Author Archive
Jarrod McKenna
What Would MLK Do? Christians and Climate Change
Monday, January 16th, 2012
Early in the civil rights movement, Bayard Rustin said to King, “I have a feeling that the Lord had laid his hand upon you. And that is a dangerous, dangerous thing.” Similarly, the FBI once described Martin King as the “most dangerous man in America” – and yet, as Martin Luther King Jr day rolls around again in the United States, we are often presented with a figure that seems more like a cheerleader for the status quo rather than a prophetic challenge to it. Somehow, it seems we have made this dangerous figure very safe.
What Would Jesus Occupy? Faith & #Occupy Wall Street
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
It might sound like a set up for a punchline; two God’s Politics contributors, a Muslim professor, an economist, a theologian and translator of Zizek’s work, and an Benedictine Abbott step into radio studios around the world…
It’s not the start of a joke but a start of an important discussion on faith and the #Occupy movement around the world.
With six voices in the discussion it roams from Adam Smith & the Arab Spring, Benedict & Bonhoeffer, Calvinism & Capitalism, divot ends & derivatives, ethics & economics… and we’re not past ‘e’ in the alphabet.
Steve Jobs, God’s Vision & Here I Stand: #OccupyWallStreet NOT Afghanistan
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
This week marks ten years since the occupation of Afghanistan started. I’ve just sat down to throw some thoughts on paper in between speaking engagements in New Zealand. The news here is all Rugby World Cup and the sad death of Steve Jobs. He was too young and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. A mate of mine sent me a quote from Steve Jobs that I keep thinking about, “Your time on this earth is limited, don’t live someone else’s life, live by your vision.”
Vision shapes our lives. And in Jesus we have seen not only seen a vision of God’s fullness, we have seen God’s vision for our lives and our world.
Dumpster Divers on a Mission to Stop Waste
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
[Editor's Note: This article is provided by Jarrod McKenna but in fact was written by Malcolm Quekett of the Western Australia]
It is just past 9pm and Geoff Bice emerges from a skip bin at the back of a shopping centre.
He triumphantly holds something up to the torch light. An egg carton. He opens the carton. One egg looks only slightly damaged. The other 11 appear intact.
He puts the carton into a tray, climbs back into the bin and disappears.
Welcome to the world of the dumpster divers.
Over about an hour Mr. Bice, Jarrod McKenna and the third member of the group, Amy, visit five sites.
Sweet Revenge & Bitter Sounds of Calvary Love: West & Smiley on Obama & Osama
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
“You and I are legatees of Martin Luther King, and really we need to say quite explicitly, as Christians, we are going to be viewed as anti-American, anti-patriotic. Martin Luther King was called the same thing. Dorothy Day was called the same thing. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was called the same thing…”
-Dr. Cornel West
I am so thankful for the poetic words and witness of brother Cornel West.
If you have yet to hear Cornel West and Tavis Smiley’s conversation on Obama’s response to the assassination of Bin Laden it is a must.
The Cross Destroys Evil (Not Killing Osama)
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
My favorite t-shirt (a gift from my mates at “On Earth Peace” ) simply reads “When Jesus said, “Love your enemies,” I think he probably meant, don’t kill them.” I put it on this morning and stepped out of my room ready to canoe to a remote part of Zambia to view inspiring water well projects, when Wezi, my new mate and the regional manager of World Vision Zambia, said “So you have heard they killed Osama then.”
I hadn’t. But the words of our Lord are always timely, especially this morning.
The responses have been predictably grotesque from some quarters (including Fox news that reported OBAMA had been killed) but I think even the ‘tempered’ responses fall short of the glory of the Gospel.
