Link List for February Synchroblog – Extreme Economic Inequality

Here’s the links for this month’s synchroblog. If you are a contributor please put this list at the end of your post.

Marta Layton - Fear Leads to Anger. Anger Leads to hate …

Kathy Escobar - Pawn Shops, Empty Refrigerators, The Long Hill Up

Carol Kuniholm - Wondering About Wealth

Glenn Hager - Shrinking The Gap

Jeremy Myers - Wealth Distribution

Liz Dyer - The First Step Is Admitting There Is A Problem

Ellen Haroutunian - Economic Inequality: Coming Back To Our Senses 

K.W. Leslie – Wealth, Christians, and Justice

Abbie Watters – My Confession

Steve Hayes – Obscenity

Tags: February, Income Inequality, Link List

February 2012 Synchroblog – Extreme Economic Inequality

“Economic Inequality” is a hot topic in American politics at the moment but it is not just an American condition. 

A report released in May of 2011 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that the gap between the rich and poor in O.E.C.D. countries has reached its highest level in over 30 years. 

In Italy, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom the income gap between the richest 10% and the poorest 10% was reported to be 10 to 1. Israel, Turkey and the U.S. had a gap of 14 to 1.  And although the gaps in Chile and Mexico had declined the incomes of the richest are still more than 25 times that of the poorest.

This month we are inviting bloggers to ponder the impact these kinds of extreme conditions are having on the world we live in. Are extreme gaps between the rich and poor harmful to society? Does excessive inequalities of wealth create situations where the human dignity of people are threatened?  Does the kind of economic inequality that is being reported around the world undermine human solidarity and the common good?  

If you would like to join in the conversation, please plan to submit your name, name of blog, title of post and link in the comment section of this announcement by 6PM EST 2/7/2012.  The list of participants will be compiled and posted on 2/8/2012.

IMPORTANT REMINDER:  We ask that all synchroblog participants include the list of participants and links at the end of their post.  

Tags: Economic Inequality, February, Inequality, synchroblog

Link List for January’s Synchroblog // Hope

Here is the link list so far for January’s Synchroblog, a partnership with Provoketive Magazine centered around the theme of Hope.  Thank you all for participating and for posting this link list at the end of your posts when you post on your own blog (you can post your entire post or an excerpt, just link to the Provoketive post and include the link list)

This issue of Provoketive Magazine, featuring this series, will go live tomorrow morning, January 18th, 2012, so the links won’t work until then.

* * * * *

Below is a list of all the posts and participants in this month’s synchroblog:

The Trouble With Hope: John Ptacek

Hope = Possibility x Imagination: Wayne Rumsby

Little Reminders: Mike Victorino

Where Is My Hope: Jonathan Brink

Hope for Hypocrites: Jeremy Myers

Now These Three Remain: Sonny Lemmons

Perplexed, But Still Hopeful: Carol Kuniholm

A Hope that Lives: Amy Mitchell

Generations Come and Generations Go: Adam Gonnerman

Demystifying Hope: Glenn Hager

God in the Dark: On Hope: Renee Ronika Klug

Keeping Hope Alive: Maurice Broaddus

Are We Afraid to Hope?: Christine Sine

On Wobbly Wheels, Split Churches and Fear: Laura Droege

Adopting Hope: Travis Klassen

Hope is Held Between Us: Ellen Haroutunian

Hope: In the Hands of the Creatively Maladjusted: Mihee Kim-Kort

Paradox, Hope and Revival: City Safari

Good Theology Saves: Reverend Robyn

Linear: Never Was, Never Will Be: Kathy Escobar

Better Than Hope: Liz Dyer

Caroline for Congress: Hope for the Future: Wendy McCaig

Fumbling the Ball on Hope: KW Leslie

Content to Hope: Alise Wright

Hope: Oh, the Humanity!: Deanna Ogle

January Synchroblog – A Partnership with Provoketive Magazine // January 18th 2012

Hey Synchrobloggers,

For January we are excited to partner with Provoketive Magazine for our monthly synchroblog.  They will be hosting this month’s topic, and this is a great platform for writers and readers.

In order to do this, the instructions will be a little bit different than our normal “post your link in the comments section” list.   Each writer will need to sign up to be a writer for Provoketive first.  It is a very easy process, and all of the instructions are below.  Instead of only posting your link in the comments section you will be posting directly on Provoketive and also on your own blog.  Everyone should put the link list at the bottom of your post as usual.  Provoketive will then feature the entire series for their January issue. All of the details are here.

