the rev

sorry I haven't posted much

2012-02-06T08:19:00.001-08:00

And we were switching to a new host for the domain as well.

I hope to post more this year, but don't really want to write unless I have something to say. I have been working on my book, and will perhaps post some excerpts here from time to time. Fight the powers

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My Joyous life (follow up from yesterday)

2011-12-29T08:24:00.000-08:00

I always find it discouraging that my negative posts always seem to get the most attention. People seem to be drawn to arguing, and critiquing and critiquing critiques. The most read posts on my blog are both where I call out Christian leaders for their very public statements letter to pastor mark and was very angry with pastor chuck.

Yet in some of my best posts I talk about wonderful people who have inspired me, and do inspire me pastor buddy or ray barbee

I share video bible studies, talk about our house church, all kinds of things. But the negative stuff gets heard, it gets passed around, mainly because people wish someone would say something about all the crap they see. They are happy that it is not just them. Others, well just enjoy stirring up some shit.

But today, I thought I might share a little bit about ways forward. How have we tried to live an alternative?

We work hard to define church as our community not as gatherings.

When we do gather everyone shares. Everyone cooks for the group at one time or another. We occasionally meet in other houses, or in a park. Everyone takes a turn at doing communion, leading confession, or prayer, or worship (almost never singing but usually interactive in a different way). Everyone shares during a discussion, and everyone has an opportunity to lead the discussions as well.

We pay nobody, so all the money that is given gets spent on neighborhood needs, using a relational model. If $50 or less is needed to help someone you personally know, you need one person in the community to agree that it is a need we should meet and the money is doled out. If it is above that amount we put it to a vote, and we use consent rather than consensus, (I will explain later)

We recognize that our calling is not to build a bigger community, but rather give birth to a network of small communities. We support, and help new communities start.

The use of consent is slightly different from consensus. We try to reach consensus, which we have in almost every occasion, but if we can't we ask the minority group to allow us to continue in the direction the majority has decided and we will review it in an appropriate amount of time. If they are adamant about saying no, then we wait. We would rather go together than divide over being right.

We put regular cycles of service to our neighbors, and the neighborhood into our calender. We learn to be disciples, by following Jesus example of loving those society has cast aside. In our history that has been homeless people, drug addicts, punk rockers, pregnant teens, and mentally ill people. Doing this together is important, as our friends learn what healthy community is like as we practice it with them.

There are many other things I could write, but I will stop there. I am currently writing a book that tells stories of our ministry over the years, with no commentary. It will not be negative at all. If you can't stand my critiques, maybe buy my book when it is available. Far from being the angry curmudgeon that I may appear in caricature, I love life, I have great hope for the future, and I believe the church will be reconciled and redeemed. I just happen to also believe I need to call us on our bullshit. Rest assured everything I say, I say to myself as well.

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If you build it they will come (my sad little world!!!)

2011-12-27T09:30:00.000-08:00

I responded to a twitter message that was retweeted by someone I follow. The message went something like... 80 percent of non churched people said they would go to a Christmas service if invited so get out there and invite someone.

My response was something along the lines of "why? so we can inoculate them with a small dose of consumer Christianity that keeps them from catching a real cross following discipleship?" Which I know is a bit harsh, but I am a bit harsh sometimes.

A brief conversation followed which ended in a statement that basically said, "I am not going to let you drag me into your sad little world"

Now, first of all I understand the issue. I seem like a scrooge. I seem like someone that hates the church. I seem like someone who is taking pot shots at those doing something different, or arguably more successful than what I am. I can see that, really I can. But... I do not think I should be dismissed so easily.

Not that I am in any way comparing myself to any of these great men of the faith, but John the baptist wasn't exactly a sweet heart, Paul was down right mean sometimes, even Jesus whom we follow was a killjoy on occasions. The entire tradition of the prophets is not to say nice things, but to actually be a big downer. So the question isn't: is what I am saying negative?, but rather: is what I am saying true?

Christianity as it has become defined in the western world, is subverted. It is not the revolutionary, radical and sacrificial way of living that we see in the book of acts and in stories of the early church. It has become rather a culture of its own, that mimics the culture of its day. And unfortunately in most of the western world that means an adoption of consumerism. We make a product of Christianity. This product includes well put together services, with good music, good message, and good child care. The product includes a very well put together handbook of beliefs, that we can convince ourselves of, and then be suitable for heaven. This product in too many cases gives us an ideology that says our possessions are a sign of God's blessing, that our Christian duty is to take care of ourselves and our family first and then if we have some extra to give it through an agency to those that might need some help.

I remember one time I was sitting in a service that was all about God's plan for sexuality. It had drama, and video, and a nice compelling message. And then the band came out and was playing "in your eyes" by Peter Gabriel, and I leaned over to ask my friend that invited me a question about the service. A lady in front of us angrily told me I was being a distraction. A distraction from what? A song you hear a hundred times a week on the radio? I was distracting from a performance that was meant to be a consumable good, for a target market. I was distracting from church, but not from being the church, but from the product of church. Inviting people to purchase this product is not mission, though it is what we are asked to do by the organization that exists.

Jesus on the other hand calls us to go out into the world, not call people to us. He says to make disciples, not converts. And he says to teach them to obey everything he taught... which means, sell all you have and give it to the poor, store not up treasures for yourself on earth, feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the imprisoned and sick, stand up non violently against oppression, love your enemies don't bomb them, live out the kingdom of heaven. Yes, Jesus calls us to something all together different than a service on Christmas.

We don't need to invite people to a service, we need to invite them to a revolution. But first we have to live it ourselves. Far from being a sad little world, it becomes a wonderful, joy filled, and also tragic world, bigger than can be imagined, as it is not bound by the physical.

come and join the revolution

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Just a little encouragement

2011-12-05T07:27:00.001-08:00

My friend Allen sent me an email this weekend. He said he had taken some time to read over the last few blog entries or so, and he thanked me for them. He said they were meaningful and moving to him. He said they helped him understand things better. He made me feel encouraged, he made me feel like if for only one person the writing I do here mattered.

Now I know this might sound like a plea for everyone to tell me how wonderful I am, but that is not my point. Well not my only point :) What Allan did was encourage me to use my gifts. The bible talks about this, encouraging one another towards good works, sharing with those that share with you, and the whole body needing one another. I try to make it a habit to tell people how much their actions mean to me.

In the book Connecting, Dr. Larry Crabb talks about how one of the most important parts of Christian fellowship is seeing the Christ in others and calling it forth. That is encouragement. So today, and the rest of this holiday season, oh heck, the rest of your life, take the time to see the Christ in others, see their good works, look deeply and see the good, and praise it, encourage it, fan the flame. There is enough in this world that tears us down, we should be people that build up.

Thanks Allan for building me up

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Matthew 26 the woman with the expensive perfume part 2

2011-11-16T08:12:00.001-08:00

A story illustrating my understanding of the woman with the expensive perfume from yesterday.

My wife was having a birthday party for her fortieth. Our dear friend and partner in ministry while we lived in Australia decided to conspire with me to surprise her with a visit for her party. So he booked a flight from Oz, took time off of work, and flew all the way to Long Beach to be with my wife as we celebrated her life.

But why such waste? The money he spent could have been used to care for the poor. He could have donated to the local shelter in her honor, he could have given the money to Gatehouse in St. Kilda who loves and cares for the prostitutes on the streets there. And what about that incredible carbon foot print he left? Why would you do that to our planet?

These are actually all good questions. We must in fact wrestle with these questions. But... if we come to the realization that a party to celebrate the life of someone we love is important, then we throw a party, and rejoice in that. The truth is we can get so caught up in doing the right things, standing for the right things, that we forget to just enjoy those special times in life. What the world does not need is another bunch of bitter, unhappy activists. What we need is a balanced community that is motivated by love of others, with a priority towards the poor and marginalized, but not at the neglect of each other.

In the story of the female disciple, who made this opulent display of affection we must grapple with our tendency to "know" what we are to do. But the truth is, as I said before, we must always put love at the top of our list of priorities as we struggle to make sense of things.

Let me again however state that this is meant to warning that we should not get so focused on principles that we neglect people, not an excuse to live it up.

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Matthew 26 the woman with the expensive perfume

2011-11-15T10:09:00.001-08:00

might take a few days on this, important stuff here.

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷ a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. ⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you,^[a] but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Again context is very important. This story follows Jesus railing against the pharisees and priests and powers that be in Jerusalem. Jesus tells parables about the powerful destroying those that stand against their oppressive policies, and about the judgment where we are called into account for how we treat the poor and the marginalized. Then we see a quick passage that tells us the countdown to His death has begun, and then to this story.

In this story we have a woman that finds in Jesus a man that has loved and accepted her, that has shown her the light, the way and is the very fullness of truth. And she shows her love and adoration in an extremely generous manner. Then the very people who listened to Jesus talk about the care for the poor, and how we must stand against the oppressive powers are shocked at the waste. It doesn't seem to make sense with what Jesus just said. Why don't we use that perfume to feed poor people (notice there is an understanding at least among Jesus disciples that this woman was one of their community, and part of their common purse collective, and expected some accountability). Jesus says the poor you will always have with you, and I will deal with that statement in a later post, but then explains, "she wanted to do a generous act towards me, and it will most likely be her last chance to do so as I am going to be murdered soon, its a good thing she did"

The moral of the story is simply this: we can sometimes get so caught up in all the right stuff, and doing all the right things, that we forget people and their importance. All of our veganism, new monasticism, incarnational mission, activism and non violence can all be derailed when we forget that its the people that matter. Its people over principles. Sometimes we need to throw a party and waste money that can go other places... because its good to celebrate a person, a relationship, a milestone. Sometimes we can spend a bit too much money to show some one we love them. We don't need to worry that "oh you are buying into that evil consumeristic mindset that says you show your love by buying something". Check your heart, don't use this as an excuse, it should be an exception not the rule, but guys... love extravagantly, enjoy, don't become bitter curmudgeons.

Next I will tell a few stories about how this has worked out in our lives and then I will talk about the statement the poor you will have with you always.

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The parable of the talents

2011-10-22T09:44:00.000-07:00

When I spoke at Tribe L.A. I mentioned that I believed this parable was very misunderstood by most of modern traditional christian teaching. Ched Myers introduced me to a different way to read this passage, and I will develop the reasons why I believe it is correct as we go. It is found in the 25th chapter of Matthew, and also in Luke but we will look at the Matthew passage today.

Matthew 25

The Parable of the Talents

¹⁴ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵ And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. ¹⁶ Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷ And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸ But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
²⁰ “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ ²² He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
²⁴ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
²⁶ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷ So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
²⁹ ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Now the standard reading of this passage goes like this: God gives you gifts whether they be speaking, or music, or sowing, or making money. You are to use these gifts to the best of your ability... for God, and if you don't, God will throw you out into outer darkness. Of course these points must be nuanced, and danced around, especially the idea of you will be judged by what you do, as modern Christianity has tended to adopt an almost gnostic love of what you believe or know, rather than what you do here on earth. In these dances we say... well what that means is each person is given a certain amount of faith, but if you don't use that faith blah blah blah.

Now, I am already getting negative. Please bear with me. Though I agree with the idea that we should make the most of what we are given... I do not believe that is the point of the teaching. And if it was, it would not be a parable. You see a parable is not a children's story to teach us morals using quaint images. A parable is a device used to violently yank us out of our cultural stupor, or powerfully confront our positions of power, by slipping through our defenses. Like Nathan saying to David, "Thou art the man" parables are supposed to confront either power, or culture. A traditional reading of this does neither. It reinforces the culture we live in. In fact, it does so in a very diabolical way if we look beyond the surface.

In this parable we see that people are judged on their ability to make a profit... for an absentee landlord. We see that those that make a profit get an ever larger share, to make a profit for the landlord but never actually share in the profit, thought they do get to "share in the joy of their master". They stay slaves, they are never freed, and are always judged by their ability to make more and more for their master. This holds up the status quo, it continues a system and structure that is there. How is this a parable of good news? of liberation? of the kingdom of God?

But if we look a bit further, we will see that this is indeed a parable. Our problem is we get the roles turned around. Specifically the role of the master. We have been conditioned to believe that the master is always God, but there are many masters in this world, including Satan, the domination spirit that rules the entire world. Lets look at the parable closer:

The slave who is cast out says some things that are confirmed by the master, the master is...

mean, or hard

he reaps where he does not sow (which we call theft)

he gathers where he did not sow seed (which we also call theft, or occupation)

in addition we see a couple of other things

these other slaves were praised for using money to make a hundred percent profit? even in this day that would be considered unsavory, but how did they do it back in the day this was written? the only way was by lending and foreclosing on properties and then selling them at profit, A practice that basically made all of judea either abjectly poor, or extremely wealthy

the master says that the slave could have put the money in a bank for interest. But the Jewish people were commanded not to take interest from each other. So how does this Jewish God say to take interest?

And finally, how does this story fit the life of Jesus?

So what does this story really say? It says this in my opinion. That the lords and masters of this world, the corporations, the governments, the banks ect. expect those under them to work hard, to maximize profits for them. Though they steal, and defraud, and do whatever it takes to make themselves fat and happy, the best they can offer you is that you will be a slave that can "party with" the boss once and a while if you make some good profit for them. But if you decide not to play that game, to take this money of empire and plant it in the ground and see what organically comes from it, if you only give back what is given to you. You will be called wicked, and lazy, and cast out into darkness. Which is what happens to Jesus. He faces all of that darkness on Golgotha. Which is what we are called to, when He says pick up your cross and follow me. We are called to stand against fraudulent, thieving, mean masters, seeking only their own profit. We are called to concern ourselves with a different agenda than propping up their empire, (as we read in the very next parable, we are to care for those others that are not "profitable to empire"). And we are called to stand against the fear that grips us, as we await our ostracizing. We are called to pick up our cross, and follow Jesus

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Christendom has abandoned Christ!

2011-10-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

There are many voices calling out in the market place of Christian ideas. There are many different narratives. But by and large the megalithic power that can be called Christendom has abandoned its supposed creator. We have opted out of the radical, revolutionary lifestyle that this crazed prophet and messiah called us to. And have adopted a cultural niceness. We have embraced an economy of me first, and maybe some left overs for the deserving poor. We have clung to a doctrine of grace that gives us pithy phrases to recite in order to go to heaven when we die, or better yet get raptured out of this mess. We have created a politic of defense against everything that may be unpleasant.

But this Christ we say is at the center of who we are, who we are meant to be and who is the resurrection of us here and now... well this Christ was not known for his stance against illegal immigration, his stance against public health care, against gay marriage. This Christ was not known for his pro death penalty stance, his pro war stance, his pro capitalism stance. This Christ we say is our Lord, Savior, Redeemer and ultimately the one we follow, practiced radical inclusive love towards those deserving and undeserving. This Christ cared for the poor, and chastised the rich. This Christ loved and spent time with the heretical Samaritans, but condemned the religious leaders and theologians of the orthodoxy. This Christ saved the sinner from condemnation, and did not condemn. This Christ taught us how to resist oppression by not cowering, but not fighting either. This Christ included women in his entourage, and was born of questionable circumstances, and condemned those that were holiest. This Christ included in his friends the despised, the working class, the traitor.

We have abandoned Christ, but no bother, we have built another Christ, in our own nationalist, materialistic, and gnostic image. And we bow down to this new Christ amidst wonderfully hip music, and great preaching, and rituals, just like the Israelites bowed to a calf of gold...

But God was not pleased with that

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the hold of empire

2011-10-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

As we sat on the lawn with the shining beacon of capitalism shining a glowing red Wells Fargo, and the general assembly meeting of Occupy Long Beach to the other side, we opened the bible with our house church, and a homeless Christian man who had joined us.

I shared a parable that has been for years a staple of the subverted churches diet. A parable that we have turned into a nice story that says, work hard and make the most of what you have and God will love you but if you don't God will cast you our into outer darkness you lazy slave.

But this couldn't be further from the lesson of the parable. The parable teaches us what happens when we refuse to play by the rules of the empire. When we refuse to continue to be slaves to profiteering bosses and banks, and multinational corporations. What happens when we say, no, I wont play that game anymore. I mean God can't be the master that admits himself that he is mean, steals, collects interest and does not show grace but judges on what you have done for me lately could he?

And the man, crushed by the system, having lost his home, seeing the truth in all of this...

goes back to, "well God gives us each a talent, and each of us need to use that talent for one another"

Which is true, but it isn't a parable

the hold of empire

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Started a new diet, and I am a bit worn out

2011-10-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

Isn't it interesting that when you do something good for your body... your body rebels at first. I started a very healthy diet, aimed at lowering my body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. I know from past experience that this diet is very helpful for me, and last time I was on it I felt great... eventually. I lost weight, and my blood pressure and cholesterol levels plummeted.

But man the first week is horrible. I feel like shit.

So who cares? Probably not many people, but I was just thinking that often when we do good things, it is hard, and hurts, and makes us miserable

until it becomes a healthy lifestyle. Then its great.

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As long as you don't love money you can have all you want (and other bullshit)

2011-10-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

Stupid things we try and believe:

Its the love of money that is the problem, so if you don't love money you can have as much as you want

Sure we are supposed to love our enemies, but that doesn't mean we don't need to kill them sometimes

Jesus was really hard on the church leaders and religious folk, but we aren't like them, we are like the disciples

Despite Jesus giving the scribes a hard time, he really wants all of our doctrine to be perfect, which is way more important than actually doing what he said and did

When Jesus said to follow him, he didn't mean literally, he meant to believe in him so we could go to heaven

Got any more?

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What is the "sin" of our age?

2011-10-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well I have a few thoughts on this. The first is what is the sin of the church? The second is what is the sin of our world?

Our first voice should always be to ourselves. Though I would agree that the sin of the world is completely alive and well in the church, I believe that it is a deeper sin that helps that to happen.

In my opinion, the sin of the church is the sin of coveting. What the church has done, is it has coveted the power, the riches, the status, the relevance and the style of the world. We have, like ancient Israel said, "give us ______ so that we might be like other nations (companies, corporations, movements ect). We covet the success and efficiency of the world, and we desire to emulate it. We establish brands, sell discontentment, and are the slaves of advertising. When we stand on the scriptures we do so in a way that helps us to control those under us, and create a competitive drive that will compel the troops to victory in our (sorry Jesus') name.

The church must look at our sin, and repent. We are meant to be a different, separate, alternative, not a christianized version of the same thing.

What is the sin of the World? Well in my mind, it is the sin of the ages. Lust for domination. In our world however this lust is more tied to economic greed, and consumerism, than at any time in history. Lust for money and power are the cause of war. They are the cause of screwed up self image. They are the cause of wage slavery, dept slavery and sexual slavery. The love of money and profit has caused the destruction of our environment, and even own bodies. The love of money is indeed at the root of all evil.

So what should we do? As the church, or even as concerned citizens of the world, what should we do?

Well, in my opinion, we should not stop saying, "this is wrong and needs to change" But we should also begin experimenting with ways of life, and economy that are different, life giving and just. We should live an alternative to the me first ethic, we should be concerned, informed and compassionate as communities.

I do not have the answers, but I do have the questions, and am committed to trying to figure it out in action rather than theory.

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A practical way to move forward economically

2011-10-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

The march and occupation of Wall Street has created a talking point for many of us. I have friends from many different walks of life, and different economic belief systems, and everyone has an opinion on how things should be fixed, whether the protest is ill informed or a ground swell of grass roots call for change.

I have my own opinions, but what I would rather have is a plan. You see, it makes much more sense to me, to actually live a different reality, than to put too much effort into changing someone else. That doesn't mean we aren't to turn over the tables, and make a statement. Not at all. But if we aren't demonstrating an alternative, we are just malcontents, not prophets.

Over the next few weeks my family and I, and those in our community are going to be exploring how we can go further in our pursuit of living out the economy of God. We will be using Ched Myer's book Sabbath Economics as a guide. If anyone wants to go on this journey with us, lets talk.

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But did the disciples have evangelical theology?

2011-10-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

The truth is even after the Holy Spirit fell on them I don't think the disciples had good evangelical theology. They certainly weren't dispensational. They would not have understood the trinity, hell I don't know that any of us really do. They would probably not have understood atonement theory, had a proper view of eschatology, or ecclessiology. I don't think they would have understood soteriology in either a Calvinist or a Aminian way. We see Peter, the recognized leader of the church even practicing racism. We see the church practicing communism. We see them still attending the temple! They did not have their theology together.

What did they have? They had an understanding of what it meant to live the way Jesus lived, and an understanding of Jesus as the Messiah. And that was enough to not only found the church, but to turn the world upside down.

Perhaps in our pursuit of truth, we should be pursuing the truth in action as much if not more than the truth in our head.

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Last night I spoke at Tribe L A (about perception)

2011-10-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Last night I spoke at Tribe L A. They asked me to just share whatever was on my heart. Well, what was on my heart, was to share this story about meeting Jesus on the train. And to talk about perception.

In Mattew 25 Jesus says that in the great judgement at the end of days, people will be judged not on their theology, but on how they treat those that are poor, oppressed and marginalized. But Jesus does an interesting thing, he confronts our perceptions.

There are so many people that don't really care about helping others. That only look out for themselves. But the vast majority actually do believe in helping those that deserve it. The deserving poor, should be helped. Those that fell through the cracks, or are experiencing problems not of their own making. If our perception is that they deserve help we will help.

