Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio closes nearly every speech with the following quote from the civil rights movement: “Don’t tell me what you believe – Show me what you do and I will tell you what you believe.” This admonition rings true in so many sectors of our lives.

Societies should be judged by they way they care for their children. The number of childen in the United States who do not have health care, the number of children globally that are infected by HIV/AIDS daily (1500) or the number of children victimized by the drug and alcohol abuse of adults is a sad commentary on our commitment to the next generation. We need to be more specific, it is a sad commentary on our commitment to Joshua Magagula. Joshua, a 9 year old orphan of parents who died with HIV/AIDS and Cindy Dunlevy, the 11 year old child of a methamphetamine addict need support and their parents, need or require intervention.

Nations and national leaders; communities and community leaders are long on resolutions and promises but short on action. We are half way through implementing the Millenium Challenge Goals, No Child Left Behind has become a part of our educational establishment’s lexicon and yet, we are making little or no progress on the health and safety of children. More of them are starving, dying without water and are infected by disease and random violence. We need policies that reflect our culture’s priorities, we need programs that will create systemic change and we need to say our young people that we are prepared to be judged by our actions and not our rhetoric.

Every administration starts off with lofty goals and uses the language of child protection and safety to capture the hearts and minds of the electorate. In the end – seldom the do the right coalitions get put together or the political will of individual leaders get tested in a way that drives change. That time must come to an end. We must push the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress to move beyond inspiration and rhetoric and drive toward concrete and real change. I know what Obama believes, I know what the Democrats say they believe, I want to know now what they will do.

An increasing number of individuals are discovering that organized religion and the institutions they create, often called churches are not responding to their individual or collective needs. Chruch attendance is way down, particularly among youth. I must confess, I have always had a love-hate relationship with organized religion. It would seem that I can’t live with it and I can’t live without it. A significant portion of my academic history was spent studying the history of Christianity. I have looked at the Church with its blemishes and often left disappointed. However, I have seen members of these communities respond with incredible courage and boldness in the face of injustice, poverty and despair. Individuals transformed by a gospel that has captured them and as a result – they transform the world in which they live.

I have moved from Evangelical Christianity to liberal protestantism and then into Morman ecclesiology (my wife is LDS) and now back to my evangelical roots. My faith experience validates the message of John Wesley that we are called to be disciples seeking Chrisian Holiness or living out God’s perfect love. Over the years, however, I have found that my faith is best lived and expressed in the struggle of living in the world. The institutions created by man and used by God often forget or neglect the world that so desperately needs its presence. Being present in the world can be terrifying. After all, we may find ourselves tarnished by getting too close to the heat generated by a broken and hurting humanity.

Dr. Paul Bassett a former professor of mine in Seminary often said, the Church is nothing more than scandelous humanity seeking God’s forgiveness and his perfecting grace. I think he is right. Another friend of mine, when discussing the Church, frequently reminds me of a quote from Dorothy Day, the Catholic Social worker who defended faith against a faithless communism attacking the relevance of the Church. Day wrote, “the Church may be a whore, but she is still our mother.” Harsh words, but it captures the tension, we who live and work within the context of faith, must constantly face. So many blemishes but a place where we gather at His table and confess our need for strength and redemption.

The Church is a vehicle – one vehicle for communicating and gathering God’s people. What we do in that gathering and how we communicate defines the nature of the Church. It is sad – that young people are increasingly discovering that the Church is irrelevant to many of the social issues that define their generation. They will seek their God in those issues and among those people facing those issues – and more than likely – that is exactly where they will find Him.

H. Richard Niebuhr wrote in Christ and Culture, we have three options – 1) We can withdraw from the world; 2) We can fully embrace or confront the world; or 3) We can withdraw in order to confront the world. I am finding that in order for me to be fully prepared to do the work that I do, that I must withdraw in order to confront. In the end this strategy is what will sustain us in the important mission we have to live out a love that shatters hate, prejudice, injustice and brings reconciliation to our relationships. It can be tough to be around Church, but I think the world will be lost without it.

This BLOG is designed to be a platform for exploring all ideas and issues religious, political, social, humanitarian and personal.  It is entitled SEEKER – because seeking is what has described my life in pursuit of great ideas, truth and the meaning of truth.  It is bi-partisan and will defy stereotypes and predicable categories.  The blog will attempt to peel back the layers of bias and definitions that put individuals and thinkers in boxes.   I am hopeful that people will not only read, but engage in a discussion that furthers thought and action.  Hopefully, the entries will be provocative, inspirational and informative.

In my 60th year, I am committed to exploring all ideas, cultural norms and those topics that we often ignore because of status, reputation or fear of being rejected.  Further, it is time to have some fun with sacred cows that put us on pedestals of self-righteousness and define us against one another.  To be sure the various posts will be irreverent at times, create some levels of discomfort.  So, join me on this journey of seeking.  For me, it is always about the journey and not the destination.