when crashing traffic is good.

I was at a concert at Columbia University last night that was hosted to bring awareness of the issue of child trafficing.  I met Grace Akallo and was deeply moved by her story.  Grace was captured at the age of 15 to be a part of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda.  It is an army almost entirely made of abducted children. Grace is becoming an international spokesperson for the plight of children who are being used against their will.

These are the things that should provoke our conscience.  We have much to do to stop the tide of horror that children face everyday on this earth.  There is a walk this Sunday to bring awareness to the sex slave trafficing of children around the world (it’s just as real in the U.S. as anywhere else).

This is not pleasant stuff, nor should it be.  The gospel compels us to look at the world as it is and to bring it toward what it should be.  Would you please join me in making a stand and getting involved to stop the slavery of our generation?  Don’t go the other way, these children are depending on us.

west of Eden

Many people are talking about the recent incident of Kanye West commandeering the microphone from a stunned Taylor Swift as she accepted an award at the MTV Music Awards.  The negative press has been overwhelming as the media has declared that Kanye “crossed the line”.

I find it interesting that on a show that has a history of being outrageous (remember the Red Hot Chile Pepper’s prank?  If not, don’t ask) we have finally found the “sacredness” or the spot where they say, “This cannot and MUST not be tolerated.”  It tells me that even in an industry that can talk of relative truths and values that preach what feels good must be right, there are boundaries that are to held.  Kanye was just feeling it, right?  How could he be denied?

Where does this response come from?  Certainly not from the values that make them money every day.  I believe that it comes from a source that cannot be escaped from, try as we all do to bury it.  The image of God tells us that we were made for more than predator and prey.  We were made for His honor and respect.  When Kanye preyed upon a young teenager at a key moment in her life we all went “That’s wrong!”  This is another clue that we were made for more than what this world and it’s values can define.  The Kanye West incident showed a glimpse of our sense of right and wrong, and in doing so we echo the voice of the One who made us – a holy and righteous God who will judge the earth.

Yet don’t we all have our moments where we want to take the mic?  Or shout out “You lied”?   It’s just that we have enough social restraint (most of the time) to not do what we saw Kanye do.  If God looked at the intentions of our hearts, where would we stand?  I know that I would be guilty.  But Jesus Christ took that judgment upon himself to redeem the Kanye West in all of us.  Jesus alone stands as the place where God’s justice and mercy meet.