August 2018 Synchroblog Invitation – Hey, look! A duck! … That’s not a duck! That’s a rabbit!

This month we invite you to write about something that Christians don’t always see eye to eye about.

Being a Christian does not mean we all believe the same things or think the same way about any number of topics/issues.

Often we will even hear people complain about the way Christians get along – or don’t get along, because of the emotional disagreements that can develop due to different perspectives.

This month we invite you to choose a topic/issue that often causes disagreements among Christians and write about the different views that Christians hold regarding that topic. Share some of the arguments or resources that each side uses to support their belief.  You can also include the pros/cons for both sides and your own view on the issue? If you want to dive in deeper you could even suggest ways that Christians should handle their disagreements.

This could result in some lively conversations but as always we encourage everyone to remain civil and also open to the prospect of learning a new way to see and think.

Please write and publish your article on Tuesday, August 28, and then post your link in the comment section below. The Link List will get published on Wednesday, August 29.

We ask you to try not to post your contribution before August 28.

June 2018 Synchroblog Invitation – Authority

The June 2018 Synchroblog theme is “Authority”

As a Christian where do you look to for authority?

Where does ultimate authority and meaning rest for Christians today?

An institution? Scripture? A Christian leader or leaders? Community? Jesus? Spiritual experiences? a combination of some of these things or something else entirely?

Who determines what is right and wrong, correct and incorrect, holy and heretical?

Share your thoughts about where you believe Christians should look to for authority as they live out their faith.

Please write and publish your article by Tuesday, June 26, and then post your link in the comment section below. The Link List will get published on June 27.

August 2015 Invitation – What Does It Mean To Be Pro-Life?

You may have seen the following quote by, Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B. :

“I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.”

This month we’d like to have a broad conversation about what the morality is of pro-life. What does it mean to you if you use that moniker to self-describe?  What do you think it should mean?  Where would it take your walk of faith if you invested yourself in being pro-life?  Those are just some questions to get you started as you think about the idea of being pro-life beyond the question of abortion.

Please share your link in the comments section of this post by Tuesday, August 25 at midnight. We will publish a link list on Wednesday, August 26 that you will need to copy and paste to the end of your post.

We ask two things of all participants who wish to be included in the link list:

(1) Begin your post with a short intro stating that you are participating in the synchroblog and link to this post. Examples: “This post is part of the August 2015 synchroblog on “What It Means To Be Pro-Life”. Or “This post is part of the August 2015 synchroblog that invited bloggers to write about “What It Means To Be Pro-Life”.

(2) Add the link list to the bottom of your post with a note encouraging readers to check out the other synchroblog contributions. We do all of the heavy lifting by putting the list together with all of the links included. Once we post the link list all you have to do is copy and paste. The list at the end of each post makes it easy for readers to move from one post to the other and increases exposure and readership for all of our participants.

Thanks for participating! We look forward to reading your fabulous posts!

July 2015 Synchroblog – Gay Marriage

You saw this topic coming, didn’t you?

The March 2015 issue of Christianity Today asked this question as one of their cover stories: “Should I attend my gay friend’s wedding?”

I admit I did not read the article, so I do not know how Christianity today answered. But when I saw the title of the article, my first thought was, “If you have to ask the question, you are not much of a friend.”

Of course, I know that different Christians have different opinions on this matter. And so for this month’s synchroblog, we are asking to you “come out of the closet” and boldly declare your opinion on some issue related to gay marriage and LGBTQ relationships.

You do not necessarily have to state whether or not you support gay marriage, but we would like you to write a post about something related to gay marriage or the issues that face LGBTQ people in today’s society, or maybe even the questions and issues that Christians face in a society that accepts and endorses LGBTQ relationships.

Here are some possible angles:

• What do you think of the Supreme Court decision to allow LGBTQ people to get married?
• Do you personally know any LGBTQ people? Would they mind if you told part of their story? Maybe something painful or beautiful (or both)?
• The Bible does talk about homosexuality. How should we understand these texts, and how should we apply them today?
• If Jesus were walking the earth today, what do you think He would say about gay marriage and homosexuality?
• If you were asked to participate in a gay wedding, would you do it? Why or why not? This might include performing the ceremony, providing the cake or flowers, or taking the pictures.
• Why do you think the church is so divided over the LGBTQ question? Do you think this division will heal? If not, why not? If so, how?
• Do you think the division between the church community and the LGBTQ community can be healed? If not, why not? If so, how?

You can, of course, write about anything else related to gay marriage and LGBTQ people that suits your fancy.

Please share your link in the comments section of this post by Tuesday, July 28 at midnight. We will publish a link list on Wednesday, July 29 that you will need to copy and paste to the end of your post.

We require two things of all participants who wish to be included in the link list:

(1) Begin your post with a short intro stating that you are participating in the synchroblog and link to this post. Examples: “This post is part of the July 2015 synchroblog on “Gay Marriage”. Or “This post is part of the July 2015 synchroblog that invited bloggers to write about “Gay Marriage”.

(2) Add the link list to the bottom of your post with a note encouraging readers to check out the other synchroblog contributions. We do all of the heavy lifting by putting the list together with all of the links included. Once we post the link list all you have to do is copy and paste. The list at the end of each post makes it easy for readers to move from one post to the other and increases exposure and readership for all of our participants.

