tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016Thu, 02 Apr 2026 20:42:30 +0000revised draft for blogfor blogReflections by Theologian-Activist Charles Bayerhttp://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)Blogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-9202237641681902057Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:44:00 +00002009-03-30T15:52:57.388-04:00We are all honored by the President’s selection of our General Minister and President, Sharon Watkins, to deliver the sermon at the traditional day-after-the inauguration service at the Washington Cathedral. We Disciples may be justly proud, but the honor goes to her. And a mighty sermon it was! Dr. Watkins invoked both the thrust of the gospel and the crisis of the decisions facing the new http://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2009/01/lets-practice-what-she-preached.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-2347567481539698183Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:03:00 +00002009-01-14T09:24:56.910-05:00A colleague recently reminded me of the huge difference between the Christmas stories in Luke and Matthew. Luke’s account is sweetness and light. It starts with the beautiful recitation of Gabriel’s visit to Mary. There are angels who sing to shepherds, telling them not to be afraid. There is “Peace on earth good will to all.” Mary treasures the message in her heart, and the shepherds return homehttp://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2009/01/sweetness-and-light.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-3150113166420159629Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +00002008-09-26T14:14:15.108-04:00for blogFor the last couple of days I have been slogging through our Disciples Year Books from 1971 until 2006. My purpose has been to look at controversial resolutions voted on from Assembly to Assembly. A couple of things immediately come to mind: First, no matter what we say about the serious issues facing the world, hardly anybody outside either reads them or pays the slightest attention to http://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2008/09/o-those-nasty-resolutions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-3279393747856458492Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:47:00 +00002008-09-16T12:21:56.842-04:00revised draft for blogWendy and I have recently returned from Australia, a nation that has a lot going for it. The average income per couple is over $100,000 per year--and there are few enormous incomes which might distort that statistic. What is more, nobody needs to worry about health care, the costs of education or what will happen to them when they grow older. Not pouring hundreds of billions each year into a http://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2008/09/no-matter-what-church-does-not-say-war_16.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-9140328834336178479Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:26:00 +00002008-08-20T02:52:03.254-04:00revised draft for blogNot too long ago--while I probably should have been busy doing something else--I got involved in watching the Senate Armed Services Committee attempting to find out just how high in the Administration the decision to torture suspected captives went. The President, and the officials who were testifying, claim that the United States doesn't torture anyone.If you define a rattlesnake as having threehttp://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2008/07/what-is-torture.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-5827506979881412810Fri, 23 May 2008 23:18:00 +00002008-12-11T12:26:39.903-05:00The recent report on the United Methodist's quadrennial General Conference created a wave of disappointment within that denomination. Hopeful advocates of marriage equality for Gays and Lesbians were crushed when again their denomination refused to budge from a long-standing resistance to what many consider one of the last bastions of the denial of civil rights. The vote was narrowly against http://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-secure-your-denominations-demise.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-4172364413348017680Sat, 10 May 2008 17:59:00 +00002008-12-11T12:26:40.480-05:00I am often pulled by two competing forces. Sometimes these exertions seem to run on parallel tracks, and sometimes they are dramatically separate. My first loyalty is to the church, its history, its place in society and the Christ whose vision it serves. But I am also up to my neck in the political process, and particularly what I believe are the ethics which form its base. So, as a Christian, I http://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2008/05/religious-political-dilemma.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-3225073945885704647Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:59:00 +00002008-12-11T12:26:40.968-05:00I want to follow up on my last post. If one of the positive marks of our age is the emergence of a new generation of creative progressive young adults, what is the possibility that these visionaries will persist in their cultural idealism? The evidence is not clear. Certainly in the business world young idealists who come out of college ready to take on the world, are most often taken over by http://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2008/04/why-many-of-our-brightest-young-leaders_3822.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-6944755047498601584Fri, 15 Feb 2008 04:25:00 +00002008-12-11T12:26:42.320-05:00Nobody needs to prove that there is a ton of bad news around these days. There have been times when I have turned off the evening news within two minutes after turning it on. Eight years of very bad stuff, disasters piled on disasters, a national belligerency that has soured most of the world, the attempt to legitimize torture, an approaching ecological catastrophy that is unmet because even to http://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2008/02/yes-we-can.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-4100804705557629308Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:20:00 +00002008-12-11T12:26:42.706-05:00All,Here goes a new effort. I'm not sure how it will turn out, and if you happen across this blog, I'd be interested in your reaction. The dialog we might create about the matters discussed here will sharpen what I think. I never really know much without listening carefully. I want to listen to you. While this not an official DJAN effort, as one of the founders of the DISCIPLES JUSTICE ACTION http://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2008/01/here-goes-my-new-blog.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911096383392192016.post-377386634086807700Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:08:00 +00002008-12-11T12:26:42.724-05:00It is important to affirm the roots of faith. I am a Christian because of the stories, myths, metaphors images, and hopeful dreams which have come to me and therefore define who I am. At heart, these stories are shaped by the life and ministry of Jesus--his story. And Jesus was a story teller.Every religion has its metaphors. They are the only way anyone can approach the Mystery to which they http://charlesbayer.blogspot.com/2008/01/dont-give-up-on-christian-faith.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Charles Bayer)1