Slavery

Areopagus #27

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n a talk as current as today’s headlines and as wide-ranging as a quality newspaper, Tim Costello takes listeners around the world for a better understanding of human and sexual trafficking and slavery. And it’s not a dry recitation of facts: this gifted communicator offers context and variety - three ways a church can avoid supporting this international trade in human misery; details of his first successful legal case defending a prostitute; why Christian musicians and songwriters need more of life’s bumps and bruises in their lyrics because they have more influence than preachers and theologans. Don’t miss this 51:13 presentation from January’s ACC in Melbourne, Australia. To listen, click on the arrow below or download the episode from the Areopagus podcast on iTunes.

Costello’s biography is available on the next page. › Continue reading

Murungu or Mwanangu

Yes, I am white by Rochelle McAlister

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magine you’re black, and you’re walking down the street when someone walks right up to you, shouts “black person” to your face, then keeps walking. Strange? Racist? You think it would never happen?

My husband and I have lived in Harare, Zimbabwe for about 15 months. Although we have been a bit lax in our studying, we have managed to learn some of the local language, Shona. One of the first words we learned when we moved to Zimbabwe was murungu. Murungu means “white person,” or “British person,” or sometimes just “boss.” We hear this word a lot. In downtown Harare, I have people walk right up to my face and say “murungu” before they keep walking. Talk about stating the obvious! Whenever we go to the rural areas, piles of children will yell out “Murungu! Murungu!” as we drive or walk by. Often I will hear “murungu” interspersed in a conversation that is happening close to me.

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Move over

Areopagus #26T

he only way for The Salvation Army to fulfill God’s mandate is for officers to relinquish their ownership of the organization to soldiers. At the 2006 ACC conference in Melbourne, Australia, Phil Wall takes on one of the ’sacred’ ideas of Army culture: that professional clergy should continue to be the ones in charge. Don’t miss the debate. To listen, click on the arrow below or click here to download the episode (runs 22:24) from the Areopagus podcast on iTunes.

Wall’s biography is available on the next page. › Continue reading

Trash talk

Jonathan Bukiewicz imagines a greener Army

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here has been a lot of trash on my mind lately. From cereal boxes to junk mail circulars to packing material, I’ve started to take notice of the things that I throw away. A couple of times a week, I take our garbage and toss it into a larger green trash bucket outside of our garage. Then once a week, while we go about our day, a truck sneaks through the alley and empties everyone’s buckets. The trash is gone, we fill up the bucket again in the next few days, and life continues.

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Renew your resolve

Areopagus #25

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e worship a God who ferociously values justice. Throughout the history of the church, God births prophets who shake believers out of their complacency to rededicate themselves to the impossible, outrageous, yet God-inspired task, of changing the world. One of those prophets was William Booth and one of his poems of war is rendered into a powerful battle cry in this gripping Areopagus episode. Major Janet Munn calls us to fight… to fight to the very end in this passionate January 2007 presentation at Roots South in Talladega, Alabama. Munn calls us to love and pursue justice with the same resolve as our God… no matter the cost. To listen click on the arrow below (runs: 39:22) or click here to go to our Areopagus podcast on iTunes where this episode can be downloaded.

Munn’s biography is available on the next page. › Continue reading

Lying to save yourself…

… or to silence your conscience

by Vadim Khurin

“Do not steal.”
“Do not lie.” “
“Do not deceive one another.”
Leviticus 19:11

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rom earliest years mothers teach their children: “Do not lie. Lying is bad. Good children never lie.” And it seemed as if no one could argue with that. Yes, indeed, lying and hiding the truth is bad. But then again… Welcome to reality! Every one of us experienced an encounter with a lie. This first encounter usually happens during childhood. A child realizes that not everything that the parents say is the absolute truth. A child looks at things with the open eyes and a question: “Why did they lie to me?” Well, there are many excuses to respond to this question with. The father is busy at work and thus will not be able to play with you. The mother never actually intended to give you permission to watch everything you want on TV. Unfortunately, the very first lie we hear from our parents. › Continue reading

Faith & the city - part 3

Areopagus # 24

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here do faith and the city intersect? What does faith in the city look like? In June, Dr. Jonathan Chaplin challenged participants to consider those questions at the Faith and the City Symposium sponsored by The Salvation Army Ethics Centre in Winnipeg Canada. The event drew a capacity audience of people who are engaged with these issues and under Dr Chaplin’s leadership they grappled with the everyday challenges of living faith in the living organism of the city. Articles written by Chaplin have appeared on theRubicon: Sphere sovereignty & public life | Street-level justice

Chaplin’s final talk of the Symposium was the sermon during an evocative Sunday morning service. It was entitled: Seeking the Welfare of the City. To listen to this presentation (runs 24:59) click on the arrow or click here to go to our Areopagus podcast on iTunes where this episode can be downloaded.

Chaplin’s first lecture from the Faith and the City Symposium appeared on theRubicon on July 27, and the second was posted last Friday. Chaplin’s biography is available on the next page. › Continue reading

Resurrected writers: Chesterton

The dead still speak
An occasional series by Maxwell Ryan

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e was a large man in every way. He stood 6 feet 4 inches and weighed almost 300 lbs. He usually wore a cape and a crumpled hat, with a swordstick in hand, and had a cigar hanging out of his mouth. To some, he was also larger than life. And in literary and religious circles there is still disagreement about his place in history, even though he died more than 70 years ago (1936). During his 71 years of energetic and creative life he wrote around 80 books, several hundred poems, some 200 short stories, 4,000 essays, and several plays. He was a literary and social critic, historian, playwright, novelist, Roman Catholic theologian and apologist, debater, and mystery writer (he created the eccentric and lovable amateur detective, Father Brown). Though he wrote a number of volumes on philosophy he was always proud to remind people that he was first and foremost a journalist.

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Faith & the city - part 2

Areopagus # 23

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here do faith and the city intersect? What does faith in the city look like? In June, Dr. Jonathan Chaplin challenged participants to consider those questions at the Faith and the City Symposium sponsored by The Salvation Army Ethics Centre in Winnipeg Canada. The event drew a capacity audience of people who are engaged with these issues and under Dr Chaplin’s leadership they grappled with the everyday challenges of living faith in the living organism of the city. Articles written by Chaplin have appeared on theRubicon: Sphere sovereignty & public life | Street-level justice

Chaplin’s second, and primary, lecture at the Symposium was entitled: Street Level Justice: A Christian View of the City. To listen to this talk (runs 1:00:45) click on the arrow or click here to go to our Areopagus podcast on iTunes where this episode can be downloaded.

Chaplin’s first lecture from the Faith and the City Symposium appeared on theRubicon last Friday; the final presentation will be posted on August 10. Chaplin’s biography is available on the next page. › Continue reading