But what if they don't "deserve" help. What if they are poor because of their own issues, their own bad decisions? Why should we help those people?

Well Jesus changes our perception. Jesus doesn't allow us to view from deserving, or undeserving, but makes us view things based on our view of Him. We are called to recognize in each and every person, the presence of Christ. Each and every person, is where God and heaven touches earth. And how we respond to these people, is the truth of our faith. How you treat these least of these, is how you actually are treating God in flesh.

Perception is the key, and Christ changes our perception

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How the heck can you pastor and work full time?

2011-09-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

A number of things came up yesterday, both in the comments on this blog and on another forum I frequent. I thought I would address them here today.

First off, I do believe some people need to get paid for ministry, maybe even me some day. But the criteria for me is someone who is traveling, starting and being an elder and pastor to churches all over. I do actually hope that someday I will have an RV and will travel to spend time with young churches all over the country as a guide and helper. It would be very difficult to do this and work part time, not impossible however, and I am hoping that my art work and furniture and pipe making will be my version of tent making.

Secondly, this doesn't mean you have to take a job as a construction worker, or banker. Some people like my friend Dave Andrews do "ministry" type work, which is paid work. Their second job is working in a homeless shelter, working with refugees, being a chaplain in a prison or hospital.

Thirdly, how can this work in a huge church? It can't! There shouldn't be huge churches. They by their very nature are in need of a CEO, they have the "elite" doing most of the work, and the "others" contribute only money and chores. What I am talking about is not just an economic thing for pastors, it is a re-imagining of the entire church structure. I am talking about smaller, organic groups, that may network for certain reasons, or needs.

Fourthly, if someone isn't always expected to be available at all times to do "spiritual" work, the "normal" people will have to actually use their own gifts and spiritual life.

And lastly to address my friend Simon Moyle, there are times when someone who is a spiritual leader is needed to address greater issues. I would say that these are actually second jobs, that the church may see as important, and hire people to do. For instance, a church might hire an artist to teach art to local children in the neighborhood because of school budget cuts. Or hire someone to do the cooking and organizing of a meal sharing kitchen. Or maybe even someone to address the issues of global violence.

The truth is, the church is broken and getting new better leaders is not the answer, but a re tooling of the whole structure is

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Why I wont get a job in "ministry"

2011-09-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

The only time I was a "full time minister" was when we went to Australia. It was basically a requirement of our visa, and we raised our salary by begging. For the rest of our life we have either lived off of our own part time employment or received a small stipend to assist us.

When we returned from Australia I was offered a full time job as a youth pastor at a suburban church which I turned down. I am also very aware of how to build a "normal" church capable of supporting a full time pastor. I would have no trouble finding a church to hire me as a full time pastor either. And to be honest... sometimes these options seem like something worth pursuing.

But there is a number of reasons why I will not do this:

First, I believe that it is the most incontrovertible separation between the clergy and the laity. It makes two classes, the pros and the amateurs. And I think that hinders the concept of true discipleship for all believers.

Second, I believe the paid full time pastor is taken out of the "real world" and placed in a pseudo religious world, where they spend their time doing religious things, and do not deal with real everyday problems first hand, but second or third hand

Thirdly, I believe that full time ministry creates two problems in regards to power and economics. It is much harder to say hard things to someone when they can effect your ability to feed your family. And once you are relying on this economic reality of a pay check it also makes it easy to play the game, in order to continue in your role.

Fourthly, I believe that the money spent on salaries, as well as buildings, are better spent on caring for people, especially the poor and marginalized in our communities and around the world

Fifthly I believe that planting churches is the way forward, and in order to do that they need to be easy to plant. Taking away the burden of a salary makes things much easier to do.

And lastly, I believe that the role of the professional minister has become so maligned, or glorified, that it must be abandoned in its modern context in order to have integrity in our world.

I know others disagree with me, especially those that are getting paid. I also know that with incredible integrity, these issues can on some level be dealt with. But I believe the best and most perfect way forward is with bi-vocational ministry, even if you feel over burdened at times.

That said some of the best, and most amazing people I have ever met, are full time ministers.

rev

How can you call for change, and not be called an elitist?

2011-09-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

This was an interesting topic brought up by some friends of mine. If you say something is broken, and needs to be fixed... if you believe you have learned some of the ways towards fixing it and are living it out, and talking about it... how are you not considered an elitist?

I go back and forth with this one, but based on my personality, in practice I generally fall to the side of, "not my responsibility what others think of me". I say what I feel I am supposed to say, and often I say it as bluntly and perhaps even rudely as possible. Jesus was not always nice, and in fact was often down right mean to those that stood in the way of change. Jesus says that the pharisees not only wouldn't enter into the kingdom of God, but were actively keeping others from entering in as well. And His words were not soft and comforting to those people.

Those that are in positions of stability and power in the modern structure have the most to lose by its dismantling. I have empathy for them, I understand, and I will show love and concern and even provide a helping hand as they journey towards living out a new reality. But those that dig their heels in and protect the bastardization of what Christ leaves as his present fleshly reality on this earth... well I don't have gentle words for them.

Does that mean I am lifted up with pride? am I hypocritical? Am I an elitist? Well, yes I am. But I am trying to be less so. I am trying to judge myself every step of the way. I am also saying that I suffer from these issues to. The difference is, I am not digging in my heels, being stiff necked and refusing to be moved. I am on a journey, and am willing to consider myself brother or sister with all those that say the same. But those that are already at their destination are as much the religious powers that be, as those the crucified Christ and I will not "be polite and humble" as they hurt God's people and his Way.

But what I do admit, is there are some things that help us to keep things in check:

Let your deeds speak louder than your words

Always realize your own sin, and your ability to deflect that upon others

Submit to the others in your community that see your failings as much as your success

Serve the least, the outcast, the marginalized, because there you find yourself

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Last night at our community gathering

2011-09-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

We watched the movie Waste Land . This film tracks artist Vic Muniz as he works with the trash and the trash people of Rio DeJaneiro Brazil's infamous landfill Jardim Gramacho. It is a very powerful film, that speaks to many issues, including the issues that come from our "helping" those less fortunate.

We discussed the film and its impact afterward and it was a wonderful night.

I highly recommend this movie, it raised more questions than it answered, but for me, it cemented the idea that creativity is so important to each and everyone of us. If we lose the ability to imagine, we lose the ability to hope.

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What depression looks like for me

2011-09-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

For most of my life I have operated at an extremely insane pace. And when life was calm, and peaceful I would sabotage it in order to get the needed adrenaline pumping. This was not a healthy way to live, but it was all I had. I made life very hard for my family, and for myself. I chased intense situations, feeling most at peace with the world, and comfortable, in the midst of the most extreme situations. When a bull would start to charge at me, hundreds of people gasping in fear, everything would go into slow motion, and I felt awesome, invincible and honestly, at peace. Same with fighting, bouncing, repo-ing cars, anything that was insane.

But as I got older, I started to have periods of something different. When I would shut down. When my usually extroverted self would want to crawl into a cave. Where I felt tired, felt like I couldn't do anything nor wanted to. What I learned later was: this is depression. Then even later I learned that I have a very mild form of bi-polar disorder called bi-polar 2

I am now on medication for this, but I developed a problem. The therapeutic dose for my medication causes me to have tremors. The doctor and I decided to lower the dose and see if the tremors went away... they did. But guess what came back?

So today I sit at work wanting nothing more than to go home, and sit alone playing a video game. I am tired, sore, and lonely though I have a wonderful family and friends. I feel tears constantly at the back of my eyes. I can't rejoice at good news and the bad news seems to stab me in the heart. I do not feel suicidal, nor do I feel hopeless. For me this is normally a short cycle, and I will most likely be myself by Sunday. But this is what depression is for me. And it sucks.

So why do I tell this? Because I think its healthy for us to acknowledge our difficulties, and especially our mental health issues. I think we need to take the stigma off of these things.

What I have learned is that this time also lets me be more empathic and caring towards people that suffer from depression on a much deeper level, and indeed all of those that have mental health issues. Please feel free to ask any questions, and know that I am fine, this is just part of my life.

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If you could say one thing, to everyone in the world

2011-09-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

What would it be?

How many words do I get? :)

I think if I had to narrow it down to one sentence it would be: Follow the life and teachings of Jesus, (the way of the kingdom of love).

I believe that the world needs to wake up from the culture of domination, greed and individualism, both in and outside of the church. To take seriously the teachings of Jesus means to love unconditionally, to live non violently, to care for others especially those uncared for, and to practice a radical lifestyle of love.

What would you say?

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ps If I got to say another thing it would be: I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit and on the slitted sheet I sit

A few pictures from my vacation, more to come

2011-09-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

view outside our tent

the sky after the thunderstorm

bryce canyon natural bridge

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Is the social gospel creating another group of outcasts?

2011-09-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine Phil Shepherd has suggested that the social gospel, or what I call liberation theology, creates another group of marginalized people. When we concentrate on the poor and marginalized, and preach an incarnational approach to working alongside of them, we will alienate, and make marginal those that are not poor, those that are not willing to give up the security of wealthy living, or even upper middle class life.

Well let me start out by saying a few things. First off I do completely believe in the social gospel, or liberation theology. I believe that we should focus on the poor, that it is not only a calling but sacramentally mandated for all. I believe that this is part and parcel of the kingdom of heaven, or empire of heaven, or economy of God. It is part of our discipleship, not a "special calling" for certain people.

Secondly, Phil is one hundred percent correct. If you believe and practice this ethic, you will alienate people. You will marginalize people. You will scandalize people. You will trade one group of rejects, for another. This is the truth, I am not going to deny it, nor try and make an excuse as to why it is not true.

But let me address this issue. God's love expressed in the "good news" of the kingdom of God, is not the same good news to all people. Because to some, God's kingdom is a deliverance from slavery. To others, it is a deliverance from mastery. For some it is a economy of life giving care and deliverance, and for others it is a radical call towards sacrifice. I would say that it is good news in both circumstances, but it may not seem so for the one who is called to the good news of sacrifice. The rich young ruler who was told to give up all of his prestige, security and wealth, to join the new world of discipleship, did not take the gospel as good news at all. He saw it as incredibly bad news, news he could not accept. And he was marginalized.

In fact Jesus seems to have no problem marginalizing people. Calling people sons of the devil, white washed tombs and poisonous snakes is not exactly welcoming and affirming language. Jesus had no problems drawing lines in the sand, and saying, you are not among us, and if you don't change you will by the very nature of your life draw judgment upon yourselves. Jesus created a marginalized class.

In fact a careful examination of some of the passages dealing with hell, are a perfect case for this. In the New Testament we find a few words for the English translation hell, but the predominant ones are hades, and Gehenna (the lake of fire). But when Jesus is talking about Gehenna, as the final destination of some people, he is not doing it in an other worldly context. There was a trash dump outside of the city called Gehenna. It was kept burning at all times (eternal fire), there was a constant influx of maggots and worms (the worm was not quenched) and dogs fought over what was found there (gnashing of teeth). If you were poor, a sinner, a race traitor (tax collector), ritually unclean, or a gentile, you were not buried in a Jewish cemetery, but your body would be dragged out and thrown into Gehenna. Jesus now addresses the rich, the powerful, the holy, the people that would never be thrown into the marginalized trash dump, and says if they don't repent, they will find themselves in the place where the marginalized are thrown. In other words, Jesus flips it. You who are looking forward to a place of peace and rest, are actually judged as unworthy in the eyes of God because of your status. This is radical, this could be called class warfare very easily. But it is also the gospel story.

So what do I say to my friend Phil? Yes, the discipleship I follow leads to marginalization of others. But does this mean that God does not love, nor care for these others? no, not at all. He wants to save them from their lifestyles that will not work in the future kingdom of God.

Isn't it the same thing, marginalizing one group is just as bad as marginalizing another? No, it isn't. Because unlike the lgbtq community, the poor, the racially vilified, the mentally ill or whatever other group you are talking about, the rich, the powerful, and the secure, can easily move out of their position, into one of solidarity. The rich can become one with the poor, and in the process be generous, and helpful. But the poor cannot just decide to be rich.

So what does all this mean? The truth is I am rich compared to many in this world. It means I am on a journey towards simplicity, and sustainability. My issue is never with those on a journey, but those defending their positions, which keep them complicit in the kingdom of the world.

rev

Common Misconceptions about Christians (inspired by my brother Keith Lowell Jensen)

2011-09-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

Last week my brother posted an article about misconceptions some Christians have about atheists. I would like to post a quick little diatribe on misconceptions I think atheists have about Christians.

1. If you don't believe the same thing the radical fundamentalist new earthers believe then you aren't a real Christian. This one really pisses me off. You know what? These people didn't exist for 1,850 years of Christian church life. So how could being a real Christian mean you believed what they do? The truth is that Christianity from its very inception has been a very varied, and anarchic movement. Even in the very birth of the religion, the supposed non-negotiables, were disagreed upon. Even the very nature of who or what Christ was was in dispute. So just because I don't believe what Pat "I got a diamond mine" Robertson says, doesn't mean I am not a Christian, it just means I am not a Christian of his ilk.

2. If you don't believe what fundamentalists believe you are a buffet Christian just picking and choosing what you like. This is along the same lines, however... and it is also not true. Though not for the reasons you might expect. ALL CHRISTIANS ARE BUFFET CHRISTIANS!!! You cannot read through the scriptures without in some way choosing to interpret some scriptures in light of others. For instance the fundamentalists take Jesus literally when talking about what you do under the covers, but not when Jesus talks about what to do with your wallet. You must make peace with a method of reconciling two seemingly opposing truths, my method is using Jesus actual life as the interpretive device.

3. All Christians are conservative republicans. Truth is, many are, many aren't, many don't fit into boxes of democrat republican, conservative liberal, and some are even radical anarchists like myself, and are so because of what we believe the bible and our faith teach us.

4. All Christians are hypocrites... well that is true, but I am trying to become less so

Thanks heaps to my brother for guest posting while I was away getting in touch with my inner hippie

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Would like to address a few of Phil Shepherds comments

2011-09-20T08:19:00.000-07:00

Phil guest posted while I was gone, and I felt I needed to reply to a few of the things he said:

First, I don't think the book of revelation is the most awesome book. I have struggled with it, even struggling just to read it, for my whole Christian life. I have the same problems with the book that Phil has. I have learned to appreciate it more seeing a better, more historical, look at it. It is definitely not the escapist mantra that you hear repeated in many circles. What I was explaining to Phil however, is this new commentary I was reading was really making me excited about the book, and seeing it in a different light. The commentary is part of the Brazos series, and is written by Joseph Mangina. It is wonderful, and I think everyone would like it.

Secondly, I don't really think I am like Shane Claiborne on acid. That is a ridiculous assertion...
I am more like Shane Claiborne on steroids and a weight room.

And lastly, I agree completely, that we are to love each other through our disagreements. It is very important that we learn to be the church united in love. I love my brother Phil, even though he cannot see the obvious errors in his thinking. :)

There is an old Christian legend that John the revelator, an elder in the church at Ephesus would be asked to speak to the congregation every Lord's day. And every Lord's day he would stand up, and say, "little children, love one another" and then he would sit down. Finally he was asked, "John, you walked with Jesus, you saw Him walk on water, you felt his resurrected body, you listened to his sermons, don't you have anything else to tell us besides love one another?"

John said, "when you learn to do that, I will tell you something new"

Well, I haven't learned to do that with everyone, or everything yet, but I do love Phil

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Rained every night but one on our vacation, but it was great

2011-09-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

a little video from inside our tent.

I will post more pictures later, but it was very restful.

rev

Ade Jensen: Kids and Christians [Guest Post]

2011-09-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

Ade Jensen, this young woman has known me her whole life, because I am her dad. She is a strong, confident and passionate young lady, who I am very proud of.

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Hello I’m Adriahna or Ade, John Jensen’s daughter. I’ve been thinking and thinking what is
worth guest blog posting? I originally wanted to post on sexuality specifically homosexuality,
but lately I have to admit it all seems irrelevant. The last two years of my life I’ve been dealing/
struggling, whatever words are typically used to describe; telling your family and yourself that
hey…. I think I’m gay. I like this girl. I love this girl. It’s been a whirlwind of emotions and
growth, and I must say I am in a very happy and secure spot in my life now.

The reason I say irrelevant is that I’ve been working with children a lot lately. I work at an art
studio for kids teaching them all kinds of art styles and how to use different mediums. I’ve been
working there almost a year, but recently quit my other job in order to focus on this art studio
and well… my well-being. I can’t explain what kind of growth and change occurs within the
self when working with kids. With my own experience seeing all these different types of people
interacting with others, most of all themselves, my whole perspective on life, and humanity has
changed drastically. I must note: you have to be open and listening, absorbing, and thinking.
Otherwise working with kids could be simply, working with kids.

Mather 18:1-6
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven?”
He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth,
unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven.
“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes
one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large
millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea…”

I just want to talk about one lesson I’ve been learning recently. I was doing some art
curriculum in our high school class rather than teaching. My friend was right next to me and I
commented, “man this is the loudest class I have, it’s weird you would think the little kids would
be more rowdy.” And his response was: “They know the most words.”

Being a lame artist who thinks the smallest of things is profound, I found this very profound.
Children know the least words. They speak with their colors in art. They speak with their big
hugs, and they speak with their tears. Every emotion a child feels, you will see it and understand
it. A child will never preach at you. When a young class gets loud I realized the reason for the
noise is that all the kids are talking about their unicorns and making strange noises with their
mouths. They blabber and laugh loudly; they fall off their chairs and can’t seem to stay still.

I have a really hard time with the kids who will quickly give up on a drawing and make up
their minds that they will not touch that drawing again. If you sit next to the child and try to figure out what it is exactly they do not like with their art work the harder it is to get them to
try. Words do not work very well, the younger they are. I have learnt that I have to literally grab
their paintbrush and start fixing the piece until they get mad enough at me, they want to do it.
I watch how frustrated they become with their piece of work because it doesn’t look how they
want it to. Kids dream big, and they have very great visions. Their worlds are full of colors and
the imaginary, and they do not use their words to create that world. When I imagine an adult
humbling his or herself like a child, I imagine no masks.

It’s hard for me to connect to a lot of people on a level that I need. I can do the small talk thing
really well, I am very good at socializing with practically anyone. I am John Jensen’s daughter,
I have to be good with my words. But what I need is a deep emotional connection to people
that makes me feel I am not alone. That’s what is hard to find. Grown –ups like to walk around
with their words and their clothes trying to hide who they really are, trying to project another
image. Children walk around with their clothes expressing who they really are, their emotions
protruding through their faces. They do not have any masks. They lie, but they aren’t lying to
deceive you into thinking they are someone they’re not. They lie to obtain a cookie.

Most of all… children do not care if you have different colored skin or are with someone of the
same-sex. They will embarrassingly point it out, but give them a minute and it’s like nothing
happened. They don’t give a shit about your theology, as long as you are nice to them. They still
hug you, they still love you. Children are little bundles of selfish, beautiful, and simple love.
They do not wear masks, and they know the least words. Experiencing a child’s love is the most
exciting and awesome experience because you know that they are not faking it. You know that,
that child genuinely loves you for who you are.

So I am challenged as a Christian to take off my mask daily, and love fully. I will try not to hide
my emotions and I will try to use little words doing so. So it’s all irrelevant; all this theology, all
of this arguing over who is right or wrong. I am gay and it’s irrelevant to a child. I love a woman,
and they love me, and I love them..

Keith Jensen: Common Misconceptions About Atheists [Guest Post]

2011-09-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

Keith Jensen, my brother Keith is a comedian, a husband and a dad, but most of all he is someone who wants to make the world a better place. Oh, and he doesn't believe in God, but I will get him eventually.

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I jokingly offered to take over some of my brother's blog duties while he's away. Jokingly because I am the atheist brother. In fact I'm not just an atheist but I've become a bit of an atheist spokesperson through my involvement in a The Coexist? Comedy Tour, a multi-faith (and no faith) comedy show I put together with a good friend of mine, Hindu comedian Tapan Trivedi. John of course took my joke at face value and gave me a deadline right away, because he's like that.

I would like to use this opportunity to address some of the misconceptions that Christians have about us atheists and agnostics. Christian is a very broad term, and please know that I am aware that I'm writing this for a forum that is read mostly be progressive Christians, people who I often find I have much in common with, not always the case when I'm amongst my fellow atheists. I don't think that ALL Christians hold the misconceptions I address here but in my every day interactions with religious people, mostly Christians, these ideas about who I am, how I live and what I believe as an atheist come up again and again.

We left the faith because of problems and hypocrisy in the Church.
I've had this one used on me, and even attributed to me in a book, by folks who feel like they're being very broadminded and empathizing with us as they work to build a better church, one that would no doubt bring us back into the fold. Well, I can certainly criticize many Churches but I did not leave the religion I was
raised in because of any church. When I was a Christian I was all about having a relationship with God and Church was secondary. I left due to my own intellectual doubts and this is the case with the majority of Atheists I've talked to who were formerly religious.

