Posts tagged Religion and Spirituality
thoughts on “Jesus Loves You…” by Craig Gross and Jason Harper – PART 3
Feb 13th
I find myself wanting to advocate justice for the hurting and pronouncing judgment on the religious. in this, i have become the very thing i despise… I am quick to offer grace to the rebellious and wayward. but i am slow in offering to the religious, if i offer it at all. yet i must.
I see this… in me.
We are never going to be friends or hang out with everyone we come across… some people just shouldn’t be together – whether because of past history, wrongs committed against each other, just can’t get along, or whatever else; there are people in my life that I just needed to leave behind and break relationship with and vice versa for one reason or another, and I would imagine that is the case in almost everyone’s life…
… but if you are a Christian, how do we still go in Christ’s commands to love God, your neighbor, your enemy, your brothers and sisters in Christ?
As much as I have tried to orient myself to live a life of grace and love towards people, I have had very little tolerance for those who are judgmental, or those who spend hours upon hours writing or speaking about how the culture around us is the biggest problem in life, how America should be changed back to a Christian nation (whatever that means) or what movies/TV shows/books Christians should see/read, or what author/pastor/church member are heretics, who put their trust in changing people and the culture around them through politics and laws – or who inevitably link Christianity to being an American/being a Republican, etc…
So, I just aired my “crap” list and nullified my whole message, huh? 
And there’s the point… we all do this. That list is still probably a short list of those I judge or have judged with an un-Christlike heart and mind… and I am wrong - I am the very thing that I dislike! “We” are wrong. It’s not that we shouldn’t discern against things we shouldn’t watch, or desire to see a Nation (or every Nation if we are to take the “Great Commandment“) of people seek and respond to Christ’s love and in turn with His help, change those things that are not best for us in our lives (as Penn said – “If you think you have the Truth and don’t share it, how much do you hate me” to paraphrase).
As Christians…
thoughts on “Jesus Loves You…” by Craig Gross and Jason Harper – PART 2
Feb 11th
I find it interesting and completely hypocritical that some yell the loudest about this area of culture, all the while ignoring other blatant cultural atrocities. Why pick on this sin as opposed to others? I have never seen picket signs and petitions protesting overeating or gossip or adultery.
Most won’t find it too shocking to learn that the “area of culture” Craig is referring to here is the homosexual community. I think if we are honest, we could say that the Christian community as a whole has been mean, uncaring, unloving and quite un-Christlike towards the homosexual community – regardless of our differences or beliefs. I do think Craig is right in this, we have picked on this more than anything else (outside of the abortion issue) for awhile now. I too, have yet to see someone picket overeating, gossip, adultery, speaking truth without love, pride, etc… is that because those are less grievous in our “sin” ranking system?
There is a way to disagree (right now at least) and hold the views that we do without being unloving, disrespectful, hateful, etc… I believe we are called to be different in how we respond and treat people – I’m afraid we have credited the reactions of people too often to persecution or not liking our beliefs, and not enough to a response to the lack of respect and love we show to others. Sure, there are some that don’t like the beliefs that we hold from the Bible or don’t buy into God/Jesus… there will always be that. I’m just not sure it ever excuses us from treating others with respect and love, not with malice and prideful judgment as if we somehow merit more of God’s love than someone else… we’ve all been invited to a party, a life, that we did not earn no matter how well you think you live.
He said that i, as a pastor, would be more embraced by the porn industry than he would be at a church… ‘My world loved you more than your world loves me.’ sad, but true.
These two comments came from Ron Jeremy, the Porn King. Is there some truth to this? I think there is. Craig talks a lot about how skeptical those in the porn industry have been of him and the XXXChurch, but he has still found this to be more true in his world. They have been far more respectful, open to discussion, willing to share deep and personal information and take a look at Craig’s message of Jesus’ love and grace for them – than Ron has experienced with many Christians.
