On Thursday, July 12 the first Hindu prayer was prayed to commence Senate activity. Rajan Zed, the first Hindu to offer Senate prayer, began: “We meditate on the transcendental glory of the Deity Supreme, who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of the heaven. May He stimulate and illuminate our minds.”

Rajan was invited by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who commented: “I think it speaks well of our country that someone representing the faith of about a billion people comes here and can speak in communication with our heavenly Father regarding peace.”

Colin Gunton was a formidable scholar and thoughtful pastor, specializing his research in the doctrines of creation and the Trinity. Here are some closing remarks from my recently submitted article: “Colin Guton’s Trinitarian Theology of Creation: Creation as Creed, ex Nihilo, and Trinitarian.” Commenting on the relevance of the Trinity to culture Gunton writes:

“Modernity is like all cultures, in being in need of the healing light of the gospel of the Son of God, made incarnate by the Holy Spirit for the perfecting of the creation.” Gunton even goes so far as to say, “…the value of the theology of the Trinity lies more in enabling a rethinking of the topics of theology and culture than in offering a privileged view of the being of God.”

Thus, Gunton’s trinitarian theology of creation calls for personal, communal, interaction with creation, particularly in culture-making, not as a byproduct of being human, but precisely because we are human, made in the image of the triune God. By believing in creation ex nihilo as a product of the triune God, we must do something; we must create but not merely create, re-create, bringing the healing light of the gospel of the triune God into theology and culture for the perfecting of creation. Our creed calls us to participate with the two hands of God in the perfection of creation for the glory of the Father. In so doing, the transcendent Creator will become an ever-increasing immanent, personal God. By embracing Gunton’s theology of creation—as creed, ex nihilo, and trinitarian—creation becomes the context and substance of relation and worship, community and doxology, through our personal relationships, cultural participation, and praise.

Prompted by the ubiquitous bracelets and bumper stickers, many Christians are asking (or being annoyed by) the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” Thanks to the creative folks at the Evangelical Environmental Network, we’ve also been encouraged to ask, “What Would Jesus Drive?”

So here’s another pithy iteration to ponder: “Where Would Jesus Live?” From  God’s Politics blog.

Similarly, see my “Hate the City, Love the City“

The July issue of Next-Wave webzine on Church and Culture is now out. In addition to publishing a shorter version of my recent “How Missional is Your Church?: Keeping the Global in Missional,” (I would appreciate your rating the article at the site) there are a number of other articles. Be sure to check on the cartoon on the Emergent/ing Church debate!