We reject religion because we want to live our sinful lifestyle.
Oh man, I wish this one were true. Sex, drugs and video games, oh yeah. The truth is, I'm in a 17 year monogamous relationship and for the last three years, a state sanctioned legal marriage even. I don't do any drugs that my doctor doesn't insist I do with the exception of coffee. No alcohol, no white sugar. I don't consume meat or dairy. I do listen to rock and roll and I do look at what some would call pornography but I'm very picky about it. In other words, my life is way to boring to be called sinful lest we risk that lusty word becoming watered down.

The question I'm always asked is “Where do I get my morals from?” Where do you get yours? Christians subscribe to many modern ideas about morality that are not in the bible, or at least weren't seen to be found there until recently. To me all morality is citizenship. I try to be a good member of the groups I am a part of. I am a father, a husband, a brother, an artist, a Sacramentan, a Californian, an American, a Human, an atheist, a comedian. I want to feel good about my contributions and about what I've consumed or taken from this world while I'm in it. And this world is everything to me. It's the only thing that I am confident
exists so I value and treasure it. Same goes with this life, mine and yours. From my perspective, it's the only one we got.

I could go on all day and it's a subject I find fascinating but the real point is, for whatever reason, we aren't amoral people. We make great neighbors. We have compassion and love and those things tend to make one want to do unto others as they would have done unto themselves.

I had a pastor tell me that before he was a Christian he would've walked over a dying man rather than stop to help. That does not represent an atheist that represents a sociopath.

We have as much faith as religious people.
This one comes from the agnostic vs. atheist discussion and the fact that MOST atheists including Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Chistopher Hitchens, describe themselves as agnostic atheists. We don't KNOW that there is no God and I'm sure you're all tired of our many silly examples of other things we are equally unsure of (Flying Spaghetti Monster, Russells's Tea Pot, Invisible Pink Unicorn) but the point, eloquently made by Bertrand Russell who I'll paraphrase here, is that we are only as agnostic toward current Gods as we are, and as you are, toward the Gods of Ancient Rome, who also can't be proven not to exist. It is more technically accurate to say we are agnostic it is more practically accurate to say that we are atheist. So no, I don't have faith that there is no god, I just possess no belief whatsoever that there is. Confusing? Yeah, semantics is like that. The important thing to me on the definition issue is, you can disagree with our use of the word atheist, but since we are the ones describing ourselves with it, remember our definition when discussing our beliefs with us. I spend an awful lot of time having beliefs assigned to me and then being asked to defend said beliefs.

We're Angry!
To quote the great Elvis Costello “I'm not angry!” Angry people are loud. You notice them first. The atheists you notice are loud and angry. Most of us are nice people. Most of us have friends who are religious. Most of us, like most people, get angry about certain things and it may be when we're addressing those things that our paths are most likely to cross yours. I try very hard to stay polite and civil when discussing issues pertaining to politics, religion, etc. I'm not always successful but I'm not a particularly angry person and if you met me at a party we could probably have a good laugh while discussing how insane we found each other to be.

We eat babies.
Um... okay, you got us there. We do in fact eat babies.

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Keith Lowell Jensen is a comedian and filmmaker. He is currently touring the west coast of US in support of his most recent CD and DVD release, Cats Made of Rabbits. His website is www.AtheistComedian.com. He needs an editor badly.

Ellen Cooper-Davis: The Five Smooth Stones of Unitarian Universalism [Guest Post]

2011-09-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

Reverend Mother, a self described heretic whom I am enjoying interacting on the interwebs with
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Unitarian Universalism is a religion without a creed. Instead of creed, our membership in this faith rests on covenant. We agree to walk together in the ways of Love, to serve one another and the church, to seek truth.We are a direct expression of Liberal Religion. That is to say, we are a religion--one created fifty years ago through the mutual cooperation and partnership of two other religions- -and we use, in our common endeavor, the forms and language of religion. We are a church,engaged in ministry to and with its members and our community.

We are a religion, indeed, but being a Liberal religion means that while some of those forms might be similar to others’, our use of religious language, ritual, and the ways in which we minister to and with one another may not point to the same ultimate truths as other churches. In this faith, we pray, we speak of grace, we learn from Jesus, we do ministry to make lives better and to bring healing and wholeness. There are thousands of congregations and churches that do the same. But for many of them, the conclusions that they will come to about Life, the Universe, and Everything will be very different. We approach the questions, while many of themare sharing answers. The opposite of Liberal, here, is Fundamentalist. We do not belong in this faith because of our affiliation with any particular political party or outlook, or because we prefer either coffee or tea. We belong to this faith because our approach to the questions of ultimate value and worth and meaning and purpose is a religiously liberal approach.

Fortunately for us, while we have no creed, we do have a heart. A center. While we have no dogma, we do, in fact have doctrine--core understandings of what Liberal Religion and Unitarian Universalism are that are teachable, sharable, and can even be said concisely. I have made a commitment to all of you and to myself to find a better way to share the heart of Unitarian Universalism and Liberal Religion, most especially in my Southeast Texan context. It names our religious identity--how we fit into the world of religious context. It also names our doctrine--the beliefs we carry that help us slay giants in our lives and in our world. Here’s how itgoes:

Unitarian Universalism emerged fifty years ago out of two historically Protestant denominations, which asserted the unity of God, the humanity of Jesus, and that there can be no hell because nothing can separate us from Ultimate Love. We believe in Possibilities, Love, Courage, Responsibility and Hope.
James Luther Adams, Unitarian minister, liberal religious theologian and professor at both the University of Chicago and at Meadville Lombard Theological School, articulated this heart for Liberal Religion. He called them the five smooth stones of religious liberalism, after the five smooth stones used by little David. They are our center, the heart of our shared faith, names for the tools that we carry with us and which help us find our way.

The first smooth stone is this: Revelation is open and continuous. There are those on the opposite side of the religious spectrum who believe that revelation is set down in one book only, and is sealed. Sealed! We, on the other hand, believe that not only is revelation not sealed, but it comes in a variety of forms. The truths that we learn, that get us closer to being the people we are capable of being and the world we are responsible for building, come to us in many ways. A bible verse, yes. But also a Buddhist sutra, a therapist’s observations, a work of fiction. In words, yes. But also in the particular tension of a chord in a particular song, in theway the light hits the trees just so, in the silence of a Quaker meeting. Revelations--glimpses of truth, of meaning, of purpose--may break into our lives an any moment. Any person we meet, like us or different, may contain just the next piece of revelation that connects our personal lives with the broader human and cosmic story. Thus, we covenant to promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people. They are all potential instruments of revelation, along with our books and learning and contemplations and dreams and scientific conclusions. We are open to all of that. We believe in possibility.

The second smooth stone reminds us that authentic human relationship is consensual.It is mutual, and never coerced. Our churches are built on covenant, not on hierarchies.Our membership, too, is based in the mutuality of covenant, and not on the tests of a creed.Likewise, our relationships with one another are mutual ones. “We need not think alike to lovealike” said the 16th century Transylvanian Unitarian minister, Francis David. Our love for oneanother does not rest in our willingness to be persuaded. Our love for each other does notdepend on the same understandings of God. Our community does not depend on a peckingorder. Rather, it depends on all of us choosing to be a part of this faith of our own free will. Itdepends on our walking together...and on helping one another back to the path when we strayfrom it. We believe in love.
We know that the love between individuals must find expression in the community as awhole, as well as in the wider world. The third smooth stone of Liberal Religion is our obligationto the establishment of a just and loving community. When a certain political commentatorrecently attacked the pursuit of social justice in churches as an expression of communism andnazism, I recoiled. Does Glenn Beck know nothing of the life and work of Jesus? I stand withJames Luther Adams, who notes that “a faith that is not the sister of justice is bound to bring usto grief.” In this faith, we understand that we have a moral imperative to create communities,large and small, that are just and loving for all people. We believe that we must be on the sideof justice and love--we believe in the courage that such building can take.

We must gather our courage because of the next truth, the fourth smooth stone: Wedeny the immaculate conception of virtue. Good does not appear, set down among us by agiant heavenly hand. There is no goodness, as such. There is, instead, goodness in specificforms and expressions, like policies, institutions, or actions. Good is brought about by hardwork, and our human hands must be set to the task of building the forms of goodness. Whilethe moral arc of the Universe may bend toward justice, it will only do so when we are engagedin helping to direct it. Our hands and lives must take on the obligation that we acknowledge aspart of our very humanity. The just and loving community is not created ex nilhio, anymore thanthe earth was created in six days. It is created when we look into the eyes of another, when wewalk together, when we bridge divides, when we insist on equality for all people, when wechange our personal and social systems to heal this wounded earth of ours, when we speak upfor the voiceless, when we raise our fists against oppressions, when we acknowledge our ownparticipation in broken systems and seek to make amends. We can not sit on tidy porches,sipping tidy drinks, while off in the distance the battles rage on. The just and loving communitydoes not just appear. We know that ultimately, we must get in there and be part of its birth.
Webelieve in human responsibility.

God knows that there is work, yet for us to do, and that task of building the belovedcommunity can seem, at times, impossible. But our faith does not fail us. In the fifth smoothstone, we are given hope. The fifth smooth stone assures us that resources are available--bothhuman and divine--that can help to bring about the changes we seek. These resources are areason for ultimate optimism. James Luther Adams, writing on the other side of World War II, isquick to point out that this does not always mean immediate optimism, but rather in an enduring spirit of humility and renewal which is the foundation of continuing progress. Optimism and hope is a part of our tradition--our Unitarian forbears proclaimed their unwavering faith in “the progress of mankind onward and upward forever!” There are resources that are human--our collective knowledge and experience, our never-ending drive toward life, our capability to love,our ingenuity and creativity. There are resources that are divine--the mysteries of grace andcoincidence and synchronicity, the unfolding book of the Universe, an unassailable and ever-present interconnectedness and overarching Love. Because revelation is open and continuous,no doubt we will discover more resources along our way. Our optimism is justified. Thus, webelieve in Hope.

Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronzehelmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around,because he was not used to them."I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in thepouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

There are giants in our midst. Forces that stand between us and wholeness, betweenwhat we are and what we are capable of being. Forces that seek, by their own might andpower, to render the beloved community merely a pipe-dream, a naive vision of silly liberals andour disgusting bleeding hearts. There are giants in our midst. Consumerism. Polarization.Fear. Hatred of the stranger. Intolerance. Jingoism. Violence. Apathy. Greed. These are thebattles of our age. These are our battles. And we will not fight these with a sword; we will notshield ourselves with unwieldy armor. It is not our way.

Here, on the front lines, we can stand with our feet firmly planted, holding the legacy andthe tools of our faith. Five smooth stones. Possibility. Love. Courage. Responsibility. Hope.Used with a little skill, giants don’t stand a chance.
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Rev. Ellen Cooper-Davis is the minister of Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church in TheWoodlands, Texas, and a proud Twitter-follower of John. You can find her @Rev_Motheronline, or on her blog, Keep the Faith.

Whiskey Preacher: Are We Listening [Guest Post]

2011-09-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

Phil Shepherd aka Whikey Preacher, a fellow outlaw preacher, and like a brother I never knew. We have shared some difficult times, and some joyous fun in the last year.

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When John asked me to write a guest blog for him while gets in touch with his inner-hippie trucking all around Zion National Park, of course the question that arose in my mind was, “What the hell am I going to write about?”

Although seemingly most-likely-to-become-friends in a packed room, for we both have good looking tattoos, great taste in cigars, even better tastes in sing malt Scotch Whiskey, we both married up, and we both believe that Mark Driscoll is a misogynistic ass. In other ways it’s not like John and I have tons in common – John is a self-proclaimed Christian Anarchist (whatever the fuck that means) and I lean towards a self-sustaining capitalism, which makes John quiver with nausea anytime I mention that to him – so I try to do it as often as I can. John believes that the book of Revelation may be one of the greatest books in all of scripture and I think it should be yanked out of the bible because of the shitty theology, songs, and book series it has inspired. John sometimes acts like Shane Claiborne on crack, calling all to a radical social gospel, which I feel is needed; however, I also feel that the social gospel is incomplete at times, creating margins of a different kind. John is a house church planter, and I am church planter that has no desire to create a house church - although I find the house church a valid and a beautiful part of the greater body of the Resurrected Son; it simply is not my particular calling.

I could spend this entire blog post sifting through the differences that John and I have and though that would be fun (at least for me it would be), I would rather focus on why (despite our differences) we still call each other “brother.”

Over the years I have realized that not everyone is going to agree with me – no matter how much I try to persuade him or her to do so. I’ve also learned whether you are a self-sustaining capitalist pig such as myself, or you subscribe to anarchy with a Christo-centric twist, we as the body of Christ have conditioned ourselves not to listen to one another, but only kill time waiting for our turn to promote our views. Pete Rollins in his book “How (Not) To Speak Of God” articulates this point in a more detailed way and he suggests that we as “Christians” only wait for our turn talk and we have lost the art of conversation. We as “Christians” have bought into the farce of apologetics, thinking that it is still a relevant way to communicate, while closing off ourselves to the richness of diversity of different opinions.

Apologetics encourages us to take the posture of proving a point, rather than creating a dialogue. We get so worked up when someone disagrees with us, taking their views as personal attacks, getting angry or upset. We often then respond like a honey badger stalking its prey, not giving a shit who or what gets damaged by the verbal carnage that we are about to inflict. And for what reason do we do this? To prove that we are right? We’ve limited conversation to attack and counter-attack. The notion of apologetics is right or nothing – harmoniously believing the same thing at the end OR being right/wrong and having no ground to move forward. Apologetics is more about talking AT than talking WITH someone. We simply don’t know how to speak with someone AND agree to disagree.

That is what I love about my friendship with John: we agree to disagree on many things and yet we still call each other brother. He has even invited me to speak to his house church and I would one day love for him to come speak at the mega-church that I work at (note the irony here: The Eucatastrophe is by far *not* a mega-church). We find value in each other despite our differences. We love each other despite our differences. It’s not that I think John and I have evolved into a version of Christianity that is better than anyone else’s. Hell, if you look at us, you may think we haven’t evolved at all; some say we may look more like the missing link (especially when John grows his Castro beard out). I think we have at least learned to try to listen more, not just wait for our turn to speak, and have agreed-to-disagree when we don’t see eye to eye on an issue (or many issues in our case).

I am not interested in what is right or what is wrong, but what is healthy. And I think healthy is finding value in our differences – as long as both voices are being heard in the conversation. I love John and I love the voice that he brings to the table. And though I don’t always agree, I try to listen to where he is at, truly hear him out and engage with his perspective; I believe he tries to do the same with me….or at least he fakes it well.

John and I are not the end-all-to-be-all on every topic and perspective, even though we both like to believe we are at times. In all honesty, we are only but one example of how we can learn to listen to one another, agree to disagree, and be a part of the greater community of God.

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Phil (aka The Whiskey Preacher) is a Christian Church (Disciples Of Christ) minister who co-founded The Eucatastrophe with his crazy-smart beautiful wife Stephanie in the fall of 07 in downtown Fort Worth. You can find more of Phil’s writing & other musings at www.whiskeypreacher.com

Katie Jo: A Troubling Bible [Guest Post]

2011-09-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

Katie Jo, this gals infectious energy and love for the kingdom is inspiring. I hope we can work together planting organic churches for many years.

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There are times when the Bible really speaks to me. Then there are those texts that make me cringe; that make me wish whoever that ancient guy who felt inspired to write thingslike “Blessed is anyone who smashes your babies’ heads against the rocks.” had just kept it to himself. Go ahead and read it, it’s in Psalm 137. When I come across these passages, it’s tempting to skip them, to explain them away, or to muter some bull about God’s ways being higher than our ways. Don’t me wrong, God’s ways are probably way higher than mine. But even my lowest ways know it’s not cool to dash little ones against rocks. And if I think God will bless me for it, they will likely put me in an institution. But there it is, in the Bible, glaring at me like a ripe zit on a cute face. Here’s the whole Psalm. It’s heart-wrenchingly beautiful, except for the zits at the end:

Psalm 1371 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.2 We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.3 For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: "Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!"4 But how can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a pagan land?5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp.6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don't make Jerusalem my greatest joy.7 O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon capturedJerusalem. "Destroy it!" they yelled. "Level it to the ground!"8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you havedone to us.9 Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!

To give it context, one can, and should, check out what commentaries and history books have to say about difficult passages like this. “Dashing infants” is mentioned in 2 Kings 8:12, Isaiah 13:16, Hosea 10:14, and Nahum 3:10 as well. Killing infants was common in Ancient Near Eastern warfare, not only among the Israelites, but among other tribes as well. That doesn’t make it right, it just means the guy who wrote this Psalm didn’t make it up.

If we dig further into the context, we see that this Psalm was written during the exile. Israel had been attacked, and Jerusalem burned by the armies of Babylon in 537BCE. The exiles were carried off to a foreign land after seeing loved ones killed, homes burned, and everything they had worked for taken away. You can hear the agony in their voice as they recall weeping on the ground in a land not their own.

As we have seen in very recent history, torture changes people. Trauma does something to the mind that is indescribably awful. In the process of grief, anger flares up and thoughts of forgiveness, civility, or hopes for safety are clouded by fantasies of vengeance. In this Psalm, we have exactly that. But it’s not just a fantasy, it’s a prayer to God. And perhaps that is the important part; the writer felt comfortable enough with God to pray awful things honestly and not edit them later.

I wonder; could freely expressing our worst thoughts to God interrupt the cycle of violence? Could writing it down “get it out of our system” enough that we don’t actually go smash any heads? Maybe. But this psalmist doesn’t say, “I want to smash heads,” he says, “blessed is the one who smashes heads.” He’s making a theological statement. When I’m angry I make a lot of theological statements too.

But if he’s wrong, and I think he is, then how can this still be scripture? I would posit that the reason this can still be holy, even while it is inconceivably immoral, is that it is only one half of the conversation. Just as the writer felt free to express himself to God and make theological claims, so God feels free to respond, just as honestly. And that is our task in interpretation. What would God say back? From my experience, I’d guess God might respond with, “No, I won’t bless you if you do that. But I love it when you’re honest with me. Let’s wait till you can think clearer to talk about revenge. Right now, just know that you’re safe.”

What do you think God would say to this traumatized writer? What has God said to you when you were hurt and burning mad?

Sometimes the Bible drives me nuts. But, difficult texts like this remind me that the Bible is only half of a very ancient conversation. Perhaps the Bible is holy, not in spite of, but because of this frustrating limitation.

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Katie Jo Suddaby is a five-foot tall rabble rouser from Upstate New York. Currently in the final stretch of her seminary education, she hopes to be ordained next year, in the American Baptist Church. Katie Jo is a big fan of nerdy things like Star Trek. She has a little dog named Gus. In her spare time, Katie Jo walks said dog, wrestles unsuccessfully with her lawn mower, does Buddhist sand painting, and cooks vegan delicacies like mac-n-not-cheese and peanut butter and jelly.

Sean Ferrell: Sacramental Universe [Guest Post]

2011-09-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

Sean Ferrell, Sean is one of the smartest and well read people I have met, and a heart of a pastor. He is someone I call when I need advice, or a shoulder.

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Karl Rahner may well be the most important theologian of the last 500 years for both Roman Catholics AND non-Roman Western Christians. And if you are an evangelical or a mainline Protestant, he may be the most important theologian you've never heard of. It was the theology of Karl Rahner that was the basis for the reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church which happened October 11, 1962 - December 8, 1965. (Yes, his theology is important.)

Rahner’s theology radically changed all of Western Christian thought, and the theological transformation he began is sometimes known as the Rahner Revolution. This great revolution changed the emphases of sacramental theology, and of grace itself. Perhaps the most important concept to arise out of that theological revolution is the idea of Sacramental Universe. Though the concept takes hold in Rahner's theology and the theologians who follow him, the term is normally attributed to William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury in a former age.

Until very recently, Western Christians (Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Evangelical), perceived that God was somehow not always present with us, and that God’s presence was to be experienced in church (only), and that God’s presence was invoked primarily, if not exclusively, in the sacraments (Baptism, Holy Communion, etc.) The Church was seen as the primary arbiter of God's grace by its administration of these aforementioned sacraments. Rahner’s theological revolution turned these ideas on their heads. In this theology, God has been taken out of the box of being owned by the church. Rahner and other modern theologians assert that God is always and everywhere present, and that the problem is not God’s presence to us, but our presence to God. In other words, even in the most mundane of moments of our daily lives, God envelopes our very being, and the whole universe with God’s gracious love and presence. Even still, for lack of vision, we find it difficult to recognize God’s presence around us.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Poem, Aurora Leigh includes one of the best metaphors for the Sacramental Universe.

She writes,

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries

Browning refers, of course, to the Old Testament story of the burning bush where God’s presence is so concretely manifested to Moses. The story at the heart of the Old Testament from Exodus 3 where God enjoins Moses from the burning bush to “remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” clearly ring through Browning’s words. Like the concept of Sacramental Universe, Browning does not only locate God’s presence in the burning bush on the mountain of God, but in every common place, everywhere. We who see take off our shoes and live reverently. And “the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”

For years now, I have used one of Scott Mutter’s photographs from his book, “Surrational Images” called “Church Aisle” in teaching confirmation classes to adults. As is his practice, the image is actually a juxtaposition of two photographs. The clearest image is of the interior of a church. When you looks more closely at the photo, one finds what appears to be a New York City street down the center aisle of the church.