Thanks for participating! We look forward to reading your fabulous posts!

April 2015 Synchroblog – Bearing Fruit

Fruit … glorious fruit.  It’s mentioned several times and in various contexts in the New Testament.  We’re told we’ll know people by their “fruit.”  We’re told that we should tend the “fruits of the Spirit.”  But that supposes we have some idea of what “fruit” is.  What does it look like in the life of a Jesus follower?  What would the  term “bear fruit” look like?  How do we, as followers of Jesus, “bear fruit” in our ordinary lives?

That’s the theme of this month … fruit or bearing fruit.   In whatever ways those terms hit you, let us know.  As is usual, post your blog title and link in the comments section here and I’ll make the link list for inclusion at the bottom of your post.  Get those links in here by Tuesday, April 22 and I’ll post the link list on Wednesday, April 23.

November Syncroblog – Spiritual Abuse and Redemption

Nearly everyone in the country and especially in Christian circles has heard of the implosion of the megachurch in Seattle, WA known as Mars Hill and the accusations made against it’s lead pastor, Mark Driscoll.  Regardless of how you feel about Mark Driscoll in particular, what would it look like for the Church as a whole when abusive leaders are held accountable and then are reconciled?  How do we do that in such a way as to let victims be heard and redemption be the end goal.  What does redemption and/or reconciliation look like in real life?  What does grace look like in these situations?

To be clear, this is not a synchroblog about Mark Driscoll (he is just an example among dozens we might have used) but about asking the question of how to handle spiritual abuse so that the Christian tenets of justice, forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption are honored.

We will be hosting this the 3rd week of November, so post by midnight on Tuesday, November 18th.  Post your link here in the comment section as soon as your post is up. We will combine all of the links and post it on Wednesday morning, November 19th for everyone to share at the end of your posts.

We hope you can participate!

July Synchroblog – Give Me Liberty

July is here and I always associate that with Independence Day. I suspect that’s not terribly strange. For this month we’re working with one word: Liberty. You can write whatever you want about that word … what feelings does it evoke? How do you define it? Do you think you live it? Or not? Those are just some ways you could look at it. You could write a poem, or a story, or a more traditional blog post. Just use the word, “liberty” as your starting place and see where you go.

Please comment below with your name and blog post link sometime before the end of the day on Tuesday, July 22 and I will post the link list on July 23.

November Synchroblog Invitation – Faith Stories

It’s November and all over Facebook folks are practicing 30 days of thankfulness.  The last thing you want to do is yet another blog post on gratitude.  It all gets a little bit overwhelming this time of year.  Soooo … the Synchroblog team thought we could do something a little different.  We (with the help of Sonnie Swenston-Forbes) thought it might be a good time for a story.  And not just any story, but a story about your faith journey.  How did you get to where you are now?  What life experiences influenced your place?  How have your beliefs changed as a result of your own evolving story?   Those are just some questions to get you thinking … it’s your story and we can’t wait to read it!

As always, please post the link to your blog post in the comments below by Tuesday, November 19 and I’ll get the list posted on Wednesday.

August 2013 Synchroblog – Parables: Small Stories, Big Ideas

Some people have described parables as being small stories that teach big ideas. Like the rabbis of his time, Jesus used images and characters from everyday life to create miniature plays or dramas, called parables, to illustrate his message. This was Jesus most common way of teaching. The importance of the parables that Jesus told as he preached can hardly be overestimated. They are generally regarded by scholars as among the sayings which we can confidently ascribe to the historical Jesus and they are, for the most part, authentic words of Jesus. All of the great themes of Jesus’ preaching can be found in the parables he told. Perhaps no part of the Gospels can better put us in touch with the mind of Jesus Christ than his parables.

This month we invite you to write about parables.  Write whatever you want about parables.  If you need some inspiration here are some ideas to help you get started:

write about a parable that Jesus told … one that is meaningful to you, one that is difficualt to understand or that is often misunderstood, one that seems to have a hidden meaning

or

write about parables in general … what they are, their purpose, why they are good teaching tools, their history, their structure

or

write your own parable to illustrate a message you are passionate about

or

write about a parable told by someone other than Jesus

The date of this month’s synchroblog is the second Wednesday of the month, August 14.

If you wish to participate, leave a comment below with your name, and the link to your blog post. Please do this by the evening of Tuesday, August 13 to make sure you’re included.

We ask each participant to include an introduction stating that their post is part of the “August Synchroblog – Parables: Small Stories, Big Ideas” (you may want to include a link to this post for a full explanation) and a list of all the participants with their links at the end of your post.  The list of links can be copied and pasted at the end of your post after they are published on this site in a separate post on August 14.

July 2013 Synchroblog – Light Summer Reading

It’s the dog days of summer … really hot in some places, really not in others.  We think some light summer reading is in order this month.  So … we’re asking you to tell a story.  Not just any story, but tell a story of your favorite prank.  Maybe you were the prankee.  Maybe you were the prankster.  Maybe you just heard about the prank from friends.  Whatever manner you know about the prank … we’re looking forward to reading the story of the best prank you know about.

The date of this month’s synchroblog has changed to the 3rd Wednesday of the month, July 17.

If you wish to participate, leave a comment below with your name, and the link to your blog post.  Please do this by the evening of Tuesday, July 16 to make sure you’re included.