“The Weekend Wanderer” is a weekly curated selection of news, stories, resources, and media on the intersection of faith and culture for you to explore through your weekend. Wander through these links however you like and in any order you like.

 

“Bombs tear through Sri Lankan churches and hotels” – On Easter Sunday, multiple bombs went off in churches around Colombo, Negombo, and Batticaloa in Sri Lanka. The death toll continues to rise, with over 350 lives now taken as a result of the bombings. As reports come in, it appears that the bombings were carried out by educated, middle-class individuals, including two sons of a wealthy spice trader, and may be in response to the Christchurch mosque bombing in New Zealand.

 

“Six Biblical Responses to Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings” – Ajith Fernando, a Sri Lankan theologian and resident of Colombo, offers insight into how we should consider our response to such an event as Christians. This is a must read by an insider to Sri Lanka for those of us trying to understand how we should think, feel, and respond to these terrible events.

 

“Wheaton College Professor Emeritus Dr. Paul W. Robinson Wins Fulbright” – After graduating from Wheaton College, my wife, Kelly, worked for the Human Needs and Global Resources (HNGR) program at Wheaton College, first with Dr. Bob Stickney, and then with Dr. Paul Robinson. Paul and his wife, Margie, became friends and a beloved uncle and aunt to us as newlyweds in those days. I have continued to connect with Paul over the years through mutual work with Congo Initiative, and I was thrilled to hear about this new opportunity for Paul.

 

30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World – For many years now, I have participated with others in praying for God to move powerfully in the Muslim world during Ramadan. One of the best resources for this is “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World,” with their informed and full daily prayer guide. “It calls the church to make a deliberate but respectful effort to learn about, pray for and reach out to our world’s Muslim neighbors. It coincides annually with the important Islamic month of religious observation — Ramadan, a time of the year when Muslims are much more deeply aware of spiritual matters.”

 

“A Christian Case for Humanitarian Intervention” – “The United States has the power, like no other force on earth, to protect the innocent from great evil. It has the capacity to send a message to lawless regimes. The message: they cannot always evade the moral laws that govern civilized nations. It is a message that is consistent with America’s vital national interests—and with its most cherished political and religious ideals. Conservatives, and Christians, ought to know and care about these ideals, which have done so much to promote international peace and security. Remember the American Creed, those self-evident truths expressed by thinkers from John Locke to James Madison: a belief in the God-given worth and equality of every human being, in natural rights, in the right to live in freedom, in liberty of conscience, government by consent of the governed.”

 

“Mike Pence Is Coming to Taylor’s Graduation. The Class of 2019 Is Ready.” – “Taylor University recently made national news with its announcement that Vice President Mike Pence will deliver this year’s commencement address—spurring backlash from students, alumni, parents, and faculty. This is not the only recent political clash to put the small evangelical college in the spotlight. Last year, an anonymous newspaper titled Excalibur was created and distributed by a group of Taylor faculty who wanted to take a stand against the increasing liberalization that they perceived on campus.”

 

“Can Black Evangelicals Save the Whole Movement?” – Not in direct response to the situation at Taylor with Mike Pence, but somewhat related you can read Molly Worthen’s opinion piece in The New York Times on what might save the evangelical movement. “Yet a vanguard of Christian consultants and community activists focused on racial justice is gaining a wider hearing in white evangelical institutions than ever before. Many of them have studied history, sociology — and that academic boogeyman, critical race theory, a conceptual framework focused on the power structures that help maintain white supremacy. They combine these tools with biblical arguments to challenge white evangelical assumptions about the role of the church in the world.”

 

“Selfie Deaths Are an Epidemic” – From Kathryn Miles at Outdoor Magazine: “Wu’s death, after all, is only the latest in a string of selfie-related fatalities. Termed ‘killfies’ by some social media researchers, these accidental deaths have involved social media personalities and, of course, adventurers. Canadian rapper Jon James McMurray perished last October after crawling out onto the wing of a Cessna while filming a music video….It can feel somehow reassuring to condemn deaths like these as foolish or self-absorbed, but that doesn’t seem entirely fair. And, frankly, emerging research doesn’t support that position.”

 

Music: The National, “Guilty Party”

[I do not necessarily agree with all the views expressed within the articles linked from this page, but I have read them myself in order to make me think more deeply.]