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Joint Statement on Israel/Gaza by an Imam and a Rabbi

The current military operations in Israel and the Gaza strip should disturb all people of faith. The only moral path to a solution between Israelis and Palestinians (Israeli Jewish/Muslim/Christian and Palestinian Muslim/Christian) will be dialogue and negotiation. This is a long and arduous path, but the faith that grounds our traditions can sustain the slow evolution of history. The current conflict is an outgrowth of over a century of opposing narratives and ideological differences that no military operations can resolve.

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Affirmations and Confessions of a Progressive Christian Layman – Christian Missions

I think Christian missionaries should live among the people exhibiting their Christianity in their daily lives. If the people see something in their lives that is missing in their own lives they will ask about it, which gives the missionary permission to tell them about their faith.

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A Visit to Thad’s

This past Sunday morning in Los Angeles was bright with strong wind blowing clear air over the mountains from the high desert. The palm trees swayed along Highway 10 west into Santa Monica. Two right turns at the Cloverfield exit took me past the garbage company and into the chain-link gate of Bergamot Station, a former warehouse complex turned into dozens of art studios. In the back corner, in a galvanized iron building, is the “Writer’s Bootcamp”, a complex with offices and meeting spaces, where I found Thad’s.

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God in Big History 5:5 (beta) “Evidential Prophets”

Part 5 of 5 explores how a *factual* view of God and revelation, in light of the trajectory of Big History, clarifies our way into the future and restores the relevance (indeed, necessity!) of unflinchingly bold, science-based prophetic speech.

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God in Big History 4:5 (beta) “Sin and Death”

Part 4 of 5 explores how and why Big History radically transforms our understanding (and experience!) of human nature, chaos, and death—including our relationship to ours and our loved one’s foibles, problems, and mortality.

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From Christian Fundamentalism To An Inclusive Spirituality

On this summer Sunday, Mark Andrew Nouwen shares about his fundamentalist Christian background, which included countless church services and immersing himself in the Christian sub-culture. He shares how, near the end of Bible College, he eventually questioned and then rejected many of the tenets of fundamentalist Christianity. He concludes by sharing a new vision of what Christianity could be today and the beliefs he holds dear.

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Donation Opportunity – free books for students

I am the current president of the Progressive Christians society at University of Essex (Colchester).We were ratified last academic year, and we’ll start formally next year. Unfortunately according to Student’s Union regulations we need to find 15 …

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Study/Discussion Groups on Religion & Theology

Hi everyone! We are looking for dedicated volunteers to lead and participate in local study/discussion groups on religion, history and theology. You can find local groups and learn more about starting your own by following this link …

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Bishop Spong on Coming to Self Awareness- Video

Join Ian Lawton, founder of Soulseeds.com, for transformative conversations with renowned spiritual leaders from many traditions as we explore awareness.

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In Creating Space

From the Boundless Life collection

In creating space for each other
We enhance our personal space
And spread a God-like grace.

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World Vision water: Meet Violet and the other children of the Zambia Project taste clean water for the first time| World Vision

In this video, you’ll be introduced to several children, learn about their dreams, and be inspired by their spirit. Join us as we follow these children and others over the course of the next year. You’ll see children take their first sip of clean water, go to school for the first time, and finally grow healthy.

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Tension in the Tank: Embracing Interfaith Mysticism Without Leaving the Church

Ultimately, Tension in the Tank is about faith that is relevant, secure and ever-evolving. It is a guidebook for building meaningful relationships with Spirit, self and each other. Radically open to possibility and wonder, Tension in the Tank offers the opportunity and challenge to live our faith in such a way that the walls between us come down and we become pursuers and enactors of universal justice.

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Praying to Love

For many Christians, a supernatural theistic God is a daily reality in their lives, but for many others, this kind of God is simply not there. They long to feel God’s presence and God’s love, but instead they experience emptiness and isolation. They worship God in church, but find that God is not present in the sanctuary. They pray fervently to God in private moments, but realize that their prayers often go unanswered. In the end, there is only silence.2 The biblical character of Job cried out to God in despair, “I cry to you God, but you do not answer. I stand before you, and you don’t even bother to look.”3

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On Prayer and Pentecost

When prayers in Jesus’s name go unanswered, and when unrelenting “knocking on heaven’s door” produces no result – even when bargains are offered (“I’ll stop smoking”) – instead of confronting the possibility that God is not going to intervene, the failure is treated as a “test of faith” that “God has a better plan for me.” But the transformation of human thought is far more powerful than petitions to a discredited god. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, first given by John’s Jesus, descends in tongues of flames on the Christian community gathered in Jerusalem. They are empowered to tell the story of Jesus in every language of the known world. Peter quotes the prophet Joel, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Paul proclaims, “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” The imagery of fire represents the outpouring of the presence of sacred being and of creative power. No magic is required.

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Sharing a Greater Vision

Yes I and all the rest of us must, even today, realize that we are still part of movements in history that are larger than the century we live in. in this fast food, instant movies, Twitter land, Facebook, “electronic device in every pocket” world that we live in there are still movements that are larger than today and we are, all of us, part of something grand.

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Why I am an Atheist Who Believes in God

How to Create Beauty, Give Love and Find Peace

Caught between the beauty of his grandchildren and grief over a friend’s death, Frank Schaeffer finds himself simultaneously believing and not believing in God—an atheist who prays. Schaeffer wrestles with faith and disbelief, sharing his innermost thoughts with a lyricism that only great writers of literary nonfiction achieve. Schaeffer writes as an imperfect son, husband and grandfather whose love for his family, art and life trumps the ugly theologies of an angry God and the atheist vision of a cold, meaningless universe. Schaeffer writes that only when we abandon our hunt for certainty do we become free to create beauty, give love and find peace.

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Project Peace on Earth Bethlehem Manger Square “LOVE ALL” peace initiative – Video

The Manger Square Bethlehem “Peace / Love All” image was a Project Peace On Earth (PPOE) peace initiative which took place on December 24, 2012.

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Samsara- DVD

SAMSARA is a Sanskrit word that means “the ever turning wheel of life” and is the point of departure for the filmmakers as they search for the elusive current of interconnection that runs through our lives. Filmed over a period of almost five years in twenty-five countries, SAMSARA transports us to sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites, and natural wonders. By dispensing with dialogue and descriptive text, SAMSARA subverts our expectations of a traditional documentary, instead encouraging our own inner interpretations inspired by images and music that infuses the ancient with the modern.

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