The topic:  Hope.  January is often a space to create new dreams and so we’re leaving the topic open and to your imagination. We believe the power of voice has tremendous capacity to inspire and give hope to people. Provoketive is a space to explore what it means to be human and hope is an integral part of that experience.

Here are the instructions for January only:

1. Sign up to be a writer on Provoketive.  Click here and fill out the form.  We’ll send you all the instructions to add your post.

2. Write and submit a 500-1,000 word post on the subject of hope.  Some things to consider writing about include: what gives you hope, what is your hope, how did you gain your hope, or a story of hope in your life.  You may post the article on your own blog if you wish, but schedule it for January 18th.

3. All posts must be submitted to Provoketive by January 17th.

4. Check back on the day of publication and grab the link list to everyone’s post.  Publish the link list on your blog.

If you have any questions or need clarification about the process, please feel free to ask them in the comments section below or over at Provoketive.

We look forward to the new year together!

2011, 2012, New Team Member, A Survey and Provoketive Magazine!

2011 was another great year for synchroblogging thanks to all of you who joined the conversations with your posts and comments.  We had 12 months of great ideas, we successfully partnered with others a couple of times throughout the year and ended up just shy of having 250 contributions for the year!!!

So we are back to do it again in 2012!

However, we decided that we could use some help.

So ….. we asked Jeremy Myers to join our team and (wait for it …. ) he said YES!  (in case you don’t know who else is on our team check out “The Team“ section of our blog).

Jeremy works as a prison chaplain, but that’s just a job to pay the bills so he can do what he really enjoys: spending time with his wife and three girls, reading, writing, and studying.  He blogs at Till He Comes,  has had several articles published in various theological journals, and is currently writing a book, which he hopes will get picked up for publication.  Jeremy will help us create monthly themes, write announcements, send out invites, organize link lists and perform other on-going duties.  Take a moment and welcome Jeremy to the team.

All the duties keep us busy but the most challenging thing that we are faced with is coming up with fresh ideas each month.  We need you to help us with that so we have created a survey that you can link to on our blog (bottom right side under the heading “IDEAS”).  It asks you to help us by sharing your ideas about monthly themes, focus and general feedback.  We hope you will take the time to share your ideas with us there. We really need your help.

We are glad to be on this adventure with you and look forward to the months ahead!

Happy New Year from Liz, Kathy, Sonja & Jeremy

PS   We are excited to announce that we are partnering with Provoketive Magazine for the January synchroblog. All the details and information will be out in a few days (probably Monday, 1/9/12) and will take place on 1/18/12.  So mark your calendars now.  This is one that you don’t want to miss out on.

Tags: Provoketive Magazine, Survey, Team

Link List – December Synchroblog – Jesus Came: Did You Get What You Expected?

Here’s the list of links for this month’s synchroblog.  Please remember to put the list of links at the end of your post if you are one of the contributors.

Glenn Hager – Underwear For Christmas

Jeremy Myers – The Unexpected Gift From Jesus

Tammy Carter  - Unstuck

Jeff Goins - The Day After Christmas: A Lament

Wendy McCaig – Unwanted Gifts: You Can Run But You Can Not Hide

Christine Sine – The Wait Is Over – What Did I Get?

Maria Kettleson Anderson – Following The Baby We Just Celebrated 

Leah – Still Waiting For Redemption

Kathy Escobar – Pain Relief Not Pain Removal

Ellen Haroutunian – Jesus Came.  Did you get what you expected?

Carol Kuniholm – What the Magi Found

Sally – Unexpected

December Synchroblog – Jesus Came: Did You Get What You Expected?

Christmas Day has come and gone, even the after Christmas sales are far more exciting for some than the birth of Christ.  But did any of us really get what we expected?  This long anticipated season, celebrating the birth of Christ our Savior  often comes with unexpected consequences.  The gifts never quite meet everyone’s expectations and leave behind mountains of wrapping paper and ribbon that will add yet more indestructible rubbish to the landfills. And Jesus doesn’t always give us what we expect either. We welcome him as a cute little baby but if we continue to journey with him, we soon realize that he wants to turn our world upside down. A child born in a stable is much easier to cope with than a revolutionary leader. This month’s synchroblog is centered around the unexpected consequences of our journey with Jesus. Where has it led us that we never anticipated? In what ways has it really turned our world upside down?

Coming down from Christmas always leaves us in a little bit of a fugue state.  Let us know your thoughts and perspectives on this with links to your blog in the comments below.  Please get them in by 7 pm (EST) on Tuesday, December 27, 2011.

