Jolanda Howe

Here's an update--I've tried it, and I like it! Fresh, interactive art, and stories that are faithful to the text. There aren't very many Bible stories yet, but the app indicates that more are coming. What are your thoughts?

It is very interesting to see a list of some topics that have been important and interesting to us this year!

Interesting, when I lived in New Jersey I found it was customary to say "How ya doin'?" when walking past someone on the sidewalk that you did not know. The appropriate, expected response was also "How ya doin'?"--I found it confusing at first, having grown up in midwest where people do not ask a question as they walk swiftly past someone. Soon though, I realized that it wasn't that people were being rude--quite the opposite! They were speaking up to acknowledge my presence. Though they didn't intend to have a conversation with me, neither did they want to walk past as thought I didn't exist. I wonder if that is also the intention behind some flippant greetings you've described. Maybe there is a genuine desire to make people feel valued despite the lack of an established relationship or the time that would allow for an extended conversation.

Wow, I have never heard of "ugly laws"--how shocking. This is an important exhibit, I wonder if it will travel? 

Welcome Norm!

Interesting article. It is really nice when a new song is repeated over several weeks so that everyone has the chance to become familiar with it.

Talking about tough issues together came up in a recent faith formation team meeting at my church. Someone pointed out that many of the issues that turn teens off to the church are the same issues that adults in the church are struggling with--how does the church respond to homosexuality, climate change/environmental issues, science and creation, etc. We expect that our church would be quite divided on these issues and wondered if it would be helpful to have an intergenerational time for teens through adults to sit around tables and discuss tough topics.

First, though, we would need to focus on creating sacred space and preparing ourselves to listen to others and value their perspectives, acknowledging that we are all trying to figure out how to honor Christ and love our neighbors in real life. We would need to be deliberate about helping people learn Christian civility--how to agree and disagree while still remaining calm and having mutual respect for one another. We thought that bringing together teens and adults might open everyone’s eyes to real situations we are facing as individuals and as a church, and help both teens and adults learn how to wrestle with these topics in a health way that strengthens their faith instead of harming it.

I'm not sure where we will go with this, but I'd be interested to hear if others are doing something similar and how they have approached it.

I agree, Al. When I was in college I spent a semester in LA where I had an internship with West Angeles Community Mediation Center. I took a 30 hour mediation training course and have found it helpful in personal relationship. I've often wondered how mediation could be more fully applied to church life and dissagreements. The principles involved in seeking win-win solutions, common ground, compromise, and reconciliation all amount to loving your neighbor as yourself and seek his or her best while resolving conflict. Training in mediation could greatly benefit pastors, elders, and congregations.

I've been reflecting on work lately and reading Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller. In it he describes the importance of work in our lives and in the bigger picture of God's world. It is part of the cultural mandate and one of the ways we join God's creative and redemptive work in the world. It provides us with a sense of meaning and purpose--though not ultimate meaning and purpose. Our public policies should make it easier for people with disabilities to find ways to use thier gifts and passions to do meaningful work too.

Thank you for this reflection, Greg. Your last paragraph is especially important. Hospitality and love are the marks of a Christian.

Thanks for the comment, Fred. I wonder how many people who aren’t familiar with the Bible are watching it. Your caution reminds me of a time when I was leading youth group for high schoolers and someone asked about a story that they thought was in the Bible. It was sort of a fable with a moral, and it was totally fictional, not in the Bible at all.  Yet this person was convinced that the story came from Scripture! Perhaps it was used in a devotional or as a sermon illustration at one point. Likewise, people can get confused when the story is combined with creative liberties.  

I didn't catch the latest episode, but I heard it was quite violent. I hope families with young children are cautious about watching it with their kids. In Sunday school we don’t tell all the stories to every age group. Sometimes people criticize that, but we have to strike a balance—we know kids today to face violence and hardship, and some of these stories speak to them. But we also need to be sensitive to young imaginations that are vivid and easily frightened.