David W. Swanson

The Death of Self-Preservation Being the church in and for the world

Today’s newsletter is a plea to a church that cares more about its own preservation than the survival of its neighbors.

buttondown.com/david.w.swan...

The Death of Self-Preservation Being the church in and for the world

Today’s newsletter is a plea to a church that cares more about its own preservation than the survival of its neighbors.

buttondown.com/david.w.swan...

Parents snatched from their children. Neighbors disappeared by masked, unidentified agents. Ethnic cleansing funded by our taxes. Food and medical assistance slashed to enrich the grotesquely wealthy. Water and air desecrated to enlarge a corporation's bottom line.

May the Lord awaken his church and rescue us from our self-centered self-preservation. May we know again fear and trembling before the God who "administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing." (Deuteronomy 10:18)

"Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar." (Joel 1:13)

And still, we go to church to sing our songs and listen politely to the sermon as though God is not righteous. As though God can be mocked. As though divine holiness is not an all-consuming fire. As though the preservation and protection of our institutions is the purpose of our faith.

Parents snatched from their children. Neighbors disappeared by masked, unidentified agents. Ethnic cleansing funded by our taxes. Food and medical assistance slashed to enrich the grotesquely wealthy. Water and air desecrated to enlarge a corporation's bottom line.

Grateful for that!

Because I'm a US Christian and a pastor.

It seems to me that the rapid, mostly uncritical embrace of AI by U.S. Christians reveals a discouragingly shallow theology of humans and our work.

"Morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible."

- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1972)

Yup.

For first time, two leading Israeli human rights groups accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza | CNN A pair of leading Israeli human rights groups has accused Israel of “committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” becoming the first such organizations to make the claim.

"Announcing the report’s findings, B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak said that 'nothing prepares you for the realization that you are part of a society committing genocide. This is a deeply painful moment for us.'"

www.cnn.com/2025/07/28/m...

A more appropriate passage for this video would come from the final verse of Proverbs 28, "When the wicked prevail, people go into hiding."

The dominating form of American religious-political power has long believed itself to be under siege from the wicked when, in fact, it is the righteous who need protection... from us.

OP from DHS: www.facebook.com/share/r/14Kb...

Just a few minutes later, with my friend's permission, I got to share her testimony with someone who really needed to hear it.

Your testimony is for you, but it's never only for you. Somebody really needs to know what God has done for you!

A year ago I prayed for a dear friend from a nearby church about a specific need. Today she dropped into our church just to tell me that God had answered our prayer this week. What she didn't know what that there's someone in our church currently seeking God for the same thing...

Strangers in the Land Echoes from the early days of Chinese migration

A few reflections on the best book I've read so far in 2025.
buttondown.com/david.w.swan...

Enduring Joy (David Swanson) Podcast Episode · New Community Covenant Church Bronzeville · 07/20/2025 · 47m

Last Sunday, preaching from Hebrews 10, I made the case for suffering solidarity with our local and global neighbors. "In our solidarity with this world’s groaning and grieving, we find that we have chosen solidarity with Christ himself."
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

Thanks for this! One of the themes I hear bubbling beneath the surface of your essay how we learn to attend more carefully – and beyond our narrow, sometimes self-centered interests – to Creation as we gather and worship regularly in community. That has certainly been my experience.

Morning coffee walk to the lake with my favorite.

"A [white supremacist] Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland [stolen from Indigenous people] worth Defending."

- The Department of Homeland Security

LA pastor on hunger strike to protest ICE’s detainment of Iranian Christians WASHINGTON (RNS) — Pastor Ara Torosian’s congregants fled Iran to escape persecution due to their Christian faith. Now, they are being held in immigration detention.

Via @rns.org: LA pastor on hunger strike to protest ICE’s detainment of Iranian Christians —> religionnews.com/2025/07/23/l...

Peach (cobbler) season. Now, who's got the vanilla ice cream?

From the conclusion of today's sermon from Hebrews 10:32-29, "Enduring Joy."

Christian solidarity with those who suffer may not lead to death but it will certainly cost us our lives.

Negative Resistance Learning to walk away from all of it

“Might it be that these revealing days are the Spirit’s call to begin walking away from the death-dealing kingdoms of this world for the sake of something so much better?”

buttondown.com/david.w.swan...

Hey preacher, what's your text and theme for the sermon tomorrow? I'll be in Hebrews 10:32-29, "Faith-filled people endure suffering joyfully."

Justice Dept. Asks for 1-Day Sentence for Ex-Officer Convicted in Breonna Taylor Raid

"We're tired of all this beating, we're tired of taking this. It's been a hundred years and we're still being beaten and shot at, crosses are still being burned." - Fannie Lou Hamer

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/u...