
Christmas,
Gut Check
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Written on 12/19/2008 08:09:00 AM by Miles
....for Christmas?
Mine is "O Come O Come Emmanuel."
your turn...
Posted in
Christmas,
music
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