Saving the Rant for Another Day

I like to get ranty. I could easily link every one of the words in that previous sentence to a rant that I've written here on the blog. And that wouldn't even begin to touch on the litany of verbal rants that I've issued over the years. Strong opinions are kind of my thing.

And right now, there are a lot of issues that are very deserving of strong opinions. The whole Penn State pedophile problem and how this could be Joe Paterno's unfortunate legacy. Bob Jones University appointing Chuck Phelps to its board of trustees, despite his defense of rapist Ernie Willis. The Mississippi Personhood Amendment and what that may have meant. All big stories, all worthy of discussion.

But as I started thinking about how I might write about them, I also started thinking about a post my friend Ed Cyzewski wrote about six weeks ago. In it, he wrote:

When I think of how we could use our blogs, I wonder what it would look like to use them as our story-telling platforms for the Kingdom-building work that God is using us to do. That requires first getting into the game by recognizing what God wants us to do where we are: bringing healing where there has been racism, injustice, homophobia, misogyny, or a natural disaster. 

Then we can tell our better stories and create a proactive, redemptive culture in the church.

It's very easy for me to write about what's wrong, but it's often harder to wrote about what's going right.

But today, here are a few proactive things that I see going on.

• Darkness to Light is a fantastic organization that is training people to help prevent child sexual abuse. They offer lots of practical information on their website and they have a Stewards of Children online program that you can take for only $10.
• I've mentioned before (and will mention again!) that my friend Tamara Lunardo is compiling and editing the book What a Woman is Worth through Civitas Press. You can submit your story to help encourage women know their value.
• The Good Woman Project is a fantastic website and ministry that is reaching out to women to help them see their true identity. They have a mentoring program that connects women in a more personal way.

What are some ways that you choose to be proactive rather than to just react to negative stories that you hear? Do you have any recommendations for groups that serve those who are hurt by the stories listed above?