We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

Love in Unexpected Places

Here’s a letter we received from a reader pointing us to this TED talk:

Hi,  

My Name is Austin. I’ve been a podrishoner at Woodland Hills Church for the past 3 years and frequently visit reknew2015.wpengine.com.   

I stumbled upon this TED talk from September 2012 yesterday entitled Israel & Iran: A Love Story.    

Recently, Greg has been talking about the destructive cycle that violence creates and Jesus’ call to love your enemies.  To me, this sounded good in theory but I was having trouble trying to to picture what that would look like in reality.  Well…this video really helped.   

This 15 minute TED talk is given by Ronny Edry, an Israeli graphic designer who shared a poster on Facebook of himself and his daughter with the message, “Iranians, we [heart] you”. His lecture goes on to talk about the incredible response to his simple message.   

Although this may not be enough to stop a war between two nations, the simplicity and beauty of this event has helped me understand the message.  I wanted to bring this clip to your attention in case you thought the video was worth sharing or as a topic for discussion on the blog. 

Best Regards,

Austin

Thanks Austin!

Related Reading

Jesus, the Light that Blesses

God spoke a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 that his descendants would be a great nation and that all of the nations would be blessed through him. In this sermon clip, Greg discusses how Jesus became the new Israel that would bring a blessing to all people.  You can find the full sermon as well…

God’s “Ways” and “Thoughts” are Higher

Isaiah 55:8-9 is one of the more often quoted passages in the Bible. It reads:             … my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways … As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (vss. 8-9). This…

Topics:

Sermon Clip: Mark Moore Israel Week 2

In this sermon clip, Mark Moore talks about how God interrupts Abrahams life by asking him to have huge faith.  In week two of The Forest In The Trees, Woodland Hills takes a look at the early history of the Hebrew people and the formation of the nation of Israel. Throughout these stories, we see…

Views of an Indigenous Theologian

It’s so important to approach evangelism with humility when building relationships with indigenous populations. This interview with Dr. Randy Woodley is an eye-opening and important voice for anyone with a heart for missions. From the interview: You can still do a lot of good, don’t give up so soon. The best is yet to come…

From Boston, With Love

We posted some of T. C. Moore’s reflections on the Open 2013 conference earlier this week. T. C. lives in Boston and was deeply moved by the violence and terror that came to his city. Now we want to share his most recent blog post Oz and the Cross: Reflections on God’s Love and the…

Podcast: Overflow Episode 6 — Urban Ministry, Peacemaking, Non-Violent Parenting

Dan Kent and Osheta Moore talk about Peacemaking (versus Peacekeeping), urban ministry, the impact of gentrification, non-violent parenting, and so much more! You can register of Osheta’s webinar HERE. You can follow Osheta Here. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0464.mp3