November 2010 Newsletter - Free Jesus DVD

Kieron Mitchell's Monthly Newsletter - November 2010

We have Thanksgiving, Muslims have Eid al-Adha Well, not really - but they are pretty close together date-wise. November 16th was Eid al-Adha, or "Festival of Sacrifice" This is a commemoration of when God provided an animal sacrifice to take the place of Abraham's son. According to the Muslim version of the story, God sent the angel Gabriel to deliver a ram so that Abraham wouldn't have to sacrifice his son Ishmael. It is Crescent Project's mission to teach Christians about the Muslim faith, to decrease our fear and misunderstanding so that we can be better equipped to reach out in love to our Muslim neighbors. It's nice that we have Thanksgiving to remind us how much we have to be thankful for; I am thankful to be given this opportunity to be part of the Bridge between the Muslim and Christian faiths. The Mitchells My parents will be visiting my brother, Kerry in NYC over thanksgiving (I'll be flying out there the weekend of December 4th myself to talk to some new and old friends about the Crescent Project). It just struck me that he might not be too supportive of the "live animal sacrifice" part of Eid al-Adha, given his recent participation in Farm Sanctuary's NYC Walk for Farm Animals, in which (according to supervegan.com) activists "come together to celebrate our love and compassion for farm animals." As for the rest of my family, we will killing as many turkeys as necessary at our Church's thanksgiving dinner for the poor (technically, it's for anyone, but the main idea is to provide a home-cooked, full turkey dinner with sides and dessert for less than it costs to get two booklets and a DVD shipped to your home ;-)). Then we'll be hanging out at the Mitchell compound (ie, Ohmer Ave.), where no fewer than four of the eleven houses on the block are in our (extended) family. Now, as they would say on NPR's "Car Talk", on to the shameless commerce division... Free Stuff (a $15 value)! What you get: Life of the Messiah DVD (Jesus Film in 16 languages). Is the Injeel Corrupted? (Injeel is the Arabic name for the New Testament) Adha in the Injeel (Adha is the Muslim commemoration of when God provided an animal sacrifice in lieu of Abraham's son). Click here to get your free packet (the two booklets are written by the Crescent Project and would be a great way to see for yourself the kind of work we do). This also makes a great gift for your Muslim friend or neighbor who is interested in learning more about Christianity and its relationship to Islam. Oh, did I mention you do have to pay $2.98 for shipping and handling? Still, that's a good deal. If you will be near Bloomington, Indiana on Wednesday, December 1st, please join me for lunch to hear more details on the vision of the Crescent Project from it's founder and president, Fouad Masri (he is a dynamic and knowledgeable speaker, and definitely worth your time). Click here to sign up. Connect with me: Follow me on Twitter! Friend me on Facebook

October 2010 Newsletter - Oasis Conference

Oasis Conference Report I spent this past weekend in Nashville, Tennessee at the three-day Oasis Conference (next year it's in Washington, D.C.). While the workshops at the conference were high-quality, the highlight for me was the trip to the Mosque (it was the first time I'd been in a Mosque). I was the driver of one of three mini-vans full of us white-bread Christians, and (even though the Imam was expecting us), at the last minute I had second thoughts. My trepidation was not caused by the fact that the women in our group had to separate from us men, enter in the back door, and we wouldn't see them again until after the service. The reason my heart leapt into my throat was the "protesters" displaying a huge sign that said something like "Jesus is the only way to heaven." I suddenly thought that perhaps today wasn't the best day for us to be visiting. The Imam mentioned the protesters in his sermon. He cautioned the packed room of men (and boys) numbering over 150 to respond with a smile and the word "peace" when one of them, the Qur'an, or Islam itself is mocked. "I know that you could do something. I'm saying that you should only say "peace", and walk on." He (the Imam - an immigrant from Egypt named Mohammad) was surprisingly moderate, suggesting (when we asked if he would support it) that those who attend his Mosque should read the Bible! I don't know how typical that is, but it was refreshing. Over 300 people attended the conference, and was nice to see the passion for lowering the walls of misunderstanding between Christians and Muslims. The Mitchell Family Maddie (our fifteen-year old daughter) is rowing (as in with oars) - the pro from the spectator side being that you get to attend something called a "regatta", which sounds very cool. The con is that the use of binoculars is pretty much required, lest you inadvertently cheer for the opposing team. Molly (our twelve-year old daughter) is busy babysitting and is linking up with a newer set of friends this semester for some reason I have yet to figure out. Courtney (my wife of twenty years) is happy and healthy. Bert (our three-year old shih tzu, adopted as a stray) thinks Courtney is his chinese emperor-master and won't leave her side, or allow any one of our five cats near her. I am trying to play racquetball every once in awhile for exercise, but am having trouble finding people who can beat me ;-).

The loss of silence in the culture of Facebook and Twitter

Nietzsche said that God is dead. Well, I say that silence is dead. In this twitteredup, facebooked culture I can't even stop at a stop light without grabbing my cell for a quick status update.

Wasn't that supposed to be my quiet time?

And even if I can't immediately punch a tweet on my cell (like during the five daily minutes that cascading water prevents the use of electronics), I find my thoughts forcibly coalescing to 120 pithy characters or less.

With these new temptations, everyone has become a journalist with a following. Now that I have an audience, it would be criminal not to grace them with my musings. But there is a cost...

Does God use Twitter?

My Goddaughter Meg

Meg is 5 years old (this photo's from April, 2007). She's really cute, and used to be painfully shy, but has really opened up in the past year or so and runs into my arms now!

As a Godfather, I have two official duties: 1. To witness her baptism (which is already done), and 2. To have primary responsibility in teaching her the faith (in the event her parents are unable or unwilling to do so). The church encourages my selection as her sponsor for confirmation (sort of a spiritual guide during that time - early high school).

I look forward to being a part of her faith life.

Merry Christmas

Why Christianity is better than Buddhism

photo by Hartfried Schmid

I was wondering awhile back about why Christianity is better than Buddhism, and I ran across this helpful bit (brackets are mine):

But some at least of the disciples of the great Gautama [aka Siddhartha] interpret his ideal, so far as I can understand them, as one of absolute liberation from all desire or effort or anything that human beings commonly call hope. In that sense, the philosophy would only mean the abandonment of arms [weapons] because it would mean the abandonment of almost everything. It would not discourage war any more than it would discourage work. It would not discourage work any more than it would discourage pleasure. It would certainly tell the warrior that disappointment awaited him when he became the conqueror, and that his war was not worth winning. But it would also presumably tell the lover that his love was not worth winning; and that the rose would wither like the laurel. It would presumably tell the poet that his poem was not worth writing; which may (in certain cases needless to name) be indeed the case. But it can hardly be called an inspiring philosophy for the production of good poems any more than bad. It may be that these persons are wrong about what is threatened by Buddhism. It may also be that the other persons are wrong about what was promised by Christianity. But I hope we have heard the last of the muddled discontent of worldly people, who curse the Church for not saving the world that did not want to be saved, and are ready to call in any other theory against it - even the wild theory by which the world would be destroyed.

-Exerpt from Buddhism and Christianity

By G.K. Chesterton

Illustrated London News March 2, 1929