Brazil as the New Mediator in the Islamic World-Very Interesting and Potentially Promising

This past week, Brazil made a move to work as a mediator between Iran and the West on the issue of nuclear enrichment and development. They also recently went to Israel to work as a broker on a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians. This is something that is not been heard of in [...]

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-Invictus: An Amazing Story and an Even More Important Message for Today

Recently, the amazing retelling story of Nelson Mandela’s rise to power and struggle to bring his nation together was made into a wonderful film. Essentially, the story tells about the great divide and tension in the country of South Africa between the native Africans and the European immigrants who had ruled the land by oppression [...]

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-Why the U.S. Losing Influence in Latin America is a Positive Change

This past week, national leaders from around Latin America and the Caribbean descended on the country of Mexico in the hopes of forming a new alliance. However, Canada and the United States were not invited to the conference. This is a large step away from the traditional international politics of Latin America, where the U.S. [...]

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Creative Justice: Avatars and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This past week, I saw something very interesting in the news. A group of Palestinians were dressed up as Avatars to non-violently protest a wall the Israeli government is planning to put up in their territory. Ironically, it worked and Israel adapted their plans and changed the location of the wall. This creativity is something [...]

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-Why You Still Give When It Doesn’t Feel Promising

About 2 ½ years ago, I went down to Haiti to work in an orphanage. It was quite an eye opening experience for me. The kids were amazing and beautiful and filled with more love than I’ve ever seen. However, looking back, I feel there was also at least a little bit of an overwhelming [...]

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-When the Cross Becomes a Sword: Christian Extremism- December 10, 2009

As a Christian, I am saddened to even have to write this. However, just as we call for moderate Muslims to stand up to the fundamentalists seeking to deface their religion, we need to stand up to this extremism in our own faith which has much more in common with Judas Iscariot’s betraying kiss than with the message of the Price of Peace.

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Joe Wilson, Xenophobia, and Christian Ethics- September 17,2009

When I lived in South Carolina, I thought it was ironic that I lived in one of the most “Christian and religious” states, but at the same time one of the most xenophobic. Somehow people don’t realize that the two cannot mix. The extent of xenophobia was seen recently by the immature disruption in the [...]

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What Religious Oppression Can Teach the Chrisian World- June 23, 2009

We see the pictures from Iran, and we are outraged by the religious oppression. We tend to think that they are of another world or something which we could never become. However,we need to take a step back and look at our own history. we can see a dark side revealed and see the danger [...]

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The Day Justice Will Flow in the Streets- June 18, 2009

Perhaps, the most powerful part is the ideal they are striving for, the idea that justice will ultimately win out, that injustice and oppression will not be the ultimate word in the world. Maybe, this is the longing which all human hearts have.

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Why the Rapture Mentality Has Helped Justify Poor U.S. Foreign Policy- February 3, 2009

There are some religious theories which help justify a country in doing certain actions. For example, the divine right of kings was heavily endorsed by numerous monarchs in order to justify ruling with an iron fist. Some middle-eastern countries today use religious extremism to justify the oppression of individual liberties and rights. In the U.S., [...]

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Mothers Saving Their Children and Illegal Immigration- January 24, 2009

I have a friend here in Costa Rica who is from the Philippines. She is 23 years old and works at a local call center. I met her at the church, but had never understood why she came to Costa Rica. Last night, she was telling me how she has a 2 year old son [...]

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Why We Have to Hope and Work for Peace- January 13, 2009

The latest news in Gaza is heart wrenching. I can sense that many people are becoming very skeptical toward the ideas of peace. Obviously, it is understandable why. There has been continued conflict, terrorist attacks against Israel, and a history of injustice the Palestinian people have faced in the region. People come out strong on [...]

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Buddhism and Christianity- September 26,2007

Sometimes the greatest danger in life is really getting what we want or desire, because then we live in fear we are going to lose it and we are still not happy.

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Lesson I'm Learing in Haiti- July 23, 2006

Wow….I just had an exhausting day. I don’t actually remember the last time I was this worn out. We went to go take a group of kids to do a dance at this fair/carnival type of thing. They did a really good job on the dance, except the fact that the cd messed up 3 [...]

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Lesson I’m Learing in Haiti- July 23, 2006

Wow….I just had an exhausting day. I don’t actually remember the last time I was this worn out. We went to go take a group of kids to do a dance at this fair/carnival type of thing. They did a really good job on the dance, except the fact that the cd messed up 3 [...]

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Lesson I'm Learing in Haiti- July 23, 2006

Wow….I just had an exhausting day. I don’t actually remember the last time I was this worn out. We went to go take a group of kids to do a dance at this fair/carnival type of thing. They did a really good job on the dance, except the fact that the cd messed up 3 [...]

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First Day in Haiti- June 20, 2007

This is actually from last night, but I am just loading it up now. Ok………..I am sitting here in my bed, done with my first day in Haiti. It has been quite the experience so far. Actually it has been great….minus my water not working so I can’t take a shower…but oh well Anyways….I have [...]

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Israeli Security and the Message of Jesus- July 15,2006

Hey everyone, I am back in America. I had quite a long trip yesterday. I slept for a little bit, but I was pretty tired when I got back home. I have to admit that it is kind of weird being back in America. I am glad to be back, but I honestly miss Thailand [...]

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My Experience in Cambodia- July 8,2006

Well Hello Everyone, I just returned from Cambodia last night. It was quite the experience. I guess I finally know what it is like in a third world country. There was great poverty everywhere and it was extremely dirty. The work that was going on there with the missionaries though was really encouraging. There were [...]

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Genocide, Boycotts, and Priorities- July 3,2006

“I have three things I’d like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don’t give a sh**. What’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said sh** than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”

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Learning from Gandhi- July 1,2006

Hey everyone, I have less than two weeks over here now. I have to admit I am kind of sad now. After Tomorrow, I only have one Sunday left at the Church. Tuesday we are going to Cambodia until Friday I don’t really know what to expect, but I hope it’s a wonderful experience. Tomorrow, [...]

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