Earth Day has come and gone this year, but our planet's environmental crises grow bigger and bigger every day. In climate science, the number 350 is a very critical number. That number represents the upper safe limit for CO² in our atmosphere, in parts per million. In other words, pump more than that number into the atmosphere, and our planet is in serious trouble. Unfortunately, we're at 388.79 and rising right now.

Global warming has been called the single greatest challenge to ever face humankind, and it is essential that churches communicate the necessity of making lifestyle changes now, not later. As Christian educators, we need to partner with effective efforts to educate people about global warming. Churches are some of our culture's institutions that are best-suited to organizing, to communicating with a large number of people, and to developing support networks. When we partner with other effective organizations, we don't have to create something new from scratch, and we build relationships with organizations in our communities that otherwise may have no association with faith groups.

Even if you are a total tech geek, it's easy to start losing control of all of the cables, power cords, and remote controls in your midst. This is especially true when you work or serve in a church, because often those various tech-bits are handled by many people. Here are 10 steps to getting those wires and remotes organized.

Supplies needed: Electronic labeler (if available); some sort of attachable cable label (I like to use something similar to these, but if you have any of those old dot matrix labels lying around, they'll work OK); thin-tipped permanent black marker; rolling cart; clipboard with paper/pen; two cardboard boxes; cable ties (or garbage bag twist ties); technically-minded teenager or two. (Even if you are a gadget guru, it's a great way for a teen to share his or her knowledge with the church.)

How is your congregation helping members of your congregation and community cope in this difficult economy? Many possibilities exist, from setting up job boards on the church website, to offering instructional classes on gardening or canning, to bringing in a financial planner to help the congregation learn about dealing with budgeting or debt. Your approach will depend on the community's situation and the skills and gifts the congregation members have.

Another idea that utilizes the power of small groups is Simplicity Circles. In this type of small group, members gather to learn about living more simply while supporting one another as they change and develop new lifestyle patterns.

Two nights each week, I work at the homeless shelter for men in my community, preparing dinner, handling phone calls, taking assistance applications, and the like. As you would expect, the conversations often drift to jobs (or more accurately, the lack of them), the inability of the government to make meaningful change, and other political and economic topics. The men who come through the doors each day see things from a very different perspective, they'd tell you, than the "average" person, and generally I think that is true.

This week I got into a long conversation with an extremely articulate, well-educated, creative guest at the shelter who has given up on the people of this country to make fundamental change. "James" didn't have many good things to say about churches and their various missions to the poor. I tried to listen carefully, to really "hear" him.

Two comments especially hit home and stung more than others.

By its own admission, Nature’s Witness: How Evolution Can Inspire Faith by Daniel M. Harrell, is a book that may raise more questions than it answers. Such is often the case when one discusses theology. Nature’s Witness is part of the “Living Theology” series, a cooperative effort between Emergent Village and Abingdon Press. The goal of the series is to make theology approachable and to encourage conversation.

A month ago I wrote about a ministry opportunity that evolved from a conversation with a friend after I read a recent study on children and literacy. The first part of Books for Books happened this past Saturday – a used book sale and coffeehouse. The second part – using the money from the sale to purchase age-appropriate books for the children at a local elementary school – will happen during the next six weeks. I had promised to keep you updated about this ministry idea as it developed.

A digital voice recorder is a small device that allows you to capture and replay audio. Better quality devices add additional features, including file transfer to computer and compatibility with computer transcription software. After my laptop and my cell phone, my digital recorder is the tool I wouldn't want to live without. (Actually, I have two of them. My cell phone, like many cell phones, has a basic voice recorder built in, and I have it set up to be activated with the push of one button.)

The uses of such a device are numerous, once you get in the habit of using it (and then replaying your messages) regularly. Here are 10 ideas to start with...

When Summer Sunday School is mentioned, it is easy to list reasons not to do it. (You know the arguments, so I’m not going to list them!) Though perhaps not so easily thought of, there are also reasons to continue Sunday School during the summer months.

As I read the lectionary scriptures for the second Sunday of Easter, several verses from the various readings jumped out at me and seemed to speak together.

How very good it is when kindred live in unity! (Psalm 133:1, NRSV)
The whole congregation of believers was united as one – one heart one mind! ...They shared everything. And so it turned out that not a person among them was needy. (Acts 4:32, 34, The Message)
God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

It is incorrect and begets misunderstanding to read Paul for what he was not: a Lutheran Protestant criticizing Roman Catholicism or, worse still, a Christian criticizing Judaism. It is correct and avoids misunderstanding to read him for what he was: a Christian Jew within covenantal Judaism criticizing Roman imperialism. We must read his letters within their original situation and Paul's original intention. (The First Paul, p. 157)

Every time I teach an introductory Bible course (e.g. Disciple Bible Study), I am always struck by the fact that everyone has at least one part of the Bible they dislike or rarely read, usually because of false assumptions they have about that book or section. Once upon a time, my own disinterest in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament, as I would have called it at that time) was so great that I managed to graduate with a BA in Religion without having taken Intro to the OT! Of course, that eventually changed (thanks to my seminary, which of course did not let me make that mistake twice) and now I love to read those 39 books.

Lately, I have realized that my own disinterest has shifted to Paul's letters (including the disputed and pseudo-Pauline letters.) For example, my bookshelves have had at least two scholarly books on the historical Paul awaiting my attention for years, but I've found the time to read a dozen or so books on the historical Jesus. There are plenty of reasons for this deficiency, but a new book has finally put my mild phobia to rest. That book is The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon, by Marcus J. Borg & John Dominic Crossan (Harper One, 2009).