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  • A Prayer For Liberation

    A Prayer For Liberation
    2025/07/24
    Luke 11:1-13 “Our reading closes with a story about shameless persistence in prayer. I will be the first to admit that I don’t understand how prayer works. But it helps me in reading this passage to keep everything in its context. Luke’s audience was an oppressed people being encouraged to persevere in their prayers and actions for liberation. They were praying for the end of all injustice, oppression, and violence. They were praying for liberation from financial debt. They were praying that they would have enough food on their tables. They were praying and working for justice in this world, their world. And whether we would define ourselves as praying people or not, persisting in the work of justice even against what seem to be insurmountable odds, is an encouragement still needed today. Maybe the temptation we are to pray not to be led into is the temptation to give up hope or give in to despair. And if this is how we choose to read this prayer, this a prayer I can say ‘Amen’ to.” For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    16 分
  • Mary, Martha and Gender Equality

    Mary, Martha and Gender Equality
    2025/07/17
    Luke 10:38-42 The Bible and gender equality is a subject of ongoing theological debate within many Christian communities. This debate draws passionate voices from both complementarian and egalitarian perspectives. Egalitarianism holds that men and women are created equal in worth, dignity, and capacity, and that their equality should extend into all areas of life—including leadership roles in the church, home, and society. When read through an egalitarian lens, the Gospels can offer a strong foundation for gender equality. It is also just as true that the Bible has historically been used to support patriarchal systems. What we must ask ourselves in our contexts today is whether a passage or an interpretation of a passage is life-giving? We must ask who is it hurting? Is it moving us closer to a world that is a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone, even those different from ourselves, or away from one?For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    19 分
  • Who Is My Neighbor

    Who Is My Neighbor
    2025/07/10
    Luke 10:25-37 “Ultimately, seeing others as neighbors is a choice. It is a spiritual and ethical discipline that transforms how we relate to those with whom we share our world. It invites us into a larger story, one in which love transgresses human-made boundaries, dignity is upheld, and justice and peace become possible. If we are to build a future that honors every human being, we must begin by looking at the person beside us, no matter how different, and saying, “You are my neighbor.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    17 分
  • Dependency and the Community of Justice

    Dependency and the Community of Justice
    2025/07/03
    Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 “This passage reminds us today to focus on justice work here and now. Not to focus on supernatural realms, but on our own present reality. Luke’s Jesus anchors his disciples’ joy in something much deeper than what’s unseen: their belonging to the beloved community of love, compassion, and justice rather than having their names written in the books of Rome. It’s a call to keep our focus on what the reign of God means for our concrete material lives in matters of justice and compassion and in making our world a safer home for everyone. Justice creates a much larger community than ancient Rome or any nation or religion today. And when we work to make our world a more just home, we are part of this community—now and forever.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    17 分
  • Caring for Those Outside the Tribe

    Caring for Those Outside the Tribe
    2025/07/01
    Luke 9:51-62 “Where does this leave us today? Not belittling family ties, but working for economic justice. Wealth inequality continues to widen globally. Many workers struggle to earn a living wage, while a small percentage hold disproportionate economic power. Fair access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities remains uneven, particularly for marginalized communities. Rising costs of housing and basic needs further strain low- and middle-income families. Economic justice calls for policies that ensure fair wages, progressive taxation, and affordable healthcare. It also involves addressing systemic barriers rooted in race, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, and more. In today’s world, achieving economic justice means creating an economy that prioritizes human dignity, shared prosperity, and the common good over excessive profit and unchecked corporate power. The family based economic system of Jesus’ day created vast wealth for some but economic hardship and poverty for many others. Today, we can take a page from Jesus’ critique and work for economic justice for everyone in our society.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    17 分
  • The Gerasenes and the Current Migrant Crisis

    The Gerasenes and the Current Migrant Crisis
    2025/06/21
    Luke 8:26-39 “The present immigration crisis is driven by a complicated intersection of violence, poverty, and environmental factors, and we need cooperation, compassion, and long-term solutions for the root causes. Current policies are violating people’s human rights. Migration to the U.S. is not new, and our present response to migration is unsustainable and brutally cruel. As followers of Jesus, whose teachings were shaped by the Hebrew prophets and the Torah, it would do us well to listen to those same sources and allow them to inform our stances today.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    19 分
  • I Have Much More to Say to You

    I Have Much More to Say to You
    2025/06/12
    John 16:12-15 “Today, we can build on Jesus’ work, with these themes as our foundation too. Literalists among us have often cited passages like this and only been concerned with those who are literally widowed or fatherless. But the principle here is to prioritize and center whomever our society makes vulnerable to harm. In patriarchal societies like the ones both Proverbs and Isaiah were written for, community members not connected to a man (widows were without a husband, while the fatherless were without a present father) were vulnerable to social, political, and economic harm. Today we can mark other differences that make certain people in our communities vulnerable to harm. Today we don’t only use patriarchal biases We also use differences like race, gender, sexuality, education, culture, legal status or citizenship, and more to make community members vulnerable.”For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    20 分
  • Pentecost and Social Justice

    Pentecost and Social Justice
    2025/06/05
    Acts 2:1-21 Pentecost reminds us that Christians should be deeply concerned with social justice because it reflects the heart of God’s love for humanity. Throughout the Bible, there is a clear emphasis on caring for the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized. In Micah 6:8, believers are called to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” This verse and others, such as Proverbs 31:8–9 and Isaiah 1:17, stress the importance of speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves and defending the rights of the vulnerable. Jesus himself modeled social justice during his ministry: healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and standing with the outcasts of society. To follow Christ means to uphold his values, including actively working toward fairness, equity, and compassion in our communities. Social justice is not a political trend. It is a spiritual calling rooted in love, and a church imbued with the Spirit will heed this call.For more go to renewedheartministries.com
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    18 分