this.

…otherwise orthodox evangelicalism is dead. It’s dead to oppressed folks in our back yards who need to hear the word of God spoken into their situation with all the prophetic unction our Lord would give. It’s dead to grieving parents required to have closed casket funerals for their children because racist systems and people so disfigure the body it can’t be shown.

Orthodox evangelicalism is dead to the marginalized because it’s so allergic to the margins. It wants its mainstream, its tree-lined streets of cultural acceptance, its reserve and respectability. So it’s dead.

read more here: Ferguson

Acts 29 & Mark Driscoll

Today, the leaders of Acts 29 asked Mark Driscoll to step down from active ministry. They also removed Mars Hill from their leadership network until Mark is removed from leadership.

This is what biblical church government looks like, and I really appreciate Matt Chandler’s courage to lead Acts 29 in this direction. I also hope this step breaths new life into proper church governance and accounibility for pastors. Over the last few decades we in the North American church have failed to hold our leaders to principles of godly accounibility. I hope this is the turning point for many churches and church networks.

Here is a good, but sober quote from Kyle Firstenberg, one of the past pastor’s of Mars Hill:

This action from Matt Chandler and the other members of the board of A29 is one of the most loving acts I have seen in leadership in the Church world in recent years.

I do believe that these men love Mark and Mars Hill just as I and countless others do. I agree with their findings and pray that Mark Driscoll, Sutton Turner and Dave Bruskus would repent and step down. I believe this would be the most God honoring thing to do as it would show their love for Jesus and the Gospel is greater then their position, authority and influence.

Read more here

why there is such a strong pushback against ‘justice’

— most pushback happens when we treat the marginalized with compassion, equality and justice.

‘acts of charity’ are not controversal in today’s church, but a christ-like life of #justice is. because that kind of life challenges the status quo.

thankful for pastor’s like Eugine Cho who are leading the church into a more ‘rooted’ understanding of who we are called to be

blog post by Eugine Cho

on being told to ‘stop being divisive’

far too often, the “stop-being-so-divisive” line is used by those in power to diffuse, or even silence, difficult conversations about why things might need to change. — rachel held evans

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