Scott Mutter's Church Aisle

I have oft pictured myself standing on that city street. If I take the time to re-tune my vision and if I can listen beyond the noisy street, I can see the Sacramental Universe: God’s glorious presence all around me. But more often than not, I am concerned with the passing car, or avoiding being hit by a bus, (the mundane stuff of life), and join the rest in plucking blackberries.

Perhaps the greatest joy of the notion of Sacramental Universe is a spirituality that is grounded in the Incarnation and the stuff of everyday life. Unlike the gnostic forms of Christianity, it does not seek to catch God out of the air, but to see God more clearly in the world around us in our everyday lives, and experience God physically and tangibly.

This way of seeing holds the potential to make any of us an ordinary mystic. And as many ordinary mystics know, Brother Lawrence’s practice of seeking God’s presence in the mundane – even when he cleaned toilets – is a model for seeking Christ.

Brother Lawrence wrote,

“I drove away from my mind everything capable of spoiling the sense of the presence of God.... I just make it my business to persevere in God’s holy presence... My soul has had an habitual, silent, secret conversation with God.”

When the God who created the cosmos and saw fit to write grace into every nook and cranny, when the whole universe is a sacrament, when God is always and everywhere present, when we are never in a place of not being loved by God, every breath and heartbeat become prayers ascending, and every moment is filled with the potential of deep divine encounter, every place in the cosmos a burning bush.

Open your eyes...

Mary Jane Miller's Christ is Present at All Times from the series "Line,Blur and Halo"
moderncatholiciconography.com

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Sean Ferrell is a priest in The Episcopal Church. He lives with his wife and two sons in Jackson, Tennessee, and serves as Rector of Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church.

Daniel Tharp: Corporate Christendom [Guest Post]

2011-09-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

Daniel Tharp is a friend from the mma community, his knowledge of history, and his willingness to be skeptical about the present makes him a trusted voice in my life, though he hits hard with words and fists :)

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It’s no coincidence that with the Rage of the small business owner we have the Rage of the church planter. A young man just out of Bible College ( or an MBA in the secular world ) has been equipped for ministry. He has spent his parent’s money or taken out loans to learn the trade and earn a living. He has honed his homiletics and his selling skills, often referred to as outreach. He has learned organizational skills and probably interned at a church. Um…Discipled, I mean. Savvy in all of the latest marketing technology, communications and proper dressing for success, he is ready to start his own business.

As college has become available to virtually everyone, from online classes to for profit universities, people expect a payoff from their education. Why else would you put yourself through and pay money? The American Church has moved away from the missionary sentiment and narrowed their worldview to missions in their hometown. I have to say, there are people who should plant churches that have a niche working with the outliers. Those that don’t fit the mold. However, it seems that every strip mall church I went to had the same formula. Different faces, the same seeker friendly formula. I was shocked to find a pastor friend of mine that had his year’s sermons in a cardboard box. He had bought the series for a year in church from – an entrepreneur. God in a box. Bought and paid for.

From Bible Colleges to the famed tough guy with the spikey hair and affliction T-shirts, Mark aka Angry Tough Dude, Driscoll, there are church planter training courses that you audition for. He says explicity in a youtube video that you either have the look and feel or you don’t. Those that don’t, get sent packing, looking for another line of work.

So like a good business man, you have invested time and money into yourself for education, clothing, merchandising, technology, Sermons in a box. You have cultivated the lingo of the profession and networked like crazy. You’ve thought long and hard about branding yourself in a certain way to reach your target audience.

Like any new business in town, you begin to advertise. Seed money is taken to print up the most eye catching flyer you can come up with. It puts Obama’s campaign tactics to shame. No, wait, you paid someone to do that. A business that serves churches. The church planting package. You skipped the free stuff and bought the Full Service Package.

The School District made you a good deal on renting out the gymnasium. It’s a little rough right now but the market is good for property buyers and in this area of town, people have money. After surveying the town, you knew God wanted you here. The other side of town would scare people off. We are family based.

The music has to be right. You are a promoter and businessman. Your education has taught you how to capture the consumer and make him want your product. Your tech guy is a good man. In fact, all of your employees are perfect. After the interviews, you didn’t know who to go with. After a good long prayer retreat, God has spoken. God bless volunteers. There is a benefit to getting in early with a compa…church. Likely to move up faster.

You are ready to go. You hustle up leads. The best customer is the one who is dissatisfied with the service they received at their current retailer. But you know how to meet that need and your product is superior to your competitor by a long shot. You got the newest most innovative marketing and service in town.

The doors are open for business. You are the right man for the job. Thank God you have Dad’s head of hair. Grandpa on mom’s side went bald at 25. Word spreads and the coffers…I mean chairs are filling up. This new groundbreaking sermon has really hit home with these people.

Your wife is such a blessing. Her beauty is more than skin deep. Meeting at Bible College, you both knew the Lord would bless you in ministry. It’s all coming together. She represents the church so well that sometimes you don’t know who the owner of the business is. Her mothering skills are really attractive to other moms. Perfect time for a women’s group.

Your clientele are really amped each Sunday. You’ve found two point men to start cell groups with. They already have job experience at that other church. But this is where God wants them.

After a year in business, you have established a base budget. This is a good time to expand and get a more permanent home. You have to weigh the pro’s and con’s of this. Right now, you are making enough to start setting aside money for those student loans and a bigger house. The kids are growing and you need more room. It’s obvious that God’s Blessing this ministry. More people, more money to do his work.

It’s time to go legit with this business. You need a board of directors to manage your money. You can’t be bothered with paying yourself and taxes. You have an accountant at church. Thank God for volunteers. He plays the guitar so well and expressed his feeling that God is leading him to minister in music. There is Rod, who owns a construction company. He has discussed possibly teaching on Wednesday nights. He has felt the call since a child but now he has an avenue to use his gifts. All of the jobs were filled at his last church.

After a church retreat you are going to announce that God wants them all to have a spiritual home. Rod tearfully says that he is willing to donate land he owns and give it up to God instead of make a profit from it and he can contract the building. Wow, God had laid it on his heart to do all these things.

You and your wife are so thankful for all that you have built. God was in control. Only he could have brought all of this together. You can focus solely on your passion. Reaching out to your community and continuing to grow ………..You are making money and in control of your Destiny.

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Dan Tharp

With a degree in ancient history, I have pursued my two lifelong interests through reading and

writing. Early Christianity and Military History. The last 5 years have challenged me to explore

Good, Evil and War. I have a modern Military Adventure Novel coming out this Fall. ‘The Gold of Katanga’ and early next year I will release ‘The Crimson Cross’, a full length novel set in World War Two. Meticulously researched and written for Sinners and Saints alike, it spares nothing on war and faith. If you are looking for a Janette Oake novel, this is not for you.

Facebook me, if you blog, lets exchange blogs and if you write, lets share !

http://taskforceintrepid.blogspot.com/

http://theeagleswillgather.blogspot.com/

Guest posters over my vacation

2011-09-09T08:36:00.001-07:00

I leave tonight for Zion National Park. A week of camping with my wife is definitely needed and cherished, especially in such a beautiful setting. There will be some canyoneering, some hiking, and lots of kicking back around a fire, resting. But I would not be able to enjoy my time away know that I was depriving you, my dear readers of intellectual stimulation...

Ok, I would be able to enjoy myself, and I am not that stimulating. But this gives me an excuse to have some wonderful people post on my blog.

Over the next few days you will hear from among others, my eldest daughter, my brother the atheist comedian, and some dear friends from around the interwebs. I hope you will tune in, comment, and maybe even argue a bit. Just be nice, cause when daddy gets back you don't want him to be in a foul mood.

rev

Another amazing thing

2011-09-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

How do we focus so much attention on sexuality, yet miss the incredible mountain of proclamations about the poor, and social justice. The truth is Jesus says way more about what you do with your wallet than what you do with your genitals. Could this be another one of those issues where we need to get the railroad tie out of our eye, before we can have any legitimacy when talking about other's sin? I think it might be.

It is one more instance where making the blind see seems more of a miracle if its spiritual rather than physical.

rev

What continually amazes me

2011-09-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

Is how we religious people can read the gospels, watch the way Jesus responds to the heretics (Samaritans), sinners (wine bibbers, sexually immoral, sabbath breakers), poor (self explanatory), marginalized (sick, lepers and slaves) and compromisers (tax collectors) with love, and his physical presence.

And how he responds to the religious people of his day, especially the leaders and devout disciples.

AND FAIL TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE HAVE MORE IN COMMON WITH THE WHITE WASHED TOMBS, AND THE SNAKES, THAN JESUS FRIENDS.

and yes I am preaching to my own self righteous self

rev

Sorry I missed a few days

2011-09-07T09:49:00.001-07:00

Been a busy weekend, and week. I am getting ready for my vacation. My wife and I are going to Zion National Park for nine days of camping, hiking, and enjoying one another. We need this time to reset, to prepare for the next year, and quite frankly to rest.

I will be posting more today, and til we leave but I am trying to get guest posters for while I am gone. If you would like to post a blog here, please comment on this thread and we will work it out.

thanks

rev

Radical Discipleship (is there any other kind?)

2011-09-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

My friend Simon Moyle (non-violence teacher and activist, Jesus follower), wrote an interesting article yesterday, or actually today since he is ahead of us by 14 or so hours. READ HERE In it he asks the question as to weather you can be a "casual" disciple. Or whether you can separate those that have a "special" calling, from those that are supposed to live a fairly normal life and maybe support some of these radicals.

Now Simon is way more "radical" than I. And there are other folk that are more radical than he. Its not a competition, but an orientation towards following the radical, revolutionary Jesus.

My whole life I have been a bit of a radical. I would jump off the top of the monkey bars in kindergarden, just because it was scary. I bull fought at 15 years of age. I skateboarded in swimming pools and vert ramps, and was a mma fighter. I like radical, I am inclined towards radical. And I naturally would place this inclination towards my faith.

Following that reasoning, I wanted to live in South Central, or North Long Beach, or some where really "hardcore", when we returned to America. I really want to be... radical. But the truth is, most of this is my ego. Ego and pride are not the way of Jesus. Through a series of dreams and the interpretations of these dreams by community members, and circumstance, we wind up in a neighborhood that is in between, not hardcore, but not sleepy suberbs. The Popeyes chicken on the corner does have bullet proof glass, but we don't have gang violence next door. And I am convinced we are where we are meant to be. And we are living as faithfully as we can to the radical call of Jesus in our present place. We are sharing our breakfast on Sundays with the homeless in the park, we are cultivating a small community garden, we are living in a shared housing situation, learning more about open purse living. We are doing stuff that is heading in the direction of radical, and to be honest, we want to be more so.

So, what is my point? My point I guess is this: Following Jesus is a journey, and it is our direction that is really the point. There are differing gifts, and differing applications. We will not all look like Jarrod McKenna, Shane Claiborne, or Simon Moyle. But we cannot stop our journey by saying, "well I am just not called to that" Ours should be, for everyone of us, a constant challenge towards a more complete following of Jesus, which calls us to radical love, radical confronting of the powers, radical opposition to oppression, and radical deconstruction of the kingdoms of this world. It is this orientation towards becoming more like Jesus, that is the goal.

So for some of us that are out on the fringe, the truth is most likely that we have embraced this crazy discipleship maybe sooner, maybe through our personality, or maybe because of great teaching and mentors, and we need to stand strong in our calling. But in that we need to gently call people to take steps in the direction of Jesus, and His radical cross carrying way, with lots of grace and encouragement. NO ONE, INCLUDING THOSE "RADICAL DISCIPLES" CAN STAY WHERE THEY ARE, WE ARE ALL CALLED TO KEEP DRAWING EVERY CLOSER TO JESUS AND THE WAY OF THE CROSS

I hope that makes some sense

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A few words about staying married

2011-09-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

I hope this doesn't hurt anyone, but I thought I would share a few things that my wife and I have learned, and practiced sometimes well and sometimes not so well over our 23 years of marriage.

1. Marriage is sometimes very difficult, and we need help. Be honest with yourself, and others, and ask for help when needed. It doesn't mean you are weak, it means you are trying hard to be a consistently growing relationship

2. Two halfs don't make a whole, own your own shit, and deal with it. Two wholes make a whole, encourage each other in your personal growth.

3. Quality time comes from quantity time, make time for each other. Even if it means your pocket book suffers. My wife and I have one day a week that is our together time, our churches even learned do not call John and Raquel on date day unless it is an emergency, and you can't reach anyone else. This time is so important.

4. add on to number three, go away once and a while, we try and get two weekends, and one week long camping trip a year, just the two of us, nobody else. We need to reset, and its hard to do that in the middle of life.

5. be committed to fightings as hard as you can to make it work, and then trust God.

Now let me say that if you are getting abused, then get the hell out of there. In fact I will come help you move out.

And, this should not bring any guilt, if you have been divorced or are really struggling, I get it, its all love. Just sharing what has helped Raquel and I get through some really tough times, and share some great ones.

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Cancel Church Challenge (great stuff is happening)

2011-08-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

In my original post about the Cancel Church Challenge I probably seemed brash, obnoxious, and arrogant... well that might be because I am brash, obnoxious and arrogant. But it was also because I was a bit ignorant, and a bit inspired. Now ignorance and inspiration can sometimes make people seem a bit jerkish, so please forgive me. And I really mean that, please forgive me.

I really do believe that this is an inspiration that I need to follow up on. For years I have been practicing a discipleship that sees worship as a daily laying down of our lives for others, following the path of the cross. And I think that this idea of challenging our conceptions of what worship is, and what the body should be about, is crucial to us being the church in our world.

But what I have learned the last two days is that many churches have already heard this call, and are practicing this idea. That even some of the biggest churches like Saddleback, have been doing this for years. This makes me happy, I am trying to get some people to post on their experiences, and ideas for the future. I am trying to put together resources so that others can join in this idea, and we can live a more holistic worship as part of our discipleship.

Another thing I have learned is that I may have been a little bit unclear about the purpose of this challenge. It isn't just to do social justice work. Many churches do social justice work every day, of every week. Many churches are doing work feeding people, clothing people, sheltering people, providing health care. My challenge is to call churches that aren't doing these things to dip their toe in and start growing in this direction, but more importantly, to challenge the idea of worship and fellowship in all churches. The idea is to see these activities not as addendum to our church program, but as part of our worship and discipleship, to move past the hearing of the word, and singing of God's lordship, to the actual practice of both as our communion with each other. I hope that makes sense.

I know I am banging the same drum, over and over, but I really feel, in the midst of my being, this is my word for the church right now, please pardon my immaturity as I seek to express that. And also, please pardon my "marketing" as I just want people to hear.

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Oh Mary Dont You Weep

2011-08-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well I try and sing, and play a bit of guitar. I was really nervous and didn't do so well at first but it gets better so wait for it... atleast Merrady sounds wonderful :)

This was at Under The Covers, last Sunday of the Month at Que Sera in Long Beach

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Cancel Church to Be the Church on Sunday

2011-08-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I issued a challenge. I was expecting some churches had already done what I was talking about and was glad to hear that some, including Saddleback, already do it regularly, (thanks Rick Warren for responding). What I thought I might do today is give some ideas on how this could actually work at your church, with or without it being an official thing, (yes I am advocating gorilla Christianity).

First, set a date. Be realistic about it, give yourself some time. But make a firm date and figure out what needs to be done before hand to make it a very successful program. Think about the issues that might come up and deal with them before hand. Do some teaching on the call of Jesus to care for the poor and the marginalized. Do some teaching about worship as service, submission to God, and sacrifice.

Second, make sure you do the work to provide opportunities for people to join in. Do something at the church, during service time, provide coveralls or something for those that might not have heard, or are visiting. A car wash and maintenance is a great idea in the parking lot. Maybe set a clothing drive, a food drive or somthing. Speak to a local aged care facility and see if you could do a concert, a dance, or a checkers tourneyment. Do an outdoor movie night in a poorer neighborhood. Do a huge block party, with jumping castles, waterslides, and pie eating contests. Have an awesome band play. Go sit down with homeless folks and share a meal, don't just serve them, eat with them, ask their names, hear their stories.

Third, make sure you have some time for reflection afterwards. Some counselors to help get through some issues that come up. Some time for testimonies.

And lastly...

please add your own thoughts. I am trying to get a few people that have done this to post their own ideas and reflections as guest posters.

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A challenge (I need your help)

2011-08-29T07:38:00.001-07:00

Lately there have been some challenges put out into the interwebs. Like this one by Jules. To me this is a great challenge, and a great way to confront some of our issues.

But I would like to issue a challenge of my own:

To every Church in the Western Christian world, take one Sunday a year (or twice a year, a month, heck every Sunday), and do not have a service. Take all of the money that would come in, and tell people to spread it around your city. Organize trash pick ups, car repair, free car washes, having lunch or breakfast with the homeless. Take one Sunday, and have a big party where you invite everyone that doesn't get invited to parties, in your homes, in the parks, on your block. On that Sunday visit prisons, and hospitals and old folks homes. Instead of singing songs for worship, sacrifice your time and money to care for those not cared for, the orphans, widows, or the mentally ill. Instead of listening to the word of God, go be the word of God realized, standing up for the marginalized, planting food gardens in public places, or doing a rally for better treatment of low income employees.

What would happen if Saddleback in Orange County, and the Eucatastrophe in Fort Worth, if Mars Hill Church in Seattle and the Revolution in New York, if Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa and Awakening Chapel in Long Beach, if St. Patricks Cathedral and Adullam in Colorado, all just changed it up once and a while and sent the real church out, instead of trying to call everyone in? What would happen if we unleashed the talent, the artists, the musicians that we bind up in our programatic Sunday mornings, into a world that thrives on the creative? Can you imagine people with the talent of Willow Creeks band, taking requests from a park full of homeless people, to just sing and play. Can you imagine a homeless guy coming up and singing an old song from his past with them?

I can imagine it. I can imagine experiencing Jesus in a Matthew 25 way.

I challenge Mark Driscoll, Chuck Smith, Greg Laurie, John MacArthur, Greg Boyd, Hugh Halter, Phil Shepherd, Jay Baker, Doug Pagitt and countless others to reorder their budgets, to make some plans, to set their hype machines in motion, and do a Matthew 25 worship day, at least once a year.

Now for those of you that may have already done this, awesome, please don't let my ignorance, or arrogance offend you. I am just imagining this wonderful worship, and its effect on a world I am growing to love.

Please share this if you think its a good idea, or even if you think I am an idiot

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Power and Money

2011-08-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Power and Money, are both what the world seems to be looking for. In fact if you have one, you can usually get the other pretty easy. Money and power, are considered the goal in life by many people. When you have power, you control your own destiny, you make your own way, you have to kneel to no one, or at least less people. When you have money you are secure, you can be confident and comfortable, you can again be in control of your own destiny.

But I would suggest that Jesus points an accusing finger at both power and money. In fact in regards to money, Jesus says quite frankly, "you cannot serve God and money" My point is pretty simple, and perhaps we can get more complex in the discussion:

Money and Power are not neutral, they have an ethical or moral weight to them. The only way in which we can subvert their pull, is by voluntarily giving up both, in order to bring money and power to the impoverished and disempowerd.

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How does Christ centered actually work

2011-08-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

In our community we see it in three spheres

We are Christ centered in our understanding of the bible. This means that all of the scriptures, are read through the lens of Christ. The teachings, life, death and resurrection of Christ, is used as a guide towards properly understanding all of the biblical narrative. This does not in any way mean we do not value and affirm the rest of scripture, it just means we use Christ as the tool to understand them, rather than using them to understand Christ.

We are Christ centered in our approach to community membership. We do not have an entrance exam or ritual. We do not have a boundary that one needs cross. We use a centered set, rather than a bounded set, as our defining principle. What this means is we do not have a fence, that is based on beliefs, practices and ritual which determines whether someone is in or out. But rather we have a well at the center that is Christ, and all that are found in relation to that well, are welcome to be part of our community. In real life this means we have those in our community that are not theists, but they find in Christ, the way of love, and they are drawn to Christ as teacher and guide. To us, we consider them as part of a journey towards this center. They may have a different trajectory than many of us but we are all on journeys, and we all must encourage and support one another.

And lastly, we are Christ centered in our approach to the sociopolitical issues of our day. As Christ did not stay in a place of privilege, but left the glory of heaven, to be one of us. And not only that, but placed himself, intentionally among those that are marginalized. Not just the poor, but the socially and religiously marginalized as well. We are not trying to bring others to us to be "fixed", nor are we reaching down to "help" but we have decided that we must become one with others. So much a part of who they are, that their deliverance is our own.

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How Constantine subverted the church

2011-08-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

This is an introduction. I will be going over this for some time, and I imagine many people will disagree with me, but... that is what makes things fun. You can argue with me, and then we can go have a beer afterwards, and when you least expect it I can slap a choke on you.

I am pretty cynical, but this is the way I see things.

Constantine is struggling to unite Rome. He has already had a fight to consolidate his own leadership, and now he has to unite a fragmented empire, that is facing threats on all sides. He sees one group of people, that are growing like weeds. Even though they are outlawed, killed and persecuted everywhere, their influence grows and grows.

