igneousquill

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It was pretty obvious to me (and many, many others) from well before May 21 Camping and some of his followers would attempt to "spiritualize" the proclaimed Judgment Day of May 21, 2011. It seemed difficult, given they'd been promising both rapture and terrible worldwide earthquakes and saying "The Bible Guarantees It." The fact of the matter, though, is that this is just history repeating itself.

The following comes from the Wikipedia entry on the Seventh-Day Adventist Church:

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the largest of several Adventist groups which arose from the Millerite movement of the 1840s in upstate New York, a phase of the Second Great Awakening. Miller predicted on the basis of Daniel 8:14–16 and the "day-year principle" that Jesus Christ would return to Earth between the Spring of 1843 and the Spring of 1844. In the summer of 1844, Millerite Adventists came to believe that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844, understood to be the Biblical Day of Atonement for that year. When this did not happen, most of his followers disbanded and returned to their original churches.

Some Millerites came to believe that Miller's calculations were correct, but that his interpretation of Daniel 8:14 was flawed as he assumed it was the 'earth that was to be cleansed' or Christ would come to cleanse the world. These Adventists arrived at the conviction that Daniel 8:14 foretold Christ's entrance into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary rather than his second coming. Over the next decade this understanding developed into the doctrine of the investigative judgment: an eschatological process commencing in 1844 in which Christians will be judged to verify their eligibility for salvation and God's justice will be confirmed before the universe. The Adventists continued to believe that Christ's second coming would be imminent, although they refrained from setting further dates for the event.

This has happened time and again throughout history. It's nothing new, and it's a shame for decent, sincere people swept up into it.

A pretty good talk from Dave Pocta sharing 10 key factors to healthy Youth & Family Ministry. The only item that raised an eyebrow for me was his reference to "evolution" as a threat to young people.

When I was younger it never bothered me that the versions of the Bible I read weren't "gender inclusive." In fact, at one point I even came to believe that "gender neutrality" was a sign a version was "liberal." Fortunately, that was a fairly brief period in my thinking (my undue theological traditionalism lasted longer than that particular idea, unfortunately). I've read from many different Bible versions over the years, and the only one that really disappointed me was the shabby Contemporary English Version (click here for comments related to that version). It wasn't until the past couple of years that I've found myself actually uncomfortable with Bibles that don't use gender inclusive language.

Maybe it's because I have two ladies in my life very close to me: my wife and daughter. Perhaps it's the result of living in a more urban setting where such issues and women's equality are more sensitive that in the rural area where I was raised. I'd like to think it's the result of theological reflection, and I certainly think that appropriate gender neutrality makes better sense of the text's meaning than the alternative.

Consider the following from 1 John 2:17 in the 1984 edition of the NIV:

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

Ever before I would have read that and found it simply encouraging. Now I read it, imagine my daughter's friends seeing it and someone asking "Only men?" Sure, it should be understood that this is intended to apply to all people, any person who does the will of God. That's simply not what the text says literally.

Here's how the 2011 updated edition of the NIV puts that same verse:

"The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever."

If you ask me, the second option is much better. It conveys the real meaning of the text, and no one has to squirm if it's read aloud in a mixed group.

My recommendation for decent, gender inclusive Bible versions are as follows:

New Revised Standard Version. This is my preferred version, but it's not widely used in evangelical churches.

New International Version (2011). If you pick up a copy of the NIV at a bookstore, be sure to check the copyright and get the one published in 2011. If you don't, you'll end up with the previous edition that doesn't reflect a gender neutral stance. Also, the newer edition has made some important adjustments to the text to reflect advances in scholarship, as well as drop the silly "sinful nature" phrasing that had been used in place of "flesh."

New Living Translation. This is the version used by my daughter who is in her early teens. It's a great translation for middle-schoolers.

Here's a quick video to help you do a little truth check.

Here are three recent articles I appreciated dealing with Brazil's favela situation, particularly in Rio and with the Olympics coming in a few  years.

Brazil under fire for World Cup slum evictions (Reuters)
More coverage (the amount seems to be increasing) of the forcible evictions of favela residents from their homes so the houses can be demolished and parking lots built for the Olympics.

Interview with Anna Marcondes, a Leader at Morro dos Macacos in Rio de Janeiro (BrazilNYC)
Very nice interview, including the full audio version in Portuguese (no translation to English), with a couple of women about long-term grassroots development efforts in one Rio slum. There's some talk of the Olymics here too.

Fast-growing Brazil tries to lift its poorest (The Washington Post)
What the Brazilian government's trying to do to fight extreme poverty in the country.

See Also: Book Review: An Unsettling God (IgneousQuill.com)