It is easy to group people as a whole, and I know many Christians/Churches who would welcome someone like Ron Jeremy in and be Jesus to him. And I know there will be some who want nothing to do with God or what Craig/XXXChurch are doing and saying. But since I follow Jesus, my focus is on our response as Christians to those who have not bought into the whole God/Jesus thing (for whatever reason).
Truly think about it… How would you respond if Ron Jeremy showed up to your church, small group, sunday school, home church, outreach event, singles group, etc…
Ok, so you think you can stomach it (as if that’s all we are called to do… stomach it…)
What if…
…President Obama walked in. I’ve seen many of my facebook friends wish for his personal (not just political) demise, or he be shipped off to Haiti, or even wish for God to take him too like Michael Jackson or Farrah Faucet. Oh, many times in joking, of course… Most would at least show respect for his position, but what about him as a human – just like you or me. There’s a big difference between disagreeing with his policies or direction, and tearing down and wishing ill on a another human being and his family…
… how about if Adam Lambert showed up. Saw the boards light up last year with praise to God for “making” Adam lose American Idol because he’s gay, even though his More >
thoughts on “Jesus Loves You…” by Craig Gross and Jason Harper – PART 1
Feb 8th
Doesn’t matter what you do or who you are: Jesus. Loves. You.
And there’s the summery of the book. See ya!!
Just kidding… well in a way I am. I wanted to pull a few quotes and thoughts from the book I liked (and make a few comments if needed), but essentially that is it – Jesus Loves You (hence the title ).
The book is broken up into 10 chapters, or the stories of 10 different types of people the authors are with. They tell stories of their relationships with each type of person and why Jesus loves them (they do say over and over that Jesus loves everyone, it just so happens that the book takes a look at these 10 types specifically). Here’s the stories/chapters…
- Jesus Loves the:
- …Bitter and Betrayed
- … the Disconnected
- … Broken
- … Forgotten
- … Skeptic
- … Glutton
- … Crook
- … Outcast
- … Porn Star
- … Religious
After finishing the book one of my first thoughts was… “in the circles I grew up in and still to this day somewhat hang out in – many of them would think that there is More >
my “Avatar” experience…
Jan 3rd
like so many others… I went to see “Avatar” this week.
I had heard from a few of my friends what an amazing movie it was. I had also heard from a few other people, that I should be wary of it/or not see it at all, because it teaches “Pantheism” (and we realize we can’t interact with stuff that teaches something different from our faith… we call that “discernment” ) Please don’t get me wrong, I do believe in discernment (Ex: I stay away from the “American Pie” movies – they just aren’t the right movies for me to watch), but a movie here about a different belief system didn’t keep me away.
So here’s a couple of quick thoughts as I experienced this movie:
- The Experience: It was a cinematic experience unlike I have ever had (we saw it in 3-D at the IMAX). The colors, creations and flow of the movie was amazing. 2 hours and 40 minutes went by in what felt like 15 minutes. It was an experience… an amazing one! (if I wasn’t very clear… I thought it was quite the “experience”!!!)
- The Story: I had read an article ahead of time saying it was repackaged Pantheism. Not sure what they meant by repackaged, it was pretty blatent in it’s story of Pantheism (the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing immanent God and that the Universe (Nature) and God are equivalent), no hiding here. As a Christian I do have a little different take and belief of God and Nature; I do believe in a personal God… I do believe in Jesus as savior… I do believe God created everything, not just exists in nature…. But I also thought their was some beauty in the story. I know I will probably get criticized by my conservative buddies for saying that, “How can there be any beauty in a story that’s wrong/false…?”, but the love story woven in between two of the main characters was pretty cool. And the way Na’vi people banded together and lived as a community was awesome too. And I loved the conscience and actions of a few of the humans realizing obliterating the land and the Na’vi people for their own consumption was just wrong…all these could be a few lessons that could apply to us now in real life. Yes, I don’t subscribe to the Pantheistic belief, but the story kept me interested and engaged the whole time.