What is even worse, is that most of them are pacifist, and will not fight for the empire.

Now here I am willing to withhold my cynicism a bit, perhaps the emperor had a legitimate encounter with God. But I do not believe that the Father of Jesus would have showed Constantine that putting a symbol on his shields would allow him to militarily conquer the world.

So whether Constantine converts to Christianity because of an encounter with God or out of political expedience (which I seriously suspect), he now has the task of making the Christian religion, the official religion of the Roman Empire. And here things really start to get difficult.

You see this incredibly expanding movement was also incredibly diverse. There were many different autonomous communities, many theologies, many different practices, and even many different accepted scripture texts. It was in truth and anarchic movement. How can you make this the official religion of Rome, when you cannot even define what this is? So Constantine, thinking like a worldly official says, we have got to organize and control this. And calls a conference of all of the "bishops" within the church.

I believe there is some truth to the idea that some people were left out for expedience sake. However, I do believe that a proper cross section of people were there. I also believe that the majority won the day. I believe the scriptures that were chosen were the more correct ones. I do believe that the creed was what most of them believed. However, because of what Constantine initiated, we now have sharp dividing lines between those that "have it right" and those that dont. There are those that are in, and those that are out? In addition, we move from Christianity being largely based on orthopraxy (proper living) to orthodoxy (proper belief). Since we now know what is the proper beliefs we must instil them.

What happens is Christianity then moves into a place of power, and influence. Its meeting places become places of honor, its priesthood people of power and honor. And the state, upholds the rules, and rites of the church. The church then gives moral character and approval of the state. And soon, in only a generation actually, people are being murdered for not believing the right things. In only a generation, St. Augustine pens the Christian version of Cicero's just war theory and Christians are fighting for the state.

Christianity has never fully recovered from this, and the current church systems are built upon a subverted foundation. Which is why I often say... tear it all down, and lets start from scratch.

We will flesh this out more later, let the fighting begin :)

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Last night at Tribe L A

2011-08-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Tribe LA has me come out now and again to do a little preaching or teaching. I really do enjoy being with them. Great group of out of the box people, doing life and community among the artists, in Los Angeles. Their worship music is all written by the church with electronic tracks and participatory percussion. Everyone has a hand drum or something. They start with a meal, and communion. And the time in the bible is usually discussion oriented.

But last night I was asked to talk about the church. And I was specifically asked to just preach. Well you don't need to ask me twice, I love to preach. I feel most alive, and at peace with the world while preaching, (though I do prefer doing so line by line expositional teaching as opposed to subjects).

I felt like I really connected with most of the people there, I felt like I said what I was supposed to say, and I feel I said it well.

But afterwards, I was approached by a man with a gentle smile. He was using a cane, and his body was twisted backwards awkwardly. He moved with great difficulty and his head was tilted sharply to the left. I smiled as he said thank you. I asked how he was doing, and he said through very labored speech that he was doing good. I told him it was great to see him again, and asked if he enjoyed the message. He smiled and gave a kind of well it was okay shake of the hand. I said, "so it was just ok?"

He said, "... I... think... itsss.... aaaall... about... love... jesus... isssss... aaallll... aaaaboutttt... love... aaaaaanddddd... we.... are... suuhhh... posedddd... tooooo... loooooovvvvveeeee... everyone..."

I was humbled. I hugged this beautiful man, who's body might be broken, but who's spirit is bright and shining like the sun. Why did they have me come out and speak?

The simple beauty of Jesus.

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Jarrod Mckenna set me up (assisted suicide)

2011-08-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

I was on the radio back in Australia. I was being interviewed for some filler I am sure. But they seemed to think a former cage fighter, who was coming to Perth to do non violence training, and was a pastor seemed like an interesting story. So my mate Jarrod McKenna (who set the whole thing up and was leading the training), was sitting in the other room watching me, and giving me thumbs up as I talked about fighting, and the apparent contradiction of being a pastor, and the bigger contradiction of doing non violence work.

I think I gave some good answers, made some people think. We didn't have time for any callers questions, but it was a fun little interview. And then I get this:

"So John, we don't have much time left but" (never trust a radio guy when he says this btw), "in the last hour we were discussing the topic of assisted suicide, and the right for people to meet death on their own terms, what do you think about that?"

Wow

That is not exactly an easy question, much less with "not much time left"

So what I said was basically this:

I don't know what I think, all I know is that this would be such a difficult and painful situation for everyone involved. What I don't believe however, is that an impersonal government, is in any position to enforce a law upon people. I believe that these kinds of decisions, must be made among the community, with people that love each other and care for the welfare of one another. A community like what the church is supposed to be, and they should be allowed to come to whatever decision seems fitting to them.

Then we were off the air... the radio man smiled said it was really great to meet you and sent me on my way. I felt like I had been punched in the guy, but was trying my best to stand up straight. I got a chance to wrestle with Jarrod later in the week and I made sure he paid for setting me up like that :)

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Books that inspired me (will be an ongoing series)

2011-08-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

I read Christianity and Anarchy, by Jaques Ellul, many years ago. It was an amazing book, it made so much sense, and helped me to understand many things I had seen over the years. This book suggested that what God actually desired for us, was to live in an anarchic, mutually subordinate and loving community. That throughout the scriptures we see this. And that in imitating the hierarchy of the world, we were in fact rejecting God.

This book changed my life, my mind, and my heart. What it didn't do, was show me what to do with it all. How does this effect my church, missional work, social work, and even parenting? I did not feel like I knew, but had to just struggle with the ideology and try to figure out my own way. This was a wonderful book, and I think everyone should read it. However, the books I want to talk about today are "Christianarchy" and "Not Religion, but Love" by Dave Andrews

In Christianarchy Dave basically speaks about how Christian Anarchy is lived out in an empowering community. He gives examples of how our current structures hurt people, and how we can live out an alternative. It is a controversial book, as he names names, and expresses his own alienation and hurt. But this book changed my life and ministry so much. Dave, gave me encouragement for what I had already started doing, and encouragement to imagine ways to go much further, and a history to associate with. What was really wonderful, was when I needed help figuring some of this stuff out, he made himself personally available, to help me.

In Not Religion but Love, Dave takes that theme even deeper. He talks about how we live in a community, and work for the empowering of that community. Not spreading our religion, but spreading the empowering love of Christ to all, even those of differing faiths, or no faith. He speaks about working for justice from a place of love, not power. For being alongside of rather than reaching down to. He talks about being the change you want to see in the world. Many people think this book is more important, and better than Christianarchy. I think they both are brilliant, and stand on their own.

Both of these books have changed my life, as has Dave and the waiters union, and I love them dearly.

not religion but love

Christianarchy

I also have a few copies of each of these that I would like to share with people, I will send them to the first four who ask for each, but I would ask you pay for postage, and then if possible make a donation, as I paid quite a bit to buy them and ship them over.

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My God!!! READ YOUR BIBLE!!!

2011-08-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

Funny how often I get that. I also get, IT SAYS WHAT IT SAYS AND MEANS WHAT IT SAYS!!! One more that I get thrown at me is, OH SO YOU JUST PICK AND CHOOSE WHAT SCRIPTURES YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO?

Look, its really simple: I did not come to the beliefs I have come to because I want to be cool. I did not come to the beliefs I have come to because of my political leanings. I did not come to my belief system because I want to make other people like me. I believe what I believe because I read the bible, I try to read it in its context, and I try to make sense of the scriptures together as a complete meta-narrative.

What I am not doing is taking a template of a subverted church, married to nationalism and consumerism and placing it over the scripture. I read my bible, I let it mean what it actually means, and say what it actually says. And when I have to pick and choose, I do so based upon what I believe is a more Christ centered logic.

Let's take a look at one situation. Christ says over and over not to store up wealth and that the poor are blessed. But we have some conflicting scriptures, mostly in the old testament, that say wealth is a blessing of God. So, where do we go? No matter what, we will be picking and choosing, but what is your fulcrum when making that decision.

In my opinion, the typical evangelical response is, the bible is the fulcrum. So we look at the entirety of the bible. And since the bible throughout its history says wealth is a blessing from God, it must be a blessing from God. Therefore Jesus must have meant spiritual poverty was a blessing, and as long as we were humble, and didn't love money more than God we can have as much of it as we want, and be a bit generous. But using the bible as fulcrum does two things:

1 it allows you to pretty much take whatever you want from wherever you want and make that your focus. Which enables you to bend Jesus teachings into whatever you want, usually going along with what makes life good for yourself, or follows the current culture. In today's culture, the culture of meritocracy and consumerism, we get, don't love your money, but get as much as you can.

2. and most disturbing, is it makes and idol of the bible, in placing it above God Our fulcrum cannot be an often misunderstood, and ancient manuscript meant for the purpose of revealing God, when we can have God himself as fulcrum

Which leads me to my way of reading scripture. I start with Christ. What did Christ teach? How did Christ live? How is Christs death and resurrection effecting and effected by this? I start there, and then move out. If Christ said poverty was a blessing, and lived in a extremely simple way, not even having a coin when one was needed... then he meant what he said. So then I look at the scriptures in the old testament... what were these "blessings" used for? often times selfish crap, like a big six bedroom palace in a gated community in the burbs. And what happens with these characters? well one cheats on his wife with another mans wife and then kills her husband when she gets pregnant, his own family falls apart, his son rapes his daughter, his other son kills him and then tries to kill his father. His next son takes a thousand wives and winds up sacrificing to other gods on altars in the high places. Not a pretty picture.

Start with Jesus, and read your bible with Jesus as the center. Because he said, "you wanna know what God is like? God is like me.

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Its been over a month now (feedback wanted)

2011-08-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

posting a blog every day, cept only one on the weekend. So should I keep up the pace? slow down a bit? Start posting two a day? Start doing my videos again?

How bout some feed back

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awwwww hell no

2011-08-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

One thing that seems to get overlooked in this whole hell uproar, is who are the people that are actually said to be going there? Now I will be candid, I do not believe in the traditional dantesque version of hell. And I am not talking about just style either. I used to, but no longer do. That is not to say that I might not change my views again. And the views I hold now I hold loosely. But I go beyond Rob Bell's book Love Wins, with its what ifs and maybes, and come right out and say it... I believe everyone will eventually come to salvation in Christ, and that Hell though real, is redemptive in purpose, not punitive. Now, Pastor Mark Driscoll, and everyone else on the other side of the issue, can smash me for that, but its just honestly where I have come to, from a careful review of the scriptures, and more importantly a careful review of Jesus and His ministry.

But back to my point... whether hell is finite, infinite, eternal, punitive, or redemptive, who is going to hell? And to this, I love my friend Ash Barker's (founder of UNOH), answer when getting questioned by the evangelical police. The question, "do you believe in hell?"

"Well of course I do, the bible talks about hell a lot... that's where the rich people go"

I always laugh when I think about that. Not about rich people going to hell, but about Ash having the guts to say such and in your face thing, and the reactions he must have gotten. The truth is, the extreme abundance of mentions of hell, by Jesus, are used as a destination for the rich, and religious leaders. You don't see Jesus telling the poor, the outcasts, the sinners that they are going to hell, you see Jesus saying, hey... come along with me and lets see the kingdom come. Now in fairness, he says the same to the rich and powerful, but he knows they won't come, they have too much to loose.

You see heaven starts here on earth, and like the saying, "you can't take it with you" you can't enter into that kingdom of heaven while still holding on to your power, and privilege. Lets put it in modern words, Jesus doesn't say, its the prostitutes, the felons, the gay community or the mentally ill that they are missing out, no he makes His home with them. It is the wealthy, the corporate bankers, the mega church celebrities, the religious leaders and finger pointers that will go to hell.

So Jesus, once again turns the world on its head... He is not inciting class warfare, far from it. He invites all of us to live in the love that cares for our neighbor as ourselves. Why? Why is Jesus so intent on turning things upside down?

Because this world, and its systems are controlled by Satan. The domination system, that seeks to enslave everyone, including those at the top. We must break free of this system. When it topples, then we can see the kingdom come. And Jesus will topple it, even if it takes going through hell to make it happen.

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On Saturday its my 23rd Anniversary

2011-08-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

On August 13th in 1988, in front of a hundred or so people, in a rustic stone chapel in Riverside, I married Raquel Foster. Best thing I have done in my life apart from beginning my journey to follow Jesus. We were "too young," not "financially secure," and didn't really have a good plan for the rest of our lives. But, against these odds we have made it through 23 years.

It has not been easy. We had two wonderful daughters right away, which is quite a lot to deal with for a teen aged bride and an idiot husband. We suffered through long times of unemployment. Issues with depression, and anxiety. Ministry ups and downs. Seemingly ostracized from the church at times. We were facing disapproval of our families for many of our decisions. Our own theologies changed so radically, that what we now live and breath as the kingdom message of Jesus, would have shocked us as newlyweds.

Yet we walked ever single step together. And here we are. I can say without any hint of sentimentality, that my wife is my best friend, and I am more in love with her than I ever have been. She constantly amazes me with her wisdom, and deep compassionate love for God and people. She is a helpful guide, and teacher to me, and our church. She is a fixture in our neighborhood as she faithfully and lovingly manages a local coffee shop. And her heart for the outcast has never been stronger.

23 years ago I had no idea what I was doing, but I did really well anyways. I pray my daughters do as well as I did.

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What is the deal with Holiness?

2011-08-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. Anyone who has been around the church for a while knows this scripture, song, liturgical element. And most people have heard a hundred different explanations as to what holy means. God is holy, we are supposed to be a holy people, but we still struggle with just what that means... to be holy. We struggle because we don't know what being holy means, and we struggle because we think we do know what it means.

The best description I have heard of holiness is: utterly different than... in a good way. So you have your regular dishes, then you have your different dishes, your best china for special occasions. So God is completely different from us, and we are to be completely different from the world. Now that may sound kind of crappy, and it sure could be and often is, if we get this wrong. And boy do we get it wrong.

I have been told I am not keeping the Lords temple (my body) holy, by getting tattoos. Based on a scripture verse in Leviticus that is preceded by don't cut your beard (um, I notice that nice clean shaven face you have there buddy). I am constantly told that my damn language is not holy. We also hear about how the "sanctuary" is meant to be holy (one church hosted a wedding and they had to move to the other side of the church for reception because no drinking in the "sanctuary").

My pastor used to play rook with his family. Rook if you don't know is a card game but doesn't use playing cards, so therefore is not sinful. But they had to close the drapes when they played at home. His mother, the pastor of their church (which wouldn't be holy to other people), didn't want anyone driving by and seeing them playing cards, as they wouldn't know they were rook cards.

And sometimes it gets horribly tragic. I heard of a young girl that was part of the Pentecostal holiness movement. Her father (and I use the term loosely) was the pastor of their church. Every day when he got home from church he would call her into his study and ask her what sins she committed today. He would then spank her for those sins. If she said she couldn't remember committing any sins that day, then he would spank her for lying. This poor little girl got a spanking everyday in the name of holiness.

Well if that is what holiness is, then FUCK THAT!

But, I don't believe that is what holiness is at all. Holiness isn't this idea of individual moralism, that puts us above others. Holiness is an otherness that puts us in service of others. And how different is that? Holiness is not trying to make others behave the way you believe they should, but surrendering your life to those that refuse to behave. Holiness is figuring ways to respond that is different than the way we are taught is natural.

The fact is every single people group in history develops their own way of talking, their own way of dressing, their own style of music. They determine what is right in their context. Now they might not say it is good. In fact they might determine it is right because it is bad, and being bad people, they want to be consistent. So the Christian church, acting like just another people group, doing the same thing, making our own language, and culture, is not holiness. It is in fact, being the same as the world. Jesus shows us a different way. He drinks with drinkers, but does it without becoming out of control. He eats with those who love to eat, he parties with those that are not only sinners, but traitors to Israel. He touches those that are not to be touched, and shows love to those that are heretics and abhorred. And he calls those who are "holy", the religious leaders, and powerful men, sons of their father the devil. See, now I am getting behind this idea of holiness.

In the greatest act of holiness in the history of the world Jesus has been beaten, is being nailed to a cross, his followers have abandoned him, the world shouts taunts and insults at him, and he responds to all of this not with despair, not with anger, not with cries for vengeance... but with the words, "Father, forgive them for they know not, what they do" Jesus responds with love, and it breaks the powers that be.

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Last night at our house church...

2011-08-09T10:30:00.003-07:00

Last night at the church gathering at our house, we enjoyed some wonderful food. Vegan Japanese food lovingly made by one of our members. We always share the cooking duties so we all can use our gifts of service and hospitality. Though it isn't a cooking contest, it almost seems like it sometimes as the food we get is so amazing.

After eating, one of our members lead us in a discussion about worship. Having been raised in the church he had a very set view of what worship was. It was the slower songs that followed the faster ones at the beginning of the service. He told us about his journey towards a completely different view of worship now. One that encompasses thanksgiving in the midst of daily life, a sense of appreciation and awe.

Then we all shared our own experiences. I was raised Catholic so I shared about how it wasn't about music at all, but about the Eucharist. Then I became a born again pentecostal and it became all about music and emotion and even posture. I then became a big devote of alternative worship, engaging arts into worship experiences, which I still love to participate in. Now worship is more about living my life surrendered to God.

A few of our community do not have a faith in God, and it was interesting to hear their reflections about what worship means. One said he viewed it as contrived and worthless when he was younger. Seeing people do all of this emotional stuff yet they lived totally self absorbed lives. But as he got older and developed a spirituality he looks at it as being in the moment, appreciating the good world, the beauty of the plants and animals, doing good to others and making a difference.

Others shared about their ideas of worship. Some still loved singing songs, some hated singing songs, some enjoyed silence, but we all decided worship was more than something we did at a meeting. The question then became, how can we reflect what worship is in our individual lives when we gather?

So my questions to you is, what does worship mean to you? And how do you see it best reflected when the saints gather? and how should our gathering worship effect our everyday life?

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Leadership in an upside down kingdom

2011-08-08T07:29:00.004-07:00

Jesus shows up on earth and turns the worlds systems upside down. He says, unlike the worlds values we value simplicity, humility, meekness, servanthood, mourning and most of all love. He often contrasts these values with the values that are inherent in the worlds "way" and then not only tells us a new way but shows us. He triumphs over the power and violence of the day, not by being powerful, but by being powerless. He triumphs not by being violent, but by being non violent. He triumphs not by looking out for himself, but by sacrificing himself for the universe. This is an upside down kingdom.

I have often talked about the anarchic nature of this kingdom. That it is anti hierarchical. That the church has been seduced into the age old folly of wanting its hierarchy. Just like Israel of old we have cried out "give us a king that we might be like other nations". Only we have cried out "give us a CEO and a board of directors so we may have a successful church". Or "give us an inspiring motivational speaker, that we might grow to large numbers". Or perhaps in a better motivation, but same resultant hierarchy, "give us a godly pastor to lead us into being a growing church".

When Jesus not only talks about but lives an upside down kingdom, everything changes, including leadership. Jesus calls for those who are most inclined to lead to be abject servants. Almost a different interpretation of the old adage, "those most desiring of positions of power are those least worthy of them". Jesus calls us to be submitted to one another, not to our "leadership" Jesus calls us to lead by our loving service, not our personality, or our position.

This is often a very difficult task, especially those of us that have been gifted as leaders. So like my post about unnamed power suggests the answer is not to run and hide, or pretend these gifts aren't there. But to recognize them, and then to subvert the corrupting influence by:

often refusing to take power (Jesus quickly left the crowd before they took him by force and made him king)

looking for opportunities to serve in quiet humble ways (Jesus stopped the train of admirers on his way to heal the "important persons daughter")

Seek to position yourself in the humble places (Jesus stayed in the marginalized places of Empire, and when he did go to Jerusalem the place of power, he didn't exactly make himself at home)

Submit to others (Jesus was unique in being accountable only to the Father, but we see Paul and Barnabus and Peter all being submitted to one another)

In the end holiness means being different, special even. In a world so sold out to the hierarchical pyramid of power, perhaps this is a holiness much more apparent than not saying shit?

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Christian Celebrity popularity contest (the nines)

2011-08-07T21:37:00.003-07:00

I am not up to date on all things, so if this has been said before by others pardon for saying the same thing but...

What the hell is going on?

Oh the drama, who will win out and be speaker for the nines conferences? The macho bad boy pastor Mark Driscoll? The scholarly N T Wright? The social justice ubber hippy Shane Claiborne? competition is fierce ladies and gentleman. Who gets the most votes?

But that isn't the whole contest, we have some people campaigning not to win but just to finish higher than other people. Seriously have we gone nuts?

I mean this cult of celebrity, meets consumerism at the cathedral needs to be called what it is... absolute bullshit. The most incredible life changing messages I have ever heard at a conference were sitting around tables with the punters that were doing it hard just like me. Or the relatively unknown guy who showed up and had the courage to say what needed to be said whether it was welcomed or not. Besides can't you just buy their new book? I am sure it is on sale... everywhere.

Or maybe I am just jealous because no one is begging me to come speak at some Christian conference. Yeah thats probably it

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Community interpretation (a ecclessial hermeneutic)

2011-08-05T08:55:00.003-07:00

Jesus says an interesting thing in Matthew. He tells Peter that the church will be able to bind and loose, and to forgive or uphold sins. Now having been raised Roman Catholic, spent much of my life as an evangelical protestant and now some weird liberational post evangelical Christianarchist, this passage pops off fireworks left and right. Throw in some of my pentecostal beliefs and we really get going.

