Common Grounds Online

Glenn Lucke, Why "Good Will Hinton" Is Good For Us

A friend of mine, Will Hinton, endeavors to live out the ideal of listening to multiple points of view about subjects, particularly difficult subjects.  I notice other men and women working at this same ideal, but not many. While my perception may be incorrect, it seems to me that fewer people are doing this.

My ideal: assessing matters rationally, thinking through the implications, and adjusting myself to truth no matter the consequence.  If a belief or practice is not in accord with truth, I want to adjust my belief or practice to be in accord with the truth.  Adjusting myself to truth "no matter the consequence" has resulted in many painful deprivations over the years. Sometimes there is a real cost to abandoning a false belief or practice. But why would anyone who cares about truth want to hold on to falsehood in belief or practice? 

Will Hinton cares about truth. He runs a blog and leads a life that is about seeking out personal relationships with people from different points of view. If you read today's column by New York Times writer Nicholas Kristoff you will see that it's not enough to expose yourself to contrary points of view. For common ground to develop an embodied relationship, preferably occurring in part over a shared meal, is important.

Zoe Sandvig, Friendship and Incarnation

Friendship is a morsel of the Incarnation. As we partake of the bread and the wine, so friendship plays out Christ’s physicality in our lives.

Last week, one of my best friends moved 3,000 horrible miles across the country. Several months of unemployment, ambiguity about the future, and an increasing desire to live out west tugged my friend away from this place, and away from me. I hated to see her to go, but felt even more uneasy about her staying.

There seems to come a time with most good things for an ending to arrive, and resistance to that appropriate ending only prolongs the inevitable. The time had come for Rachel to leave, and I had to let her go.

Matt Kleberg, Stand By Me

In the five minutes that it would otherwise take you to read a full post, do yourself a favor and watch this video.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741

This struck me as a pretty vivid portrait of the Kingdom. Don’t you know this will be going on in the New Heavens and the New Earth!

“But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Tim 4:17-18)

 “…for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom.” (Rev. 5:9-10)

 “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Rev 5:13-14)

 Notice the reaction of the elders. They fall down and worship. I don’t want the song to say more than it does, but I do love the image of a people falling down to worship the King who “stands by them”.

 

Gary Peil, Finding Zoe

Two weeks ago, we were on our way out the door to go to a small group meeting. With four kids, the process of getting out of the door and loading up the car always seems to be a little more difficult than it should be. I asked the kids to put our dog in her kennel. They went outside and started yelling for Zoe to come in to the house. Unfortunately Zoe did not respond. Maybe she was upstairs in one of the kids rooms. We split up and started looking for her, but she was nowhere to be found. After about ten minutes, we made a sobering discovery. There was a hole in the back gate. It wasn't a very big hole, but Zoe is a small Boston Terrier. She did not need a very large hole to in order to make an escape. Unfortunately, our back gate opens onto a busy street. I was scared for our dog, but the kids were approaching panic. Small group would have to wait. We had to find Zoe, before she got hurt. 

Connally Gilliam, Isaiah is Right

Twenty-one pink boxes of donuts.  Two cardboard boxes, jammed with 50 pounds of bread.  One garbage bag of random pastries.  I lower my convertible's top to fit it all in.  With the top back up, and the morning sun beating through the canvas, I close my eyes at the next stoplight, breathing deeply, imagining I'm in a French bakery.
    In fact, I am taking the day-old bread from Harris Teeter and Safeway to the Arlington Food Assistance Center where it will be weighed and distributed to the 130 clients coming that morning for supplemental groceries.  Waiting at the light, I cannot help but wonder at my nine months of logging eight weekly hours at the aesthetically challenged, slightly odd-smelling warehouse in south Arlington. 
    Twenty years ago, I embarked on an internship at Voice of Calvary, a ministry among the poor in Jackson, MS.  That month led to a journey of efforts at racial reconciliation, inner city living & ministry, talking with homeless people, tutoring kids, and giving to social-justice ministries.  But during the two decades I came to realize that the problems were far deeper than I, Miss Preppy Girl from Preppy Girl Land, could ever solve:  the poor needed jobs I couldn't create, communities I couldn't develop.  Throwing one star fish back into the sea is lovely for that one starfish, but it would not stop him or her from washing back up on the shore with all the others in the next strong tide.

Mark Upton, Noted Atheist Penn Gillette Compliments a Christian Attempting to Evangelize Him

About a year and a half ago on his video blog noted atheist Penn Gillette of the comedy duo Penn and Teller described being approached by a Christian in a manner that really moved him.I didn't find out about it until today. Maybe I'm late to the party, but I thought I'd pass it on.

This is a great model for evangelism that we should all take to heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM&feature=player_embedded

Kathryn Gatewood, People Watching and Jesus

My husband and I recently returned from a week long vacation to Vancouver, BC. The distance and cheap ticket provided us with basically two full travel days- one at each end of the trip, and a lot of airport time.     One can only read so much before inevitably being sucked into "people watching". I think I probably take in about 15 people per minute, though often dwelling longer on those I feel drawn to over analyze due to interesting shoes, books, or family dynamics. It's pretty pathetic but the stories I contrive in my head about these strangers are quite elaborate. Partly I am simply fascinated by the diversity, partly I judge and feel pretty good about myself in comparison, and partly I get sad. But at one point, at the end of our trip, as I was staring down more people as we waited to board our final flight, I looked at my husband and asked, "What would go through Jesus' head in an airport?" How different would it be from what goes through mine? Where would his mind wander to? In short, how are we to "see" people and how does Jesus "see" us?

Here is a short list of what I'm coming up with, and a challenge to come up with your own. 

Linc Ashby, Nothing Then Something

Last week I was scheduled to post on Thursday.  Nothing came to me.  So, for the second time since Common Grounds launched I begged Glenn to forgive me and he did.  And then something came to me.  Trouble is, it's now long after my date and much too long for this site (1900 words).  Please visit the following site if you'd like to read my parable entitled, "Two Daughters of a King" - Linc's Blog.  Thanks!

Cody Chambers, Who Needs a Home?

Holidays can be rough for graduate students who live a thousand miles from home. One family decided that at Easter no one in the body of Christ should be alone. I had never met this family before arriving for lunch—they had just extended the invitation to anyone who didn't have anywhere to go. After being cooped up in a residence hall all semester, entering their house was like being set free. A bookshelf spread across one wall, inviting guests to spot a volume and then use is it as a conversation starter. The deviled eggs and Romanian sweet bread far outdid the campus cafeteria. But it was the afternoon of sharing our hearts for ministry, ideas, family, and community that made the trip worth it. For me, their home that day became a temporary shelter from the things that burdened me.

Jim Broyles - Reformed Masochism

Throughout my years in the reformed church (really beginning at a campus ministry in college and followed by involvement in three different church communities), I have noticed something among my fellow believers I first thought to be natural and am now finding more and more peculiar.

While in college, I observed that whenever folks, myself included, would gather for a Bible study or teaching, we would later evaluate the strength of message or the capacity of the teacher based on the depth of our responsive conviction.  To become convinced of your need for Christ and his work, it is utterly essential to intimately understand your own heart, its destructive tendencies, and the grand schism between your will and God's will.  I believe this.  I believe that to have Jesus's light shine, one needs to be cognizant of the darkness.