Holy Saturday | Holy Week Series | Pastor Sherin Swift Podcast Episode · New Life Fellowship NYC · April 4 · 13m

Brief Reflections on Holy Saturday...

Local and State Police Can Investigate Federal Agents, But Rarely Do It doesn’t happen often, but local law enforcement can arrest and charge federal agents. Legal experts say there’s a moral obligation to at least try to hold federal immigration officers accountable w...

“Unfortunately, because Congress is not taking any steps to rein ICE officers in, there really is no option other than states protecting their constituents’ rights," said Joanna Schwartz, a law professor at UCLA.

Thank you! 🙏🏽

"Of these 5,373 [detained by ICE since the government shutdown], there was a net increase of 5,209 more individuals with no criminal history – some 97 percent of the total net increase. Only 3 percent had a criminal conviction even including minor traffic offenses."

tracreports.org/reports/767/

...the obstacles seemed insurmountable. I knew the statistics for women like me. The data seemed to prove a normal life was out of reach for me.

I'm a living testimony that Jesus can make sure the worst thing that could happen to you doesn't have to define your future.

A candid photo of Sherin singing in worship with hands lifted and eyes closed.

I really didn't want to be a Christian. I had a lot of issues with the church and people who claimed to follow Christ.

I also had a lot of questions for God. I still do.

28 years ago, my future seemed dark and...

You don't need to edit your prayers - God wants your honesty. #prayer

"The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair." -Walter Breuggemann

"The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair." -Walter Breuggemann

Do others around you think of Christians as people of peace, or as people of hostility?

And has your presence in those spaces - your witness - shifted that narrative at all toward peace?

Once again, I'm reminded that jet lag is so much more than sleeping at the right times... it's also the brain fog that comes with the missed sleep or the shift in schedule....

Woman in the Pulpit: Direct and Indirect Communication Preaching at the intersection of culture, gender and faith

“For some of us, it is hard work to craft a sermon that sounds like our own voice and still meets the demands of the pulpit in our context.”

Read more reflections on culture and preaching in my recent substack article

ICE *already* can't meet their detainment numbers without rounding up children, veterans, people born in the U.S., people with no criminal records, people at immigration hearings, plus academics and visitors with valid visas.

So who do they plan to detain with >10x the budget?

The answer is: you.

Trump’s NOAA Budget Cuts Could Gut Critical Climate Modeling Potential funding cuts for NOAA and its research partners threaten irreparable harm not only to climate research but to American safety, competitiveness, and national security.

The total loss of NOAA’s office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research —a nerve center of global climate science, data collection and modeling — represents a setback for climate preparedness that experts warn the nation may never recover from.

(Published April)

Standing by Resisting tyranny starts with resisting the allure of being a bystander

"The category of bystander is not morally neutral. Bystanders were complicit. Their complicity enabled the horrors to proceed, unchecked." @kkdumez.bsky.social kristindumez.substack.com/p/standing-b...

weird how we see these guys find their spines when they aren’t running again — proving they’ve always been more concerned with keeping their jobs than DOING their jobs

Do people generally think of Christians as people of peace? If you consider yourself a Christian, do they think of you that way? #peace

A reminder - As Christians, it is not enough to minimize the harm we do to one another - we must be active in building peace, seeking justice, and tearing down the walls that divide just as Christ did. He continues his work through us!

22 years of marriage today! 🥰

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Rev Munther Isaac being interviewed by Dr. Willie James Jennings in Battel Chapel at Yale.

There are clear definitions for Apartheid, Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide. What is happening to the Palestinians precisely fits those definitions. As Christians, we need to be clear about that and speak up with that truth, especially when that solidarity is costly.

Rev. Munther Isaac speaking at Battel Chapel at Yale.

I had the great honor of hearing Rev. Munther Isaac speak at Yale last night. I've been contemplating his words and charge to Christians, that we simply be honest about what is happening, even under the pressure to soften or edit it.

X post: Elon Musk @elonmusk We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could gone to some great parties. Did that instead.

U.S. policy was to help bring an end to apartheid and establish a nonracial, democratic government. In response to this policy and the Act, USAID/South Africa was responsible for financing projects that apartheid victims viewed as critical in promoting social, political, and economic change through peaceful means. The mission enabled community consultation and ensured that the United States did not impose foreign-defined solutions to local problems. USAID created projects and activities to respond to the priorities of the black community and its leaders, maximized black participation and leadership, and ensured activities had a linkage to the general objectives of U.S. policy. First-year funding for the program was $25 million, which was raised to $50 million the second year. The main project areas were community outreach and leadership development to redress the repression of black-led institutions; educational support and training to address the educational crisis in South Africa; black private enterprise development to combat the inhibiting effects of apartheid–induced discrimination in private enterprise; university grants to help create a new generation of economic and political leaders; human rights; legal assistance; labor union training; and health and nutrition

What’s his beef against USAID in particu….oh. Wow.

#advent reminds us that we are not foolish to wait, to watch for the promise, to hope.

Black and white image of a tree stump, with writing on the foreground that says, "Icons of Advent: Stump; Things may not be as dead as they seem" with a link to Sherin's substack.

A stump may be a strange image but it reminds us that the areas of our lives that seem dead, wounded or even marred beyond recognition, are not beyond the possibility of life and newness.

open.substack.com/pub/sherinsw...

not only does murdoch own bible gateway, he uses your bible reading habits to determine your "preferences, opinions and emotions” and sells that info to whoever he wants.

If you use our tool to get your own file, here’s how to help our team learn more about the ways insurers deny claims … www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...

“Don’t feed the trolls” also extends to bad opinion pieces in papers of record.

They run them bc people react to them the most.

If we stop linking to bad columns and instead post thinkers we find valuable (& generate convo around it), incentives change.

It’s not easy and takes constant practice!

It is fun for me to see South Indian cuisine get it's due! So many think of Indian food as a narrow handful of dishes. Also, it is a little weird hearing it described like this, but I'll take it. (I can't read the full article.)