Now in the Catholic tradition, they take this to mean that the hierarchy of the church has the mandate to both discern proper biblical and life interpretation, and to issue the "sacrament" of confession and penance. In other words the leaders decide what is right and everyone else falls into line. This however seems to be the very system that Jesus replaces, when he issues these words.

In the pentecostal tradition, its talking about binding and loosening demons. But... if you bind the devil... how long does he stay bound for? Does is matter what kind of knots you use? And we mostly don't want to touch the forgiveness thing.

In evangelical tradition we struggle with these passages as well, because in truth we don't really affirm the hyper solo scriptura that is actually far beyond what Luther ever meant anyways. But often we struggle with this post trying to be anti papist rather than looking at it as instructive.

But we see the same things repeated in Matthew 18 where Jesus is instructing us how to live out the faith community. And this passage must be understood as both instructions for church life, and within its cultural context. Now to us this binding and loosening seems weird, but in the first century Jewish culture it was very well known. The priests and scribes (lawyers) were given the power to bind and loose, in accordance with the scriptures. So if you have a dispute with your neighbor you go to court (religious and secular were the same) and these "experts" would make a ruling, binding or loosening you in accordance with the scriptures. This ties in with the follow discussions about forgiving of sins. It was the scribes (lawyers) who determined the fines and conditions of repayment of depts ect. So Jesus was taking the authority away from the elites, and gives it to the church, (Peter and his declaration of faith being the first stone of this metaphorical building).

So what that means, is that we as a church community, faithfully living out the gospel in our neighborhoods, and depending upon the Holy Spirit in our midst, in consultation with the church at large past and present, are granted the authority to interpret scripture. Which brings up a few questions:

Why does one (usually a man) person give the message and interpretation of scripture in our gatherings?

Why don't we make place for communal discernment for scripture and action in our communities?

How do we honor the working of the Spirit in our gatherings?

Can there actually be differing interpretations of scripture that God blesses as the Creator gives the authority to each local community?

These are the questions that have lead us to our practice of reflection on scripture.

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Modern Day Saints (St Dave Everitt of Cambodia)

2011-08-04T08:05:00.003-07:00

I was standing in the back of the church waiting to pray for people. As one of the elders (A rather silly designation for my 22 year old self) we would pray for anyone who had needs during the musical worship time. A man I had never seen before just happened to come to the front of the line as I had a vacancy. As you can see from the picture he has Rutger Hauer ice blue eyes and has a habit of looking directly into your eyes which can make you want to hide. As I was uncomfortably being looked at, or through, he shared about his need for prayer. He had been doing work in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Santa Ana California, among the Cambodian community. He was particularly successful in leading a group of Christian young people. But he had had a break through with some of the local Cambodian gang members, and they began to give their lives to Christ and come to the bible study he was leading. The problem was the Christian kids and their parents didn't want the gangsters there. In my immaturity I tried to give him a little advice, but then prayed for him.

When our time of prayer was over I asked if I could talk to him more, that his ministry was very intriguing to me. We exchanged numbers and I gave him a call later in that week. That phone call forever changed my life.

Dave invited me to come out to have lunch with him in his neighborhood. I saw the humble apartment they lived in. I ate the humble food they ate. And Dave told me a story about their neighborhood, the Latino gangs fighting for turf over it, the Cambodian gangs that had risen up to challenge some of it. He told me of his own conversion, and going from a commodities trader with a Porsche, and how he left it all to follow Jesus in ministry. I was spell bound and stayed that way as we walked around the neighborhood. Dave was a fixture, everyone said hello, stopped for a talk. His Cambodian was still pretty rusty but he tried to speak to people in their own language.

He gave me a book to read, and a few articles. The book was the making of a leader, by Robert Clinton, and the articles were about mentoring. I felt like he was asking me if I wanted him to mentor me. I had never seen mentoring this formalized, mentoring was just what happened at my church, but this seemed much more intentional. I called and made another appointment to visit Dave.

When I got there, he asked me if I had read the stuff he gave me, and I told him I had. He asked what I thought, and I answered, "I think you are inviting me into a mentoring relationship" and he confirmed that he was. I said, "yes, please"

That day I witnessed a number of drug deals, a kid pull a gun, a violent domestic dispute that ended with a man going to the hospital with a hole the exact size of the business end of a stiletto heel in his forehead. And through it all Dave was calm, and peaceful, and loving.

Over the next year Dave taught me a lot about "incarnational ministry" what it means to empower others, not work from above or outside of community but to get down in it with them. He taught me a lot about God's heart for the poor and the marginalized. And he taught me how to be a good mentor. He changed my life and ministry more than he probably knows.

Now he lives in the slums of Cambodia. His three children who grew up there with him, are now going to college here in the states. And he is truly a modern day saint.

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Unnamed Power is unaccountable power

2011-08-03T08:02:00.004-07:00

While meeting with my friend Ched, we were discussing issues of power, and my distrust of my own ability to hold it. When he said, "unnamed power, is unaccountable power" Now I have never heard this put in such a perfect way before, though I have spoken with other people about it. This phrase really is provocative and I think rings true.

Then he said, "many of these anarchist communities believe that if they just don't name power, if they just refuse to acknowledge it, it won't be a problem, but that is actually the reverse of what happens. By not acknowledging and naming power, there is no accountability, no checks and balances and the power can actually run roughshod over others"

My experience bears this truth out. In trying to pretend that our power is not there, or is less than it is, we often set up structures that allow for our power to be used in even more oppressive and manipulative ways. But if we acknowledge that some are actually powerful, that because of their knowledge, finances, personality or giftings, we can not only make sure those truly wonderful God given gifts are not used improperly, but we can set up structures that allow them to empower others with them rather than use power over.

In my community, if I deny the power that my wife and I yield as founders, elders and to some extent scholars, then I can basically use this power to control and manipulate the community. But if we simply name this power, (not with a title, but by admitting the situation), we can see it for what it is. I can be held accountable by my community, and challenged to be a servant, rather than a worldly styled leader.

In the practice of anarchic community, this becomes imperative. Where the goal is for all to be empowered, it is those with most power that need to share that power, to cede that power, and to reproduce that power in others. When that power is unnamed, it not only has the bad result of oppressing people, but also can hinder the empowering of those that have no power. The true desire of Christian anarchist thought is not that all power is bad, but rather that all power should be shared, and submitted to the God who laid down His power, and died for us in love. This is our goal. To walk out the truth of "There is no male or female, Jew or Greek, slave or free, rich nor poor, when we gather together", we must acknowledge that we actually are those things, and voluntarily lay them down.

I hope that made even a little sense.

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Into the silence

2011-08-02T08:08:00.004-07:00

This morning I had some good moments, where I got to actually feel still. But the thoughts and noise would come back so quickly. At one point I found myself drifting towards the plan of having a silent retreat so I could practice silence, which I of course was not doing right then :)

I think the discipline of it is really important to me. I come from a pentecostal background where (no offense) so much is about how good you feel, or how close to God you "felt". But this is more about opening your heart, because you should, whether it feels good or not. Whether it feels empty or not. In my time this morning when I touched on it, just barely, I felt love and peace.

And the challenge is always to let that love and peace move me forward towards the kingdom of God.

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A short documentary of me shot in Melbourne

2011-08-01T09:48:00.003-07:00

A friend shot this video for his college film class assignment. Thought I would share it here. If you could go to you tube and give it some love that would be great.

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open mic last night (a boy named sue)

2011-08-01T07:48:00.002-07:00

I was so nervous

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The Park this morning

2011-07-31T09:43:00.003-07:00

I don't like to write about the park, this may be the first time I have done so. Our faith community goes to the park on Sunday morning and shares our breakfast with a number of people that live in the park, or on the bluffs by the beach. Usually we sit for an hour or so with our friends, and we eat some egg burritos and hash browns, and enjoy some coffee and conversation. It is often uneventful, and predictable. We hear the same stories usually, the latino blokes are still looking for, and not finding work, those struggling with addictions to drugs or alcohol tell us of their run ins with cops or stories of panhandling, and usually we just have a quiet time.

This morning was a bit different. It started with a few new people that I hadn't met before, and that is always nice. And then a regular from day one, (almost two years ago) Dave showed up, but he moved far away when another gal showed up. They have been having tension lately. She started berating him about his hygiene, and he was telling me how sick of it he was. So I stood off to the side, with a man basically killing himself with alcohol, explaining to him that this woman actually harasses him because she cares for him. I don't think he understood, but just found that someone who was his friend, has now just become like everyone else looking down on him. I told him I would try and find him some clean pants, and he went to sit somewhere else.

Then someone else who we have never seen before came up, and was a bit of a jerk. But hey, being homeless, and addicted is not fun, and I get being grumpy. He was pissed off that the coffee was gone, but there was nothing I could do about that. As he walked away, he threw his burrito wrapper on the floor. I called to him, "hey bro, pick that up, you can't throw the wrappers on the floor" He pointed towards other trash in the park, and I said, "but that isn't ours, if you litter the cops can make us stop coming" and told me to F off and walked away "Well don't come back then til you learn to respect the breakfast" I received another F off as I was picking up his wrapper. He then reached into the trash can near him and threw trash onto the ground. I started walking towards him.

He turned and squared himself aggressively, "What are you gonna do?"

Now I am not gonna lie, I wanted to smack him around a bit. Some skinny tweeker living in the park is gonna step up to me? Do you know who I am? The inner violence really was burning, but instead I answered, "I am going to pick up after you" And I did. But as I walked back to the table I was shaking. Everyone said, to take a deep breath, "man, I got a little too much violence in me still" They asked what I said, and I told them, and we all had a good laugh. They said that guy was new to the park, and they would clue him in.

And then another of the alcoholics showed up. I hadn't seen him in months. He had been diagnosed with melanoma and looked bad. He told us that he was no longer in remission and had been at the hospital for 21 days. Apparently he left the hospital because they said he was refusing to follow hospital directions. His new doctor wouldn't let him go outside and have a smoke, and when he went anyways they discharged him. I guess they figured it was tough love but give me a break. They guy has cancer all over his body, he drinks all day long, he is homeless, his teeth are rotting out of his head, and you think quitting smoking is gonna help him? I talked to him for about fifteen minutes, then gave him a hardy handshake. Said good bye to everyone and headed home.

I encountered Jesus today, in various forms. One was very hard for me to love, I need God's love, as my own is just not good enough. God loves us not because we deserve it, but because it is his nature to love. Depending upon Christ, is depending upon that love, and hopefully I can learn to do that more and more, and destroy the violence that is in my heart.

Pray for my friends

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When I was younger

2011-07-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

At 10 years of age I wanted to play defensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys, and Randy White was my hero

At 13 I wanted to be a rock star, and Gene Simmons of Kiss was my hero

At 16 I wanted to die in the arena as a Portuguese bullfighter, and my heroes were Juan Belmonte and Carlos Arruza

At 20 I wanted to preach to thousands in stadiums around the world and my heroes were Billy Graham and Chuck Smith

At 25 I wanted to have a huge church made up of thousands of cell churches and my hero was Yongi Cho

At 30 I wanted to be left alone, to follow Jesus in my own way, and my heroes were Buddy Suitor, Alan Hirsch and Mark Sayers

Now I am 45, and I have learned that what I want is often silly, and not what I need. I have learned that my heroes are very fallible, and they should be influences rather than heroes. I have learned that what I plan for, and what happens is actually quite different and that what matters is how I love in the process.

I hope that our community in Long Beach continues to grow into a network of house churches, and intentional communities committed to loving our neighbors, specifically our marginalized neighbors. I hope that I will finish a book that can share our journey with a wider audience. I hope that I might have the opportunity to speak to the church at large a bit. I hope that I grow ever more committed to discipleship.

I am thankful for people like Ched Myers, Neil Cole, Alan and Deb Hirsch and Dave Andrews that encourage me along the way. I am thankful for my friends that are fighting the enemy with me. I am thankful for my community that loves me for who I am and compels me to be better. I am especially thankful for my wife, whom I grow to love more, and trust more every day.

When I was younger I wanted to be something or someone else, now I just want to be a better me

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And they say I am compromising!

2011-07-28T08:26:00.003-07:00

As you might imagine, I get into some "conversations" with people of all different ideological bent. But it seems my most heated disagreements tend to be with the group that would be considered the conservative evangelicals. It is apparent that we disagree on a few things. But what is funny to me is that I find the same accusations that are thrown at me, are actually the ones I make of them. Or in the words of the sage 2nd grader "I'm rubber and you're glue everything bounces off me and sticks to you"

Ok, so what the hell am I talking about today? Simply this, I am often accused of compromising the gospel, or the faith. And the reasons I do this are varied but usually come to these:

1. to fit my own politically correct socialist ideologies

2. to try and be cool, or hip

3. to try and be liked by the non Christians, (both atheists and other religions)

So in order to be a cool, socialist who gets invited to non Christian parties, I compromise the gospel. But if I was a brave, man, and took the bible at its literal word, I would be a non compromising, despised, conservative man who lets God speak for me when I am reviled.

But this is the thing... I didn't come to my political leanings and then change my theological views. I am liked, and disliked by many people from other religions and non religions because I am unashamedly committed to the idea of the uniqueness of Jesus' as the God man, who's work was salvation for the cosmos. And, I quite frankly, am so damn cool, that my beliefs couldn't make me any cooler. :)

I came to my beliefs not because of any reason other than, I belief this is what Christ, through the biblical accounts in the gospels, teaches with both his words and his deeds. I am not trying to be a lefty, a hipster, a liberal, or even to not have to worry about sin, rather I am trying to follow Jesus.

But lets talk about compromise:

The gospels show throughout their entirety Jesus' animosity towards the religious and moral elite, yet the church of today in their calls for "holiness" regularly lift up these same attitudes, rejecting the very people Jesus routinely located himself among. We compromise the words and example of Jesus, by emulating the enemies of Jesus instead of Jesus himself.

Jesus continuously tells us to not trust in money, to not store up treasures, to give all we have away and trust God, to share with whomever has need ect. Yet we do not take those scriptures literally, of course not! Jesus couldnt have meant something that makes me uncomfortable. The truth is Jesus talks way more about what you do with your wallet than what you do with your dick, and I am the one compromising? Excuse me if I am a bit nervous, you keep smacking me in the head with that log when you are trying to get the splinter out of my eye.

Jesus was consistently caring for the marginalized. He tells us a story of what is essentially, the righteous heretic. He spends time among the pagans, the heretics, hookers and the race traitors. He parties with sinners. He loves and touches the ritually unclean. Yet we make sanctified church services that make people that can't afford a smart casual, or even formal outfit, feel unwanted. We impose burdens of righteousness upon others and exclude them. We do not spend time with those of other or no faith in loving communion.

There is assent to taking the bible as its literal word, and then it being thrown right out the window when it says: Love your enemy, do good to those that do bad to you, and do not violently resist an evil doer. Instead we make up this bullshit about loving your enemy in your heart while you drop bombs on him, his wife and his children in real life.

There is constant clamor about the literalness of the hell of the afterlife, yet no willingness to enter into the hell of the present and rescue people from their pain and oppression. There is talk about the literalness about the heaven of the future, but no willingness to sacrifice to bring justice, mercy and goodness to all now.

I am not advocating a lessening of Christian discipleship, but a raising of it. I am not advocating an easier discipleship but a harder one. I am declaring that the rigorous believism of our current Christianity is a fragile shell of the grace and power filled way of discipleship of the early church. That orthodoxy needs to give way to orthopraxy or we are just big brains and big mouths with no relation to the Jesus of the bible.

You want to see who is compromising? Who is caring for the widow, the orphan, the poor, the marginalized, the imprisoned? Who is loving their enemy? Who is actually walking out the fruits of the Spirit. Don't ask me what I think, ask me how I live.

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Modern Day Saints (Shirley Osbourne of Melbourne)

2011-07-27T14:38:00.002-07:00

Shirley Osbourne is one of my heroes. We met her in Melbourne while she was speaking at a FORGE intensive training session, on spirituality. We immediately realized we would be friends. She is everything I like about a missionary, loving, down to earth, grass roots, strong, courageous and above all... bat shit crazy. She now pastors a church in Melbourne that ministers to a number of needy people from the housing commission flats. She works alongside a number of aids organizations. And is tirelessly working to support her friends, the forgotten poor and marginalized of Melbourne's inner city.

Shirley one day realized a number of homeless, disenfranchised kids that gathered on the steps of Melbourne's Flinders Street train station. She did a most logical thing, being a young wife and mother, she started bringing them home to live with her. Starting a ministry called SOS, Steps Outreach Services has over the past 19 years provided shelter for over 300 young people often in her own family home.

I remember her telling us of her learning to teach the bible to this mob of completely unchurched young people. She realized that the story of the good Samaritan would mean nothing to them. So she told them the story of the good Policeman. How would that go over in our Sunday services? Whether she is providing food for her friends in government housing, sitting with a friend struggling with heroin withdrawals, or providing a welcoming space for a pedophile while still protecting the vulnerable this woman has incredible integrity, and humility. She doesn't think she is special, just doing what God puts in her path. I pray that more ordinary saints like her do the same.

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Making a name for myself (painful realization from Babel)

2011-07-26T08:39:00.004-07:00

Many of you would know that ten days ago or so I wrote a letter to Mark Driscoll, this is the last I will mention it I promise. What happened was the link was tweeted by Rick Warren, Rachel Held Evans, and Don Miller, and it became a minor internet hit. I got more hits on that thread in two days than the rest of my blog in three years. And it felt good. I had already decided to make a commitment to blogging everyday, so this seemed like it was a great jump start. But... (why does everyone have a big but)...

Since then I have been tracking my stats. I have been advertising my blog on twitter and facebook. I even wrote a post yesterday hoping to stir up some interest by asking Rick Warren why he deleted the link he had earlier posted. The truth is I was, and I guess am, trying to make a name for myself. During silence today I recognized this, and I immediately felt conviction. This was the sin of Babel. Facing their mortality, and their loneliness, they decided to build a city with a giant tower and make a name for themselves

Genesis 11

Universal Language, Babel, Confusion

¹ Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. ² It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ⁴ They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵ The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶ The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth

The problem is that up until this time you were named by God. You were who God named you, you didn't make a name for yourself. This city was a direct attempt to answer the problems that only God can answer. To confront death, loneliness, separation and the eternal questions, by making a city, centralizing power, creating monuments. Big shining beacons so all the internet could see...

I have been sinning, please forgive me. I believe I have a prophetic message to the church at large, and am living that out with my community in Long Beach. But I will let God give me my name, and a place to speak, I will no longer try and make it for myself. Thanks for your forgiveness.

rev

So what happened Pastor Rick Warren?

2011-07-25T14:14:00.003-07:00

I don't have an axe to grind with Rick Warren. I actually think he gets a bad rap most of the time. I think he is wrong about plenty of stuff, but you know what... I am too. So...

Rick... keep growing and changing, searching for the truth. As much as I try I like you... but...

I gotta ask what happened last week? Wasn't a big deal, I just don't Get it. I posted a letter to Mark Driscoll, about another of his stupid manly man comments and apparently you found it, and must have thought it funny, or challenging, or important, because you tweeted it. Then after a relatively short period of time you deleted your tweet. So what gives?

If you later realized I was a jerk (which I could have told you up front) why not tell me? Or if people complained because of other stuff on my blog, you could have told me that. But really, how did you like it enough to tweet about, but then delete your own tweet? Seems odd, and I asked you personally but you didn't answer so I thought maybe you would see this and retweet it, and then you might read it and give me an answer. The way it stands I don't think Mark Driscoll would be very proud of you... Well I guess that isn't a good point :)

rev

Amy Winehouse, Oslo, Somalia ect. (this tragic world)

2011-07-25T08:08:00.003-07:00

This past weekend we were saddened by the death of the incredibly talented, but tragically enslaved singer Amy Winehouse. Before that we heard the horrific reports of a lone man, consumed by hate and bigotry, who injured and murdered almost a hundred young people in Oslo. In addition we continue to get reports of the widespread famine in Somalia, and the factions that keep relief from getting to them.

In addition Japan is still reeling from the earthquakes, New Zealand the same and Haiti is still in dire straights. There is not enough time in the news to cover it all.

Add to that the incredible deaths in the drug cartels in Mexico, the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan. The violent regimes in Burma, Libya, Syria ect.. This world seems like a pretty shitty place.

My dear friend in the Navy is currently stationed in a country that is a near the middle east and the gulf. He does much aid work, and humanitarian work (the thing the forces do more of than gets reported and for which I am proud of). And he sees every day the horrible atrocities done on a small scale. Women with their genitals mutilated (90%), young girls with acid burns for going to school, kids that have suffered severe beatings, and just simple starvation and disease. These things almost never get reported as they are poor, and small, and insignificant.

In the park this weekend we ate breakfast with a homeless guy who was missing one of his front teeth, had stitches in his gums and lip, and staples in his head after being attacked with a pipe and a wooden pole or bat. The police responded 90 minutes after they were called. While two weeks earlier the cops responded in ten minutes because another homeless man urinated in the bushes (before the public bathrooms had been opened up). Of course no one hears about this, who cares about the little stuff, especially when we have the big stuff to worry about.

