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We are pleased to welcome Rev. Kevin Kim Wright back to The Loft, to speak from the center on this last Sunday in Pride Month. An ordained United Methodist pastor, Rev. Kevin serves as Chief of Staff for the Point Foundation here in Los Angeles. In conversation with a double story of healing from the Gospel of Mark, he invites us to consider the ways we are invited to step out of powerlessness and into God’s opportunities.
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We are pleased to welcome Rev. Dr. Kyle Eugene Brooks as our guest preacher in the Loft. Rev. Dr. Brooks, a native of Detroit, MI, serves as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. His work broadly explores the communicative conditions of religion, politics, and black expressive cultures. In his teaching, his courses reflect his wide-ranging interests within the realms of religious studies, theology, creative arts, and Africana studies.
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Fehlende Folgen?
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As Christians, we are called to love our enemies and to practice nonviolent resistance. But is this commandment impractical or even dangerous for Christians who want to stand against the evils of "christian" nationalism?
We are taking a two month break while Dr. Carter is on research leave to work on his forthcoming book project. Loft Conversations will return in August. As we map out our series for the rest of this year please let us know if there is a topic that you would like us to discuss!
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Jesus’ way of nonviolent resistance and love of enemies is often dismissed as impractical and idealistic. To be sure, the persuasive power of the myth of redemptive violence is dependent upon our belief that our enemies are not worthy of love. However, if our enemies are lovable and we choose not to love them then we are morally culpable for our failure to love. It is no wonder then, that Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies because God loves us and because God loves them, and this is a sign of a mature love that can lead us towards collective peace.
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At their best, Christian communities should reflect the vision laid out in Acts 2, collectively sharing our gifts, tragedies, joys, and resilience. However, we have struggled to live up to or into this vision of a peaceful Christian community. Why? Peace requires repair, and for our churches to become an oasis of peace, we must learn how to work through the obstacles that divide us so that we can live in peace with one another.
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The protests to the war in Gaza taking place on college campuses around the world remind us that students are often the conscious of our society. In part 2 of our episode discussing the war in Gaza, we focus on what is happening in Westwood California, where our church and the Univeristy of California, Los Angeles is located.
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The suffering and violence that is taking place in Gaza is unconscionable. According to the United Nations, at least 34,560 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 77,765 injured; nearly all of the 600,000 children now sheltering in the southern border city of Rafah are injured, sick, or malnourished. In part 1 of our episode discussing the war, we examine Rev. Dr. Carter’s suggestion that non-violent resistance that includes divestment is the appropriate progressive Christian response.
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Saying “yes” rather than “no” to an invitation is much easier. A part of the pleasure of saying yes is knowing that someone wants you and wants to be in relationship with you in some way. To be sure, the spiritual practice of saying no is difficult. And yet, given the busyness of contemporary life, a “holy no” may be precisely what we need. Jesus encourages his followers to “stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself.” What if the path towards inner peace is more about removing, rather than adding, things to our lives and spiritual practices?
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Television, film, Hollywood, and popular culture tell us that vigilante heroism is necessary to save us from ourselves. But is this true? In this episode, we discuss the myth of redemptive violence and our personal struggles with the effectiveness of nonviolent resistance.
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The roots of war and conflict are apparent in how we are socialized to live our daily lives. American political and economic policies and our social imagination of the “other” entice us into a zero-sum game where mutual flourishing feels impossible. This way of thinking is inconsistent with the spiritual path of Jesus and his disciples. Instead, we are invited to wage peace within ourselves and between each other because peace and justice are inextricably linked.
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In her book All About Love, bell hooks writes that we ought to “view our homes as our original school of love.” Love is essential for cultivating peace, so how might we intentionally teach it in our homes? How might we reimagine our church community as a school of love? What would it look like to teach young people how to cultivate the will and the courage to love, how to extend themselves to nurture their own or another’s spiritual growth? To help us answer these questions, we will be joined by Rev. Dr. Timothy Murphy, whose most recent book, Jesus Learns to Glow, is a children’s book whose story offers some answers to the aforementioned questions.
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Though our culture tends to teach and practice an approach to the natural world that seeks to control, tame, and extract resources, Jesus’ teaching suggests a different way: he asks us to “consider the lilies,” and learn from the birds. The Gospel beckons us toward a mutuality with the earth, honoring the integrity of creation.
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There is something inside all of us that longs for security, stability, and peace. However, human history reveals that we tend to try to meet this longing through coercion and force. This tendency has led us to view violence as a tool for peace rather than an obstacle that prevents peace. The spiritual path of Jesus reveals to us a pathway to peace beyond the myth that violence has the power to redeem or save us. Even after his own death, Jesus still whispers peace—and not once, but over and over again, speaking directly to the fears and insecurities that arise when choosing peace over domination.
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Among all of Jesus’ disciples, Peter’s spiritual pilgrimage is a good example of what it means to fall upward. Just before Jesus ascension into heaven, he finds Peter at the shoreline, casting his nets yet again. He turns to Peter and asks three times, “Do you love me?” as if each answer washes away Peter’s earlier three denials. To be sure, no matter how far we wander off our path during our spiritual pilgrimage, no matter if our faith is strong or weak, what we can give is our love.
Conversation Question – Are you able to name one or two people who have been a true mirror for you? If so, how has their friendship helped you?
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We invite you to join our Loft community in the Sanctuary for an Easter Sunday Celebration featuring the Singers of Soul Gospel Choir as we reflect on the hope we find in the resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, Jesus’s question to Mary while standing at his empty tomb is the central question of Easter: Who—or what—are you looking for? What kind of Jesus are you looking for? What kind of Christianity are you looking for? Where do you see hope in the resurrection of Christ?
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Rather than spending our time wondering why bad things happen to good people, how different would our faith be if we focused our energy on what to do when we experience suffering?
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