The World Together blog : Marty Troyer
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International Workers Day
Marty Troyer
It’s quite possible clothes I’m wearing or are in my house were made in the Bangledeshi building that collapsed and killed over 700 people. About five months ago another building collapsed there and killed 112 garment workers. Retailers like Wal-mart, The Children’s Place, Cato, and Dress Barn have previously purchased garments from the factories in this building.
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Why did Jesus have to die?
Marty Troyer
The Christian Scripture tell us that Jesus’ state and religion-sponsored torture and execution somehow captures good news for those who believe.
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Goodbye Santa, hello St. Nick — Or, how many slaves work for you?
Marty Troyer
On Dec. 18, 1865 slavery was officially abolished with the passing of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to the United States. Hallelujah and Praise God! A decision — though fought at the time by many — we celebrate today as a core example of how the better world Jesus’ dreamed (see Luke 4:18) is possible.
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Eat the Turkey, not each other: How to survive Thanksgiving dinner
Marty Troyer
There’s more to look forward to this Thanksgiving than a second slice of pecan pie when you’re finally alone in the kitchen.
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The rise and fall (and rise) of the evangelical left
Marty Troyer
The right story told at the right time can make all the difference. Knowing this, great storytellers take as much care in selecting the right story as they do in crafting its telling. David Swartz, author and historian at Asbury University, has done just that in his newly released book, Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism.
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10 ways to appropriately celebrate Columbus Day
Marty Troyer
Today is Columbus Day, Observed. Here’s what our state (Texas) governmental code says about it:
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Humanizing the soldiers who fight in our name: A reflection on Michelle Obama’s speech
Marty Troyer
These two political conventions have been tons of fun for me to watch, especially using Twitter as a platform for instant feedback. I’ve been live-tweeting each night, and hope to continue this week. I’ll be honest, it’s hard to cut through the political rhetoric and fanfare to know what a faithful Christian prophetic critique might be. So I’ve used 12 Scriptures as my lens to evaluate the speakers. I invite you to check them out, and examine the lens you are using to critique the speeches this political season. So far, these texts have left me feeling pretty ambivalent about the whole thing.
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Reconfiguring how your work and God’s reign join together
Marty Troyer
For hundreds of years, the way we think about the work of Christ and the church has gone something like this: Special people do special things for God, and everybody else pays. We call and ordain pastors to be special people who do special things when they live here and send and commission missionaries for the same work that happens to be “over there.” For the rest of us, “being Christian” and connecting to God’s story happens primarily through tithing and volunteerism.
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Conflicting creation stories
Marty Troyer
From 1989 to 1990, 1.7 billion people (32 percent of humanity at the time) were touched by nonviolent revolution in 13 nations. Each revolution was completely nonviolent, except Romania. Every one was successful, except China. They were the capstone years of a century that saw 3 billion people (64 percent of the world’s population), touched by major nonviolent campaigns in the 20th century (including India, South Africa, European countries in the face of Nazism and again in the face of communism).
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How can you tell if that voice in your head is God’s?
Marty Troyer
An idea, vision or question forms in your mind. You feel compelled to do something or say something you might not naturally do. Like run for president, buy a BMW, fight for abolition of human trafficking or against wage theft in Houston.
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