- The Graphics/Colors: Unreal is all I can say… So, so cool. A+++
- Overall: Glad we saw it, was worth every minute. We got to see it with a few friends/family. I look forward to the conversations with people about it. Whatever other peoples’ views are on Pantheism or Christianity or whatever, it should be pretty fun to interact with those who see it. I give it an “A” for the experience alone. My hope for the Christian community is that we will be there to discuss and listen to the stories and beliefs of those around us and be able to respectfully and lovingly discuss the themes of the story. I recommend seeing it if you feel comfortable doing so!!
Other thoughts about the movie??? Have you seen it? What did you think?
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“Deep Church” by Jim Belcher… beginning thoughts.
Nov 16th
- Image via Wikipedia
As usual, Kevin, has me reading a book with him that he really thinks is great.
This book is called, “Deep Church” by Jim Belcher, and seeks to take a look at the discussion (or sometimes worse, the fight) between the Emerging and Tradition sides in Evangelical Christianity. His premise is they might be a third way actually… beyond these to sides of the coin, and deeper.
I’m only 3 chapters in, so this will probably be brief – but there is something that has consumed me more than anything else in this book…
It is the author’s desire and repeated statements of the necessity of these two groups to come together, learn from one another, walk together and be one in spirit. The author makes a point of asking how we can be Christians, but be unwilling to work together or love one another… therefore negating what Jesus says when He says, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35).
The normal response to the love thing I hear from each side is:
- Traditionalist’s: “Loving does not mean letting everything go and not telling someone where they are wrong. We can’t just let Heresy continue under the guise of love. Emerging people want all happineess, good feelings and emotions – with no substance. Love is standing on truth and correcting people as much as it’s about embracing people, if not more so…”
- Emerging’s: “All we ever get from the “Mainstream Church” is we are so wrong. You’ve got to hit ‘em with the truth and get hands raised or the sinners prayer prayed (that doesn’t mean there life has to change by the way, just as long as we get them to church and get them to receive their fire insurance), but where is the love and grace and letting people be who they are. What’s wrong with good feelings and emotions, I believe in truth, but my truth may not be someone else’s truth. It’s not my job to tell everyone where they are wrong… isn’t that God’s job?”
So we’ve got the gate-keepers of heaven (Traditionalists) on one side, and the feel good, it’s all good lovers (Emerging) on the other side…
How do we ever bridge the gap…?
Seriously, how do these two groups come together and share the truly, all-incompasing “Good News” that Jesus offers (not just “good truth” or “good feelings”)? Or do they really need to? I have heard way too often, at least subtly, that the Traditionalists aren’t even sure most Emerging’s are Christians and so don’t see how they need to line up with Heretics – cause isn’t that who they are battling… Heretics? And the Emergings can’t figure out why they need to align with Traditionalists who have butchered the Gospel and made the Good News into a prayer, and church into a show where you come to hear one guy monologue for awhile and who kick out and oustrsize all the people who Jesus would have loved and hung out with…
Being in both camps at some point in my life, I agree with Jim Belcher that they need to find a way to come together. Both have valid concerns, valid points and can learn from each other… while being corrected and changed by each other. But when both sides can be so polarized towards one another, I wonder if it can ever happen – or if you listen to some of them, it really shouldn’t and can’t happen.
Maybe they can’t come together… maybe it’s just not possible. The Apostle Paul and Barnabas went separate for awhile. But I wonder if Paul and Barnabas still believed they were part of the same movement, part of the life changing message of Jesus (I believe they did). I’m not sure if the Traditionalist and Emerging’s truly believe or agree that they are part of the same movement (although my experience has been more of the Traditionalists don’t believe they are part of the same movement, more than the Emerging’s I am around – but this is probably just an isolated experience.) … part of the same church/Body of Christ.
