wwjs? where would jesus shop?

there is no 'right' answer but there is a wrong idea behind the current state of north-american christianity.

consumerism is our idol and the true cost is being felt more by the developing world than our own pockets.

and if you know anything about god you know that god is always with the poor. so, if our products are causing some harm to the poor what do you think that makes god feel?

so, i am not saying that jesus would never shop at wal-mart [but i never will] but i am saying that jesus would never just settle for blaming some big corporation and then moving on...jesus was nothing if not passionate about personal change.

with that in mind we would like to introduce you to 'trade as one'

t.a.o. is about bringing people with money together with tradespeople/artisans in developing nations. thus, we can purchase stuff like food, cards, purses and toys from people who are not part of some large [and lead filled] corporation. instead, our money is going to an individual trying to use their skills to support their family.

this is not the solution, but it does get us thinking about ways in which we can change lives with the stuff we buy.

that might be more in keeping with how jesus would shop.

check our their site...it's on the side of this page as well as linked in this article

commments?

psalms: and explosion of creativity

last night we walked from musical genre to musical genre as we explored the psalms.
[some of the songs played are listed on the video bar]

we had 'audio stations' in the hopes that people would become inspired by something they heard.

at each station a bible was open to a different psalm. our community was invited to read the psalm, listen to the music, watch a video solely about the face of jesus, or stare out the window and look at the waves crash on the beach, and then grab paper and pen and write some thoughts down.

the psalms capture the raw emotions of the human experience. anger, sadness, lonliness, despair, jubilation, remorse, feelings of abandonment, excitment, praise, ponderings...etc. you name it, it is in there.

so, last night we attempted to tap into that primal, creative part that links us with god and each other...and then spew that out onto paper.

for some this was not a pleasant idea...some simply sat quietly and enjoyed the music or art...some chatted and caught up with friends...others watched a jesus film...still others wrote poetry or drew pictures.

that's the great thing about experimenting in worship...you never know where you'll go.

at the end we gathered together to talk about the night and heather shared a poem that she wrote during this time. we decided to end the night with this poem as it was such a powerful example of artistic, verbal worship that we needed nothing further.

so...here it is...enjoy:

I loved her.

That was why I found sand scorching my feet, and air burning out my mouth, and a torrential shower of heat beating down from the arrogant sun.

I loved her.

I stopped eating; not because I wasn't hungry, but because I feared my appetite.

That was why I had left. I felt that appetite inside me, ready to devour all that was good and innocent about her.

She had already been through Hell.

I loved her.

I didn't want to lose her.Could the heat get worse? This -was- Hell, ready to gobble up anything cold or moist.

And then I saw her. She stood there, radiant in the glare.

In her outstretched hands was her heart.

It looked delicious and cool, and I knew that a single bite of it would fill my stomach and give me strength.But then I looked at her face. She was crying, her cheeks salty and red... and I realized that it was not her heart, but mine. "Take it," I whispered through parched lips. "You have been hungry for love longer than I have." As if she had been a cloud across the sun, she vanished and the heat returned with a vengeance.

I continued to walk.

I loved her, and though I refused her food, that gnawing appetite still remained.

I felt the sand slide through my toes as the land began to rise. Up and up I climbed, until I came to the dune's crest.

The sun glared and stole my sight in a blinding flash. I saw her again as I cowered away from the furious sky.

There she knelt at my feet, her head down, her dark hair like a shining river flowing across the sand. I loved her. She drew her hand across my sandal and tried to undo it."Show me that you love me," she breathed. I could feel the promise of cool water and fragrant oil smoothed over my hard, calloused feet. But I loved her. So instead, I knelt in front of her."Love is not a show."Again, she vanished.

I started descending the dune, stumbling through the amber grit.

The world disappeared around me in a haze of heat, and I could feel nothing but my stomach, still empty and demanding.

I loved her, and it hurt.

I wondered why I was still walking. She was a mirage - she did not exist.

She was dead. Why was I still walking?

I loved her.

But did she love me?

Would she ever love me?

Had it been yet another mirage?

I stumbled, and at that moment an overwhelming desire to stop - to lie down, to stop walking towards that hope in front of me - flooded through my body."I love... her..." I stuttered aloud. My dry tongue betrayed me - I had meant to say 'loved'. But it was right, it was true, and the words had an incredible effect on me.

I stood upright, walked straight, and raised my face defiantly towards the sun.

I love her.

She is not an appetite, she is not a craving.

I accepted the ache in my stomach as still being present,

and I continued walking. It could not tempt me, because I love her.

And she had become my need, my ache.

And all the pain, the heat and the weariness only made my love clearer and stronger.

So I walked until I came home, knowing that I love her.

And I will love her beyond giving up,

beyond despair,

beyond temptation and appetite.