As always, the breadth and depth of perspective here will be one more gift for all of us to open.

Tags: Advent, Christmas, Feasts, invitation, Manifestation of God, synchroblog

Advent Synchroblog – Second Link List

Each year blogger, author, gardener, and missional proponent Christine Sine does an Advent series at her blog in which she invites guest bloggers to write from their perspective on Advent for her blog, Godspace. Every year these posts are some of the best the internet has to offer on the season and our shared faith.

This year Christine has kindly offered to team with Synchroblog and will be using some of our posts as her guest series. To that end, we thought it would be a good idea to have a quick event at the beginning of November (Calling Us Out of Numbness), so that we can have an Advent event in late November and then a post Christmas event in late December.

Here is the second list of those links … please add them to your posts.

• Tammy Carter at Blessing The Beloved – His Gift … the way of escape!
• Ellen Haroutunian – Remember Our Story
• Carol Kuniholm at Words Half Heard – What I’m Waiting For
• Mihee Kim-Kort – Advent Expectations: Keep Awake
• Wendy McCaig – We’re Expecting A Baby
• John Reid at Blog One Another – Undiscovered Advent: The Second Coming of Christ
• Dave Wainscott – For Advent I’m Expecting What I Desire and What I Deserve
• David Henson – Reflections on the Second Sunday of Advent

Tags: 2011, Advent, Faith, links

Advent Synchroblog – Link List Part One

Each year blogger, author, gardener, and missional proponent Christine Sine does an Advent series at her blog in which she invites guest bloggers to write from their perspective on Advent for her blog, Godspace. Every year these posts are some of the best the internet has to offer on the season and our shared faith.

This year Christine has kindly offered to team with Synchroblog and will be using some of our posts as her guest series. To that end, we thought it would be a good idea to have a quick event at the beginning of November (Calling Us Out of Numbness), so that we can have an Advent event in late November and then a post Christmas event in late December.

Here are the first of those links … please add them to your posts.

• ron cole at the weary pilgrim – advent: reimagining everything
• liz dyer at grace rules – expect the unexpected
• sarah styles bessey at emerging mummy – in which i’m expecting something from advent
• miz melly at perchance to dream – parousia
• kathy escobar at the carnival in my head – present, humble, vulnerable
• David Perry at Visual Theology – Advent As A Mirror of Possibility
• Christine Sine at Godspace – Jesus Is Coming What Do We Expect?
• Liz VerHage at Living Theology
• Sally Coleman at Sally’s Journey – Come Spirit of Advent
• Jeremy Myers at Till He Comes – Jesus Is Returning Today
• Glenn Hager – Antithetical Advent

Advent Synchroblog – Jesus Is Coming: What Do You Expect?

Each year blogger, author, gardener, and missional proponent Christine Sine does an Advent series at her blog in which she invites guest bloggers to write from their perspective on Advent for her blog, Godspace.  Every year these posts are some of the best the internet has to offer on the season and our shared faith.

This year Christine has kindly offered to team with Synchroblog and will be using some of our posts as her guest series.  To that end, we thought it would be a good idea to have a quick event at the beginning of November (Calling Us Out of Numbness), so that we can have an Advent event in late November and then a post Christmas event in late December.

To begin Advent we are exploring ideas that are encompassed in “Jesus Is Coming: What Do You Expect?” — Christmas is probably the most widely celebrated Christian festival in the world.  Incredibly, the birth of a tiny baby two thousand years ago in an obscure village in Palestine still has the power to impact and transform lives.  Unfortunately it is also the most commercialized event on our calendars and even for many Christians is fast losing its religious significance. So what are we really expecting this Advent and Christmas season? Are we just waiting for a baby born in a stable or are we expecting a Saviour who will transform the world? This month’s synchroblog is centered around our expectations for the Advent and Christmas season. What are we expecting? How will it impact our lives and our faith?

This synchroblog will vary a little bit from our ordinary pattern.  We will be taking submissions for a week beginning Wednesday, November 23 and ending Wednesday, November 30 at 6 pm PST (9 pm for EST folks).

Please list your links, as usual, in the comments below and we will add them to the link compilation document on a daily basis.   We’ll finish the round with a grand tour post on December 1.

You may submit as many times as you like and this might be a great place for a short series.  However, you will need to balance that desire with Christine’s need to open her Advent Series to as many authors as possible.

Please enjoy this round and we are looking forward to reading the many different perspectives that Synchrobloggers have come to offer!

Tags: Advent, Christmas, invitation, synchroblog