Mother Teresa said, "you don't need to to great things, just little things, with great love" Gandhi said, "you must be the change you want to see in the world" I challenge you today, I challenge myself today, to start to live in a way that makes the world a better place. Love the unloved. Care for the uncared for. Don't worry about what you can't do, and do what you can. Write a letter to a congress person about Somalia, or Burma, or Afghanistan. Start a group around Ched Myers book Sabbath Economics and live a different economy. Invite a homeless person, or struggling family to share dinner with you. The problem is not too big, our imagination is too small. Christ died and rose to redeem this world, lets live like that is true.

rev

What I have learned over these last 10 days

2011-07-23T15:49:00.003-07:00

1. I am often misunderstood, sometimes that is my fault, sometimes that is my readers fault, sometimes it is the incompleteness of our mechanisms of communication.

2. I still want to be popular, and heard far and wide (which I think is ego), yet I believe I have an important message, and a faithful testimony, (which is ministry) and it takes integrity, and community to hold the two in tension.

3. I still hate it when people don't see how correct I obviously am.

4. I am very much personally invested in what I say, write or paint

5. I am not alone in my journey, there are many that walk before, with and behind me, and we are one

6. and probably the thing I learned the most was... People really want to see Driscoll get beat up :)

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, and be a part of my learning experience. I will be starting to record my teaching videos on the radical gospel of Matthews Jesus again, so if you want to catch up please go to: the rev

"see you" tomorrow

rev

be still and know that I am God

2011-07-22T08:21:00.004-07:00

For my new friend Meredith Gould I will be brief :)

The practice of silence, stillness, listening prayer is not something that comes naturally for me. I am more of a assault the throne of God, Pentecostal, type prayer guy. I yell to and at God, often outloud, and I relate to the psalmist. But I also need to develop the part of me that hears that still small voice. This is what I am trying to learn now, and it isn't easy.

Every morning during the work week I wake up, light a candle, and spend twenty minutes trying to be still, and silent before God. This morning I managed maybe twenty seconds in a row at one time, which was a break through. But one thing I did "hear" while sitting, was that the Holy Spirit is at work. I watched the flame flicker, back and forth, and realized that God works in and among this world. And sometimes its outline would break from its tear drop and become anarchic, and wild, and unpredictable, yet it was the same flame. It made me want to look deeper, and be afire more.

Be still, know that I am God, then get your ass up and be my presence in the world.

rev

HOLY SHIT!!!

2011-07-21T07:35:00.003-07:00

So I have been getting a little flack for my language, thought I might address it. I have been accused of a few things:

1. Stumbling others by trying to be relevant

2. Trying to be hip and looking silly

3. Being a bad example as a pastor

4. Not being "holy" according to scriptures teachings

Well lets take a look shall we?

1. Stumbling others...stumbling others... yes, I must admit that gosh dang it, I flippin said some naughty words and one of my brothers began to say the same gosh darn words, and before you flippin know it, he was droppin "f" bombs. A couple of weeks later I caught him looking at internet porn, and now he is addicted to heroin and worshiping satan, all cause I dagnabit said shit. Oh doo doo, I hope you don't wind up renouncing Christ and becoming drug addicted now.

2. Yeah, thats me. I am always trying to look hip with my tattoos, and my slicked back hair doo, and my post punk uniform. Has nothing to do with the guy I was when I got saved, I am just trying to look cool... by speaking like a normal human being. How silly of me, I should be much less silly... Like this:

Perhaps I speak the way I do because that is the way I speak??? Because that is the way my neighbors speak, and that by trying to speak like Ned Flanders I actually am sounding like a self righteous dork? Now don't get me wrong, I refrain from language that is racist, sexual, sexist, or calling people names. But saying shit, instead of doodie, well that isn't me being cool, that is me not being silly!

3. Being a good example of pastor would mean hiding the language that is in my head? pretending to be something I am not? Not expressing myself to the fullest of my possibilities? Being something higher, more above, holier than those I am in community with? Yeah, well I don't want to be any of those things anyways

4. Let me get a bit more serious here. Jesus, nor Paul ever give us a list of words that you can't say on television. There is no list of naughty words, but there are numerous commands to watch your mouth. My question is, have you ever really looked at what those admonitions are saying? Most are about gossip, slander, divisiveness and other such practices that have nothing to do with the naughty word list. I have done some intense research, and when Paul gets a bit more exhaustive about his list of things we should not let our tongue be about: eph 5 ³ But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; ⁴ and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. In context of the passage, and in context of the Greek words, Paul is speaking quite clearly about, sexual joking, jesting, flirting and innuendo. None of which you need a naughty word to do. My "slander" of Mark Driscoll, was much more pushing the envelope of grace than any word I use. And if you actually do a little digging around, you will be shocked at some of the phrases that Paul and Jesus use when describing their opponents. Your personal piety would be much better served by a desire to speak words of encouragement to those who speak the truth in love, than in making naughty word lists.

And in the end, let me confront this ridiculous focus on stupid things like cuss words. Let me start, with a quote from Anthony Campolo

“[According to a profile in Christianity Today entitled] The Positive Prophet, ... I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”

Tony Campolo quote

In this message Tony addressed the problems with a moralistic focus on things that serve to give us a feeling of personal piety, while allowing us to ignore issues that are truly on God's heart. Whats more important? 30,000 starving children or a cuss word? In a world where "Christian marriages" end 50% of the time, we are really going to worry about the difference between shit and doo doo in the spoken or written word? In a world where high profile pastor after pastor goes down in flames for adultery, and churches are mired in controversy over protecting child molesting ministers, we are going to address the appropriateness of the word ass? When gay children are being bullied til they commit suicide, people are being sold into sex slavery, and thousands of people are dying in a drug war in Mexico you think God is really concerned about the cultural acceptance of a word or not?

I live in a country where the vast majority of the Christian church has a problem with me using the modern vernacular of the day, while they support the continued killing of not only soldiers, but innocent women and children (conveniently called collateral damage), of brown people far away from home. I scream what the FUCK is wrong with this picture??? Wake up people of God, and get on with Justice and Mercy, and Humility before God.

Now should we worry about personal holiness? Of course, and if you feel cussing is a sin, then by all mean don't do it. But don't dump your doo doo on me.

rev

Modern Day Saints (Ray Barbee)

2011-07-20T07:44:00.002-07:00

Watch this guy skate!!! He revolutionized skating. Before Ray, there were lots of guys that did amazing tricks. Gnarly guys like Duane Peters and Tony Alva that rode like they were fighting with the pool or ramp. Smooth gymnast like guys who do amazing acrobatic stunts like Tony Hawk and Mike McGill. You had the insane weird street stuff like Gonzo and Natas, and then the unparalleled trickstering of Rodney Mullins. But it was mostly, trick, set up, other trick, set up and then another trick. What Ray did was different, it was like, "I am just going across the neighborhood, but doing it in style" His tricks were awesome, but looked so simple because of his cruising type of style. He made skating into transportation, not just skills.

But what is amazing, is that with all his fame, and notoriety, he is quite literally the nicest guy I have ever met. He is so humble, and friendly, and always has a smile for someone. I would go skating with him, and he would inspire awe in everyone. Yet he would stop and sign boards, talk to kids, teach them tricks, and my favorite bit he would encourage them and cheer them on. When he got tired he would often sit off to the side and just read his pocket sized new testament. He talked about Jesus and the bible all the time, almost spoke in scriptures, but it seemed so natural, and normal when he did it. Everyone knew he was a follower of Jesus, and they thought it was cool. He made me want to be more like Jesus, because surely, this is what Jesus was like.

I remember one day he was on the mini pipe with me, and he was learning to do some insanely hard trick, four feet in the air over the pipe. I was relearning a simple little trick on the edge of the ramp. And he said, "we aren't leaving til we both land these" and we skated for over and hour, just him and I, encouraging each other. It was awesome.

Ray isn't that smiley faced boy anymore. He is a man, with a family. He is in his mid thirties and still gets paid to skateboard, but he is realizing that he needs to move on. Looks like his next careers are music and photography. Doesn't seem fair, why doesn't he have to have a real job... ever? But because its Ray, you just are so happy for him.

If you ever see a guy with a skateboard by his side, a small pocket sized bible open in his lap, a big smile for all to see, it just might be Ray Barbee. When I think of what Jesus was like... I usually think of Ray.

rev

Ten Things I would say to the Church (if they listened to me)

2011-07-19T08:58:00.003-07:00

1. Love God, love one another, love your neighbor, everyone is your neighbor. The message of Jesus is that we are to love everyone as if they are the most important people in our life. Even family dynamics should not get in the way of our love for others

2. What you do (orthopraxy) is as important, if not more important as what you believe (orthodoxy) We need to be people that follow Jesus example, and teachings, even if we don't completely understand everything. Remember Paul said we see through a distorted glass, with dark tint now. Anyone who has it all figured out is a bit of an ego maniac (like me)

3. Stop trying to get the world to come into your church, and get your church (the people of God's kingdom community) to get into the world. The answer to the worlds problem, including its lack of Christ, is Christ in the world. We are to follow Jesus into the places inhabited by the poor and broken and despised, not call them to us.

4. Christ is the center of our faith, not the bible. For sure the bible tells us of Christ, and this is its function. But we must start our hermeneutic with Christ, we must start our discipleship with Christ, we must start our dogma with Christ. For Christ alone is the author and finisher, the beginning and end, the way the truth and the life, the exact representation of God. The bible game (tm) does not work. (the bible game is he who has the most scriptures with their addresses, taken out of context to support their argument wins) We are to be disciples of the WORD, with the word, illuminates by the Spirit of Jesus.

5. The church is not to reflect the worlds hierarchical structure. Israel sinned in asking for a king "like the other nations have" By being married to this structure we both create a system that infantalizes some, elevates others, and becomes the sin of our age (consumerism). Every joint supplies, and all gifts are used when we stop the top down ministry, and embrace the egalitarian nature of God's kingdom.

6. Bigger is not better Jesus was so explicit about this it hurts. The kingdom of God is like a bit of hidden leaven. The kingdom of God is like a tiny little mustard seed. Jesus never neglected the masses, but he never trusted himself to them. We need not do great things, but small things with great love- Mother Teresa

7. In following Jesus we continue in his path, his ascension provided a comma, not a period. What am I talking about? Jesus fought against the religious leaders and structures that marginalized people for being sick, being female, and for being heretics. We don't stop there, but we continue to follow his lead. We don't say, well this is what Jesus said and accomplished for equality for women, so we will accept that but no further. We should be on the cutting edge of empowering the disempowered. We should be fighting for the rights of those that are oppressed, even if they are (gasp) muslim, gay, or drug addicts. Following Jesus means continuing the revolution, not considering it done.

8. There is no such thing as a Christian nation, and even if there was America was never it. The church married to the state is the destruction of the church. Our kingdom is not of this world.

9. There is, with absolutely no doubt, a bias in the gospels towards the poor and the marginalized. The church needs to locate itself with this in mind. Not to reach down from a place of power, but to recognize itself, as neighbor, friend, and fellow desperately needy, follower of God

10. Love God, love one another, love your neighbor, everyone is your neighbor. The message of Jesus is that we are to love everyone as if they are the most important people in our life. Even family dynamics should not get in the way of our love for others. (oh did I say this already? yeah I suppose I did) The way of the cross is a way that says, "I love you so much I will give my life and death for you, all of you"

please understand that I am the church too, so I say this to my self as well

rev

theology (my doctrine is bigger than your doctrine)

2011-07-18T08:02:00.002-07:00

I am an insecure man, that wants to be liked. I want to be respected more than I want to be liked. And, to be honest, I actually do care about what my peers think about me. I like to believe that I am capable of acting beyond this sinful limitation, but sometimes I don't.

For instance, I will often name drop when discussing theology. It is an especially successful name drop if I can claim personal relationship with the person. Like, "my friend Alan Hirsch" Or "My mentor Ched Myers, or Neil Cole says" See, I just did it again. In other words, I am well read, and connected, and my thoughts are the thoughts of BIG people. They are BIG thoughts, and I am a BIG thinker. I read BIG books about BIG things. And my theology is right, and correct and you should agree with me.

Kind of reminds me of driving around in a really BIG truck.

But this is the problem, Christ chose a bunch of working class blokes, that most likely would not have known their way around any BIG theology tomes. Christ was not interested in the scribes, and all their BIG knowledge. He was interested in living BIG. Not wealthy BIG, but BIG in the understanding of God's kingdom. The early church was called the way, not the truth.

Lest someone get the wrong idea, I am not saying that knowledge is wrong. Nor that learning is not important. We must learn, and strive for understanding. But it is my contention that the way I live, is more important than what I think. Or even further, if my way of life is not in line with the way of the cross, I cannot even truly understand how to know, the truth. Correct practice is more important than correct knowledge, and in fact correct knowledge can only come from correct practice.

Let me give you a little example. We have two people in our community that do not believe in a personal God. Yet they believe in the teachings of Jesus. They are trying to live out these teachings, and are therefore part of our community. I would say they have the wrong doctrine, the wrong belief system. But they are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the good earth. While many people that do believe the "right things" ignore the plight of the poor, and consume the resources of God's good creation with no thought. In our Western church mindset the one is damned, the other is saved, (though maybe not living out their discipleship as much as they should) But my question is who is truly being a disciple of Christ? Did the fishermen who followed Jesus understand the trinity? the various atonement theories? the basic ideologies of a Christian world view? Nope in fact even after the resurrection they were confused, "so, you gonna kick the Romans out now general Jesus" (my paraphrase)

So what is my point? Having all of your ideas about God right (and of course yours are right) does not make you a follower of Christ. Following Christ means walking the path of your own execution, for the sake of love, whether you understand it all or not.

And now for a really BIG name drop

Jesus said, "Love God, Love your Neighbor, and everyone is your neighbor" Love is an action word

rev

Any questions?

2011-07-16T06:22:00.002-07:00

It seems that many people, from many backgrounds, have visited my blog to see this letter I created in a few minutes, to express my frustration with Mark Driscoll. But some of these people have looked at a few other posts, and have expressed some level of curiosity, or interest in my blog. Or since its an extension of me, me. So if you have any questions for me, about my life, ministry, or beliefs and practice, ask them here and I will answer them as well as I can.

rev

new discipline (silent prayer)

2011-07-15T09:48:00.003-07:00

Silent prayer, or centering prayer, or silent meditation whatever you want to call it is what I have been trying to grow in my life. Twenty minutes every morning, I light a candle, and try to listen for that still small voice. To clear my mind of the clutter, and noise, and listen for God's breath, for God's whisper...

I suck at it. Can't go 10 seconds without my mind drifting off. I guess thats why they call it a discipline. I was better at pentecostal scream therapy prayer :)

rev

a new series modern day saints 1 (my wife Raquel)

2011-07-14T20:38:00.002-07:00

Since I seemed to have gotten a million more hits for being a jerk than I ever did being less of a jerk, I thought I might try even harder to be more positive. I am starting a series where I will write a brief description of people who I admire greatly. And there is nobody I would be more happy to start with, than my wife Raquel.

There is a scene in As Good As It Gets, where Jack Nicholson's delightfully screwed up character unknowingly insults his love interest in the film (played brilliantly by Helen Hunt) she tells him if he doesn't give her a really good compliment she is going to leave:

Well, this is my wife. She makes me want to be a better man, and has made me want to be a better man for 23 years now. I have watched her invite battered women to come live with us, care for homeless drunk men, and sit and cry with teenagers that weren't even her own. I have known her to be incredibly sensitive to the Spirits leading, with discernment so spot on I tease her by calling it her voodoo. She has put up with, and even cherished a lifestyle that often leads us into financial and sometimes even physical insecurity. She sees the truths of scripture, and dances with them in a way that is awe inspiring. And then she plays music that teaches others to dance as well.

One time we were on our way back home and we saw two police cars outside the back of our jiu jitsu studio. We stopped to see what was up, and an elderly lady was crying, and screaming, and so upset. Her grandchild was at the studio where the child's father was a live in pro. The grandmother did not think it a proper environment for the young girl and was trying to take her away. She was so upset, and helpless. But the father, my friend, was not doing anything wrong, nor was the place unsafe, or improper (though a tad dirty). My wife sat in the car watching the scenario as I tried to see what was going on. She felt such empathy for the grandmother, and for the little girl, and for my friend. And she felt helpless. What can I do, there is too much need. These kinds of things are everywhere, the poor, the hungry, the helpless. I cannot stand under this oppression of need. Then my wonderful wife says, "the Spirit of God said to me, 'no you can't, but my church can, please get my church out of their buildings and back in the world'" And she has given her life to living that out.

My wife, is a saint. I am a lucky man.

rev

A follow up on my letter to Mark Driscoll

2011-07-14T07:24:00.003-07:00

I was taught two spiritual disciplines that have at times helped me to grow in my pursuit of a Christlike life. On the occasions where they did not help me it was because I did not practice them, not because they did not work.

The one I learned from a friend who shared his father in laws practice of "embracing my own confession". What this means is that before we act, especially in attempts at reconciliation, we must discern our own sin. The way we do this is to recognize that there is always our own sin that causes us to react in anger. "YOU WHO JUDGE ANOTHER DO THE SAME THING" When we can embrace our own confession, and seek God's forgiving mercy we can then in humility speak to another. In other words, deal with your own log, before dealing with the speck in your brothers eye.

The second I learned from, (gasp, dare I say it), my wife. To be fair she learned it from one of her friends, who learned it from someone else and I think they were all women so I shouldn't let them teach me, but in a moment of weakness I did. The discipline is this, when ever you say "so and so is a such and such" you follow it by "and so am I" So, "Mark is a judgmental jackass... and so am I"

The truth is, that was the point of my rant yesterday. I see in Mark, and in Marks depiction of "manliness" many of the traits that I am convicted of myself. I am judgmental. I am mean. I make fun of people that I differ with or disagree with. I am overbearing, rude, and obnoxious. I am prone to shouting, anger and even violence. I feel uncomfortable about expressions of sexuality that are different than my own. And I believe God wants to drive this sin from me, so that I, might be perfected in Love like Jesus was. Which is why when I see my sin reflected in others, it makes me angry. Easier to get angry at others than myself.

My point on Tuesday evening, was not that I am above Mark. But rather, in being a visible leader, Mark encourages a part of me that the Spirit is trying to discourage. Not so I can be less the strong, courageous, man I am, but that I would be tempered with goodness, kindness, gentleness and empathy. My letter was an attempt to give voice to this, and perhaps, help other tough guys to see a different way, and hear a different voice.

I do understand the idea that church in America can be ostracizing for some men, but it is also so for lgbt community, for anyone not of the same race as the church they go to, for people that are ADHD, ect. Mark often criticizes churches for compromising to be more palatable, yet isn't encouraging a male dominated, power based sexism a compromise to the 20-35 year old male demographic? Lets look at Christ for who he was, someone who breaks out of all of our boxes, strong, yet gentle, Non violent, let passionately zealous, loving and just.

rev

Sometimes I get a bit disillusioned

2011-07-13T08:06:00.003-07:00

So yesterday I put up a letter to Mark Driscoll. I have gotten more hits on my blog for that post than just about any post, ever, even though it has been up only 18 hours. The only exception, would be the post I put up expressing my anger over the nationalism and militarism expressed by Pastor Chuck Smith.

So, I put up videos of bible teachings, reflections on life, and really heartfelt sharing, and I get almost no feed back. But when I make a little controversy, when I stir up a little shit, when I act like what I am trying to overcome, I become in some little way popular. This is discouraging to me.

I get a bit disillusioned. I would hope I could be a beacon of light not just a Christian shock jock. I would hope we could encourage each other and pass around some love here and there. But the truth is I don't do it. I don't read many blogs myself, and when I do I often don't take the time to comment. If we want to be the change we want to see in the world, in the church, in social media... it requires action.

I want to be a man of action and reflection.

rev

A letter to Pastor Mark

2011-07-12T17:38:00.002-07:00

I have listened to you Pastor Mark for many years now. You are very bright, charismatic, and I think do some great things, but you usually aggravate me quite a bit. But in your latest facebook post talking about genetically male effeminate worship leaders, I just had to say something. The truth is, you probably won't ever read what I have to say, and if you do you will most likely laugh at what a sissified hippie I am.

Let me start by saying that you can call me John. Though I am a pastor, I am possibly not going to act as a pastor, nor do I need the title. Most people call me rev as an ironic nickname because I am so very different from their idea of a reverend. I am also going to call you Mark, because you have not been acting like a pastor either. You know, because of your undeniable intelligence, that pastor means shepherd. And part of the job of a shepherd is to keep the sheep in line to protect them from bad things. And sometimes a shepherd has to "man up" as you would say, and go fight the wolves that would tear apart the sheep. I am sure you are quite willing to do both of these things. But a shepherd does not belittle, mock, or injure sheep for looking different, for being weaker in some ways, or for not fitting in. And Mark, that has been what your bullying has done.

Your desire to be a manly man, and to stamp out this feminizing of the church, has not only been ill informed, and self serving, but is also hurting many people, and stumbling others like myself. You see mr tough manly man, things like gentleness, peace, and patience are all fruits of the Spirit, and I struggle to live those out even without you acting like they are girly traits.