What do you think? Does it matter? Is the author (or myself as well) way off on thinking this is important? Is this just another rabbit trail, side issue that really isn’t an issue in most parts of the faith?
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Where do you start when sharing your story…?
Nov 12th
- Image by Rennett Stowe via Flickr
When you share your story (if you ever do) with others… where do you start?
Do you begin with childhood? Or you’re favorite memory? Or you’re darkest moment? Or somewhere else?
Now, thinking about those who are Christians reading this… where do you start your story (or testimony for those in the older generation …)?
The reason I ask is because I had a great conversation with Pieter here at YFC and he said something about our stories that made me think.
Why do we always start our stories/testimonies with the bad part (ex: God saved me from drugs, alcohol addiction, sexual addiction, depression, bad times, etc…). That is a big piece if that is truly where God met us, but what did God do yesterday? last week? the last year? the last five years? or so on? If we can’t see how God has made a difference yesterday, then has it been a life change and life relationship – or is it just fire insurance that helped you behave better for awhile. Not minimizing change, getting out of a bad situation and all that – just does your relationship go beyond that to include your whole life? (paraphrase)
I know my story always seems to start with all my crap and things I’ve done wrong… it got me thinking.
You’re thoughts?
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Grace For The Journey
Aug 29th
My first published article on XXXChurch.com and the Every Man’s Battle website:
Posted using ShareThis
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Video: “Jesus Loves the Outcast”
Aug 21st
To go along with the book – “Jesus Loves You… This I Know” by Craig Gross and Jason Harper – they put out some short videos on some different subjects of the book. (example: “Jesus loves the…”)
The first video I watched was on “Jesus loves the Outcast”. Here’s the description:
Pastor Jason Harper converses alongside Joe, who happens to be a homosexual. The two talk about openness and acceptance within the church, and what that looks like.
So, take a look at the video below. What thoughts come to mind after watching it? What feelings does it invoke? Other comments (respectful ones at least)?
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are we called to a culture war?
Jul 24th
- Image by drain via Flickr
i’m not sure how complete this thought is – but it’s been on my mind a lot lately after seeing many posts from christian friends on facebook and blogs…
so, is our calling as Christians to be at war against the prevailing culture around us? i’m serious too… is that what Jesus came for? is that what the scriptures teach us to do? is that what the early church did? is that what the Apostle Paul wrote letters to address the early church to do? was that the goal of his and the disciples journeys – to change the behavior of the culture, especially those who did not profess a faith in God?
again, this is not a flippant question – it’s an actual question.
is the “Good News” really all about:
+ making sure Gay Marriage doesn’t happen;
+ that we picket and call those who get an Abortion “sinners and whores”, but do absolutely nothing to walk with them before or after – just throw condemnation on them and feel better and holy about ourselves cause we aren’t sinners and murders like them;
+ we leave for dead and turn our backs on those who fall More >
the furious longing of God… part 2
Jun 25th
- Cover of The Furious Longing of God
to continue the posts after i just finished “the furious longing of God” by Brennan Manning; here’s the 2 part in a 2-parter on the things that really hit me in what he wrote. i’ll again do a quote/excerpt from the book and put a few comments below!
“My God, My Abba, Why, Why have You forsaken Me now”. St. John of the Cross said it will never be given to any human heart to understand the depth of desolation, utter abandonment, incredible loneliness, and complete forsaken that lay behind Jesus’ cry. But even in that cry, there is no indication that Jesus ever lost trust or hope or confidence in His Abba”
it’s kind of hard to fathom what Jesus could have felt. The weight of his task at hand, the emotions and thoughts of a human being going to die, the divine nature that was so in sync with the Father that has now been split… the sins of the world – past, present and future. for me, it kind of puts the petty things i complain to God about that He didn’t give me what i wanted or felt like He’s not hearing me.
Jesus said you are to love one another as I have loved you, a love that will possibly lead to the bloody, anguished gift of yourself; a love that forgives seventy times seven, that keeps More >
