Playing for change - street musicians making a difference

I heard a story about this on NPR yesterday and after a little bit of digging, found these videos. This is AMAZING!

There is this guy named Mark Johnson who recorded and filmed a street musician in California singing "Stand by me" and then decided to start filming musicians in all corners of the world singing the same song. He states, " The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world."

This first video is the "Stand by me" video. I will post a few others over the next few days/weeks. Really cool stuff!

A prosperity gospel I can live with

Kids at a school in Guatemala that is partially funded through the water system that was installed by Healing Waters International.

Many churches in the past few years have been preaching a "prosperity gospel" that I don't agree with. It is essentially the concept that God desires the material prosperity of those He favors. But to be in God's favor, you must give freely and sacrificially to the church. Essentially, I have seen pastors say this, that if you give $100 dollars to the church today, God will bless you with $1000 in the future, even if that $100 was designated for paying rent, or a heating bill, or for food for your family. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_gospel

I really take issue with this spin on the gospel. My primary critique is best summarized in this quote: "Any Gospel that cannot be preached in a Third-World country is not the True Gospel of Jesus Christ" -- Dr. David Jeremiah

Today, as I was continuing to read A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson I came across a different "Prosperity Gospel" that is much more in line with my own faith. Peterson writes, "Prosperity has nothing to do with insurance policies or large bank accounts or stockpiles of weapons. The root meaning is leisure - the relaxed stance of one who knows that everything is all right because God is over us, with us and for us in Jesus Christ. It is the security of being at home in a history that has a cross at its center. It is the leisure of the person who knows that every moment of their existence is at the disposal of God, lived under the mercy of God."

That is my prosperity gospel!