Now let me, like Paul, set some things straight. When it comes to being a manly man, I am one of the manliest you will ever meet. I was born John, son of John, son of Jorgen I am 6'2" and 230 lbs of ass kicking muscle. I was a four year letterman in wrestling. My nickname on the football team where I played defensive tackle was kamikaze. I skateboarded in swimming pools with no pads. I was in a punk rock gang.

I was a portuguese bullfighter from the age of 15 to 20 see picture above (not me but what I did for five years) I was a repo man, a bouncer, and a construction worker. I drive a Ford F150 am a brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, and a former pro mma fighter and coach. I have numerous tattoos. I have fathered two children, no sons so I am sure I lose a few points there. I have planted or helped to plant 18 churches I share my faith freely, in many places. I am quite frankly a bad ass.

This is the problem Mark, though all of these qualities can be used for good, for most of mankind they have been used for bad. They have been used to have power over others, to kill others, to keep others in their place, (which is always below us). And this is the kind of behavior you encourage. Make fun of others, exalt strength when Christ humbled himself. Stand over others especially women, when Christ, though God, relied on women for support, showed himself to them first, and depended on them as his only witnesses on the cross (cept for a teenager). Instead of being numbered with the sinners, the traitors, the drunks heretics and outcasts like Christ did, you ridicule and damn them.

But the biggest temptation you put on me, is to take you up on your manly man thing. In my flesh I want to fly up to Seattle and have a cage match followed by a theology debate. And after beating you ugly and stupid, I could then in your concussed state overcome your superior intellect and smart assed comments in a debate was well.

Unfortunately, I follow the hippie, non violent, love your enemy Jesus, that would rather die for you than kick your ass. I really hope you meet Him some day, because the guy you are following is just who you wish you could be when you grow up.

john

Last Night...

2011-07-12T08:21:00.002-07:00

Our community meets on Mondays for a communal meal, and some discussion around the bible. This last night my wife lead the discussion time, but rather than continue on in Matthew, we reflected on what we had focused on at our last time together.

Last community meal we looked at the famous story of Jesus dealing with the issue of taxation. But looked at it from a different perspective than the usual, "be a good citizen, pay your taxes, and then be a good Christian too" Rather we looked at the radical, and very subversive message that Jesus showed in the passage, and then lived out in his life. It was all an issue of identity and idolatry. By placing value on idols, "graven images" the people of Israel were losing site of their own image and identity. Jesus shows in this passage that money, bears the image of empire, and is therefore by its very being aligned with, and an idol for empire. But we, are image bearers of the creator of the universe. We are made in the image and likeness of God, and called very good. And we should worry about handing over our own selves to God, and don't worry about a worthless idol to a kingdom we do not belong to.

Well, enough of my preaching. Raquel lead us to look at this issue of identity and image bearing. She had us write on labels, who we identified ourselves as. I wrote, father, husband, son, black belt (yes I am a bit vain) construction worker. And who others identified us as, I wrote pastor, theologian. And then we were invited to write labels and place them on the other people in the room. Raquel then had us share what was stuck to our bodies, the labels of our own and others. The images that had been placed upon us.

She then read the account of humankind's creation. She read in Pauls epistles that we are neither Jew, or Greek, or male or female, or slave or free. She went further and said we are neither gay nor straight, white nor black, vegan nor carnivore. And she invited us to take all of our labels off, and to sit in silence for a while and just be...

the image of God

together

it was beautiful

rev

What is church

2011-07-11T11:25:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I visited some friends and their community to discuss a bit of what it means to be church, and share some of my story. One young man said, "church is a group of people learning what it means to follow Jesus in their neighborhood" Or something to that effect. I thought it was a wonderful, simple, yet profound answer.

The church is not an event, where someone teaches us what it means to follow Jesus, but rather a community, within which we learn by doing, by acting out the gospel, by being the extension of Jesus life, here and now. This is what being the church is.

As the three or four of you that read this blog know, I am not one for moderation. As far as I am concerned we should tear down the whole structure, and start from the ruins. But revolution for its own sake will build the same crap, or even worse. What we must seek to become, is a community, of people drawn together by love, for love. What we must walk out is the messy, ugly, painful meaning of the kingdom of heaven.

Lets start with being the change we want to see in the church

rev

twelve weeks of dieting and exercise

2011-07-01T07:05:00.005-07:00

so here is my before pics

and after pics

pretty happy with the results, but I am not close to done. Taking the weekend off for my birthday and then back at it.

john

I met Jesus on the train

2011-03-27T17:33:00.001-07:00

This is from 6.5 years ago

Was going to a youth group to speak, and as is my custom here in Australia I got on the train. Went a few stops and had to switch trains at Spencer st station. Waiting for my next train I saw Jesus sitting there waiting for the same train.
He was drunk, cussing at people, muttering under his breath and smoking. He took long pulls off of his liter beer bottle. Everyone tried to stay out of his way. I was staying close just in case he did something stupid. His nose had been broken a few times it seemed so I was ready to step in and defend the public if necessary.

He got on the same train, and I made sure I sat in the same carriage to ensure Jesus didn't get unruly or hurt anyone. He made some remarks, and tried to talk to some people around him, but they got up and moved to a different part of the train. I was, trying to think about my sermon that night, but was keeping one eye on him the whole time.

I wasn't really sure what to share. I thought about my sermon "why are you standing there gazing into the heavens", I was originally going to go with that one, but something didn't feel right. Then I was going to talk about the rich young ruler, the one I usually use at youth groups, but that seemed wrong too. I was thinking about the great white throne judgement, that one seemed like the right one. But I really couldn't zone in on it, because I was busy trying to keep an eye on this drunk.

A group of Asian young people came in and sat all around him. He wasn't happy. He was obviously a bit racist. He talked to them a bit, but they ignored him. I was getting ready to throw him off the train. He was smoking, which was not allowed and drinking, which is not allowed, and being beligerent which is...

not allowed.

At each station I scanned the platform for an attendant to "turn in" this obvious criminal to. Jesus didn't seem like someone anyone would want to hang out with. At the next station the kids all got up and switched to the next carriage on the train. He was furious, and was cussing and carrying on. I was getting ready to finally do something. He caughed, vomitted a little and then spilled his beer. More people moved to other seats.

Then he turned around and started staring at me. I don't usually look away, and didn't this time. I was starting to wonder when it was gonna take off, but then I started to recognise him. Then my sermon started to remind me of who he was. He yelled at me, "where are we at" I told him where we were. He said "how long to Ringwood" I told him about thirty minutes, that was my stop as well. "my dad just died" And then I fully realised Jesus was on the train with me.

I got up and went and sat next to him. We talked a bit. He told me he had to carry his fathers coffin, and he carried his mothers a few years earlier. He rolled another cigarette. He started complaining about the kids that moved to the other carriage. "I didn't f*ckin do nothin to them, they don't have no respect, you're a good bloke john" His name was John as well as mine. "the two johns" he said.

He told me about how he was a builder, and worked his whole life. He admitted he had a drinking problem, but he said, "they don't know what happened to me, my dad died, and no one will talk to me, except you, you're a good bloke" I could only reply, "thanks mate".

I held the door for him at the train station, he took a long time to stagger off. I walked with him up the ramp to make sure he was okay. He told me thanks for talking to him, I thanked him for sitting with me. I told him to take care of himself, and he said the same. We shook hands and I looked deep into his eyes, I saw my creator there. Jesus said to me, "aw f*ck this, give us a cuddle" So I stood on the train platform hugging Jesus. A white, broken nosed, drunk, racist, smelly Jesus, who was going by the name of John today. I walked away crying.

"WHATEVER YOU DO, FOR THE LEAST OF THESE, YOU HAVE DONE IT UNTO ME"

I hope you see Jesus today, I rode the train with him.

the rev

well so much for my plans

2011-01-11T16:27:00.002-08:00

been a busy new years so far, between some extra work and some trips to the hospital, kidney stone related, I have not had much time to record a video or write. But I have the best of intentions.

rev

2011

2011-01-01T19:23:00.004-08:00

I have decided to start the new Year off with at least a few months clear of Facebook and Twitter. I am also going to start a diet and work out plan with the goal of getting to better health in the new year. But I have also realized that both in my work and in my ministry I have allowed life to happen rather than taking initiative. I am hoping to start a discipline of both study and writing for the next year.

My goal will also to regularly post here, including my videos which I have slacked off on.

I would like to thank my community in Long Beach for all the love and acceptance over the past year. I would like to express my thankfulness for my best friend and confidant Chris Wight coming to live with us soon. I am thankful for the friends I have made this last year especially the Outlaw Preachers . I am thankful for the amazing mentors I have had both in the past and in the present with particular memory of Bud Suitor who passed recently, and Ched Myers, Neil Cole and Sean Ferill. And I would like to say thanks for some co conspirators in Christi and Kevin Bowman, and Geoff and Sherry Maddox, as well as Khad and the crew at Metamorphosis and the wonderful Al and Deb Hirsch and friends at LA Tribe.

May this arbitrary designation of time, be filled with the coming of God's non violent kingdom

woo hoo

rev

In memory of my friend, mentor, spiritual father Pastor John "buddy" Suitor

2010-11-28T11:04:00.002-08:00

Not very often in life, you will come across someone that changes not only your life, but the way you look at life. If you are lucky, you will meet someone that makes you want to become a better human being. But if you are incredibly lucky, you will meet someone that not only makes you want to be better, but is so encouraging, and loving, and instructive that you actually believe you can be a better person, and have the courage to try. Buddy Suitor was that kind of man.

Bud met me when I was very young, and in that way he has, made me feel instantly at home. I wasn't a strange young man he just met, but like a distant cousin welcomed into a family. He and his own pastor Butch Pluimer, took me under their wing and trained me to be a minister of Jesus to a hurting world. Everything I learned, I learned from Buddy. It was Bud that not only taught me how to preach, but gave me my first opportunity. It was at Bud's side that I learned to comfort and pray for the sick. Buddy helped me prepare for my first funeral. He taught me how to do weddings, and was the one to marry my wife and I. He taught me to be a good husband and father, and encouraged me to be a good pastor. Probably the most important lesson in my life, I learned from bud, that people matter more than anything else. People matter more than programs, more than success, or tasks, people are important to God. Especially the people that are not important to the powers that be in this world.

If it wasn't for Buddy my wife and I would never have taken in homeless teenagers, cared for mentally ill people in our neighborhood or helped people escape the bondage of drugs or alcohol. Hosted weekly bbq's for homeless punk rockers, or breakfasts for hung over ravers. Bud started us on a journey, that has lead us to question everything, and measure it by the idea "is this good news for the poor, and marginalized".

Bud also gave me a great love and respect for the scriptures. He loved the bible, and whenever I told a story or quoted a verse he could give me its address, and vice versa. He almost memorized the whole thing. And when I would come to him for council, he would almost always tell a story straight from its pages, and it always gave me direction and encouragement.

He taught me to trust God's leading, and be in tune with the Spirit.

Bud pastored a relatively small church, in a smaller community in Southern California, but his influence is far far greater. Many of the pastors in Corona would probably call buddy their pastor, if not one of their primary counselors. Buddy worked with the police department and mayors office on a number of issues. And headed up the homeless ministries and soup kitchen in the city. In addition to this, many of the men he inspired at camps, retreats or even directly discipled like myself, are serving the Lord all over the country. So I guess that's another lesson, do not despise small things. This mans influence was huge.

I look at his passing with much sadness. I also must admit to some guilt and regret that I did not take advantage of seeing him as much as I could have, especially in the last year. I will miss him so much. But there are two things that give me hope, the one is I believe that I will see him again "though I am not planning on it being soon". The second is, that his life lives on in my heart, and in the hearts of all he touched.

I also realize two responsibilities. The first is to take better advantage of the opportunities to love and cherish the people in our life. The second is to continue on in the way Bud showed me, to be a light to the world. Jesus came not only to save us for heaven, but to save us in the now, and buddy walked out his salvation, I hope I can do it even half as well as he did.

Finally I would like to share a story, which shows what a great man Bud was:

I was a youth pastor, trying to save the youth of Corona and figured the best way was with music. So I talked to Bud and the elders of our church and got them to finance a concert featuring one of the more popular Christian rock bands of the time. I explained how I expected their money to be earned back by ticket sales, and how this was a great opportunity to minister to the kids. The elders agreed to put up the cash and the concert went on. It was an amazing night but we lost about $400 or $500 dollars. At the next elders meeting I came in very sheepishly, and embarrassed, informed them all that we had not recouped all of the money, and had lost about $400. Buddy said, "no we didn't"

"yes we did, I have all the figures right here"

"no we did not lose $400 john, we have invested $400 in the youth of this city"

Buddy, I love you, I will see you again probably before I am ready, until then I will try and live up to your example.

rev

Are you a revolutionary

2010-10-28T17:28:00.003-07:00

The other day I was talking to a friend... okay I was arguing with a guy on Twitter. We were speaking about structures, and ecclessiology (what the church is meant to be like), and we were not agreeing on most things. He pictured me as a bit of a renegade church planter, unbound by rules and regulations, and not having to worry about lineage and legacy of an historical church. At least I think that is how he pictured me. And if he did, it is pretty correct for the most part. But anyways, we got to a certain part of the discussion and he uttered this phrase, "I am gifted and skilled in making the most of what I am given, I'm not a revolutionary"

Now my first desire was to fire back, "well thats too bad, because Jesus was" But I have actually censored myself from time to time. So I took a minute to reflect on that statement and my reaction. The truth is, I am a revolutionary. I love Che, and Malcolm X, and Gandhi, and I want to be like that when I grow up. I have lived as a revolutionary in my communities, and churches, and I generally feel like the systems should not be slowly redeemed, but burned to the ground. Lets start a fresh with some new blood, some new structure and a refusal to get in bed with the worlds systems of management and leadership. Yeah, thats me. And I have learned over the years that we tend to put our ideas onto Jesus. This is actually quite normal, though wrong.

But what about the statement, I am not a revolutionary. In the context of following Jesus, what does that mean? I wondered, and still wonder. I see Jesus as a revolutionary. In fact the more I learn about Jesus, and his historical setting, the more I see him as a revolutionary. But to the religious systems of the day, to the perceptions of God, and even towards the interaction with government even hostile government. If we aren't naturally geared towards revolution, does that mean our following Jesus is meant to be different? How does every joint supply? How can those that aren't so quick to jump into the unknown follow this crazy Jesus?

Well, I think the best thing to do is to ask, what does this pondering require of me, and my attitude... so I will leave that til last :)

First, what about him? Well, I think he needs to be willing to risk, and jump into the unknown sometimes. I think he needs to be revolutionary, when the systems and structures continue to oppress people, or keep them stupid or compliant. He has to let the radical Jesus push him out of his comfort zone.

Now me, and I need to let him be who he is. I need to allow people like him to temper my fire, and avoid injuring a bunch of people who need a more gentle plan. I need to be humble and submitted as is all of our callings. I am not always right, though I think I am. And even when I am right, I need to respect others and their paths towards the truth. I need to stop being a new emerging monastic radical discipleship pharisee.

But I don't want to, self satisfaction is quite addicting

rev

the radical gospel of Matthews Jesus (Jesus begins his ministry)

2010-10-17T07:17:00.002-07:00

John is arrested, and Jesus begins his ministry

I hope you will all give it a watch and please comment. Sorry it took so long, but I was on vacation and then was having technical difficulties with my recording device.

rev

some thoughts

2010-09-29T10:36:00.002-07:00

My wife and I talked quite a bit while away on vacation. It is so nice to be able to discuss things even slightly out of the fray. What is going on in our lives, what does the future hold, how do we see things going with our community? We talked about our dreams, and our hopes, we talked about our concerns. But one thing we wrestled with was the whole idea of our public persona and social media.

I tend to live very publicly, I share too freely at times, and am very open about everything. I think that is good in most ways, especially sharing my own doubts and frailties. But what about Jesus admonition to pray in secret, to do your good works in secret? What about Paul saying love doesn't parade itself? How does that effect facebook? Twitter? this blog?

Yesterday I was studying a passage of scripture with my daughters and they both pointed out how public the church seemed to function in its beginnings. Jesus also said "let your light so shine so that men will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

So what do we do? Our community has no name, no website and no formal leadership, mission statement or building. I have a blog, and post bible study videos once and a while. We have an open dinner and bible study time but don't advertise it, and are hesitant to invite people until they are in relationship with us. We could use a few more people in our community. I long for a house (preferably donated) that can serve as a house of hospitality, a community gathering place, with a garden and maybe even a small hermitage. Do I court donations and get attention? Just heard a video of Patch Adams talking about how he got famous in the hopes he could build his hospital and has spent twenty years being a celebrity and just now broke ground.

Whats the answer? How the hell should I know? We are trying to live day by day, being faithful to what we have now. Maybe I will do less online stuff, maybe more. Maybe we will do a bit more public stuff with our community, maybe we will stay as the mustard seed a bit longer before we really sprout. I just know the wrestling, the doubt, the struggle is all good, and what keeps us depending upon God and each other.

rev

back from vacation great time with mrs rev

2010-09-26T19:00:00.001-07:00

moonlight tour of big sur lighthouse was amazing, was great to get away

rev

What I am learning

2010-09-17T19:29:00.002-07:00

Seems that I am being challenged on my dogmatism. Don't get me wrong, my dogmatism isn't the typical believe as I do or you are damned to hell type, but that has only helped me to stay proud of my own dogmatism.

It seems to me that the faith the Hebrews were challenged with, was one of paradox, and wrestling with God, and space for the working out of ideas. Somewhere along the line, the Christian church, (atleast in the West) has adopted a more "logical" way of doing faith. In other words, knowing rather than working it out. Some brilliant guy said, "the church is a place full of people and empty of questions". I think that is a stunning indictment. I have reacted quite strongly against the standard dogmas. But in doing so, I think I often have gravitated to my own dogmatism. Dogmatism about non violence, church structure, the methods of our compassion.

Now don't get me wrong, I believe these things are true. I believe I am right. What becomes the issue is the way in which I present my ideas. Do I encourage people to journey and question? Or do I pontificate?

The problem is that I have been trying to embrace this new learning and wind up really messing with others. You see the world, or at least America is so polarized right now that when I try and argue against dogma... I wind up being accused of being part of the enemies camp.

What am I talking about? I can give an example from the other day:

An atheist posted a common line on twitter that essentially comes down to, Religion has killed more people than any other thing in human history. When I pointed out that just in this last century more people were murdered in the name of communism, by Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao, than in all of the religious wars in recorded history, I was told I was spinning things. That it was standard operating procedure for right wing nut jobs to do this. Me? A right wing nut job? Oh my! I understand being called a bleeding heart liberal, though I am not. And a communist, though I probably am in a way. But a right wing nut job? All I was trying to do was throw some mystery, some question, something besides dogmatism into the twitterverse.

I guess its comforting to know that my ailment is not an uncommon one. But I hope to embrace a more thoughtful way of living.

rev

The radical gospel of Matthew's Jesus satan vs Jesus rnd 1

2010-09-14T18:53:00.001-07:00

Jesus is lead by the Spirit out into the wilderness, and is tempted by the devil

rev

The radical gospel of Matthew's Jesus part 4 john baptizes Jesus

2010-09-11T10:32:00.003-07:00

Ok, so the crazy desert prophet is visited by the one he foretold, and then together they inact the rite that initiates the kingdom please comment

rev

Targum for 1Cor13 1-3

2010-08-25T05:49:00.002-07:00

If I speak in gender inclusive language, and carefully avoid all racial epithets but have not love, I am just too much cowbell

If I understand all of the socio political ramifications of the gospels, accept paradox and the relativism of communication in our post modern conversations about textual truths. If I am able to transform the powers that be so that the justice of God's kingdom reigns, but have not love, I am like one with no friends on facebook

And though I eat only organic local foods, wear only post consumer clothing, and drink fair trade coffee. Though I volunteer at the soup kitchen three nights a week, live in shared housing and provide shelter for the poor and homeless and regularly am arrested in protests for labor rights, gay inclusion and against war and globalization but have not love my portfolio is empty and my retirement is just dust in the wind

will post some of the other targums from our bible study later this week, blessings

rev

some work I did

2010-08-12T18:40:00.003-07:00

Was in Boston these last few days installing this fireplace. The carved panels are Greene and Greene originals, as is the copper hood. We recreated the fireplace they went in, and shipped it to Boston where I installed it. It was fun, and hard work. Proud to be associated with such important restoration and recovery work

The radical gospel of Matthew's Jesus part 4 john the baptist

2010-07-25T19:52:00.003-07:00

The crazy desert prophet that wheres camel hair, eats bugs, and yells at the religious elite

of course he is one of my favorite biblical characters. In the first part of chapter 3 we look at John, who he is, who Matthew portrays him to be, his ministry and what his location says about power, and the powers that be.

rev

a short video on my own thoughts on pacifism, inspired by jarrod mckenna

2010-07-18T18:50:00.001-07:00

The ten minute format does not leave a lot of time to really go into it, but I will attempt to answer questions here, and if there is enough interest I can record a second video dealing more deeply with those less simplistic ideas.

rev