No matter if she loves me or not,

I love her.

selah.

worship is not something we do...it is something we live.

become immersed in worship and nothing in life will ever be trivial again.

not music. not film. not art. not taking out the garbage. not shopping. not family. not friends. nothing..not even you.

for if we lose our life for christ...it is then that we find it.

see ya next week....

grace too

this will be a short post about the movie keeping mum



you really must watch this film and no one enjoys spoilers so why don't we just concentrate on the comments made by those in the community who watched the film, okay?



the story of the goodfellow clan charmed us all and we had many comments about the lighting in the film, the beauty of the shots, the excellent acting, and the moving recitation of the song of solomon

[spoiler: rev. goodfellow says about the song of solomon: 'o, that is a book about a man's devotion to his Lord.'

grace retorts: 'no, it's about sex.']

at the end we spoke about the existence of grace in the lives of the characters in the story [in which case grace quite literally lived them as that was the name of their new nanny] and then how grace lives with us in our own lives.



the grace in the film comes in to dispatch [hint, hint] of the problems in this seemingly perfect, though deeply wounded family [the husband/reverend is oblivious to his wife and children; the wife is having an affair with her golf instructor, the daughter is fully steeped in her raging libido and the son is being bullied at school]. slowly, the family is transformed into a more visibly flawed, but much more real and happy group.



the transformation does not happen over night but it does happen. is that not like grace in our own lives?



although this is a satirical look at life the message is that grace, once it is invited in to our lives, can do no other thing than transform us.



the message of christ was not 'you are okay just the way you are.' but was, 'you are deeply wounded, so much so that you don't even see it anymore. allow me to come in, believe that i will, and i will change you profoundly from the inside.'



we are all wounded and although many of us have perfect masks to get us through each day that is not the abundant life christ calls us to.



although it is not necessarily noticeable at first it does come, and the problems of this world grow strangely dim. it may even bring resentment from those around us who have become comfortable with the status quo and look on any kind of change as alien and threatening...even if that change promises to make their lives better too.



in the end...the movie got us to look at the fact that grace needs to be a very real presence in each one of our homes and while the methods grace employs aren't always what we would choose we must, like rev. goodfellow states in his sermon, realize that god is mysterious folks, deal with it!



god loves you too much to leave you the same.

we're outta hell

it is official...we are out of hell

it was quite the journey through fire [both real and metaphorical] and darkness [also, both real and metahporical] and have emerged, somewhat unscathed on the other side.

all euphimisms aside, it was an engaging series full of new discoveries and fascinating discussions.

last night we concluded the series talking about the conditional view of salvation. are all humans destined for immortality or is eternal life conditional on acceptance of christ and following in the footsteps of god?

this view is also known as annihilationism because those who refuse to spend eternity with god are, literally, annihilated and cease to exist.

the reasoning is that god honours all decisions of the human species, even those who do not choose him. clark pinnock words it like this:

"He will not save [people] if they do not want to be saved. God wills the salvation of all people (2 Peter 3:9) but will fail to save some of them on account of their human freedom...Sinners do not have to be saved and will not be forced to go to heaven. They have a moral 'right' to hell...In the end he will allow us to become what we have chosen."

god has no obligation to keep everyone alive. only god is truly immortal and bestows immortality upon those who are the children of god.

is not everyone the child of god?

no. according to christ in john 8:38-40 some of the people were the children of the devil!

the idea that everyone is a full-blooded child of god is not biblical and that must be taken seriously.

we must also take the teachings of the bible seriously on the matter of hell. it is an uncomfortable topic but that is precisely why we chose it as a topic. every sensitive christian should, at least once, question how we can reconcile a loving god [as we see in jesus] with a god who allows people to burn for eternity for sins they committed while trapped in time. that is a legitimate grievance. we can dislike the idea of hell all we want [and many people at the immersion services throughout the weeks have expressed that] but this is not about what we like or dislike. it is about trying to understand and be faithful to One who we are called to serve...not the other way around.

back to the topic at hand.

pinnock argues that the bible never teaches the immortality of the soul but that this idea has crept in from greek philosophy. in fact, the bible teaches that those whom god declares as wicked are not kept alive forever to suffer inexpressible torments but are actually destined for destruction.

'hell' is not eternal suffering but is, in fact, the great nothing of nonexistence. a complete negation of the gift of life offered by god. a dark place, the outer ring where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. the wicked are burned up, consumed and exist no more. in the end days all that will exist will be the kingdom of god [as it says, god will be 'all in all' 1 corinthians 15:28] and those who have chosen not to exist there will not be in some dark corner of heaven just hanging out and burning. no, life will no longer be theirs to possess and so they will no longer be alive. they will be swallowed up by the second death that is described in rev. 20:5. thus, hell is still an inexpressibly horrible fate, but is not the inexplicably cruel fate described by those who support the traditional hypothesis. thus, we retain the fear of hell as jesus described it because that is a terrible fate. but we do not have the moral gymnastics to do in order to explain how a loving god can see the justice of building an eternal 'auschwitz' that does not even offer people the reprise of death.

however, is this scriptural?

pinnock [and myself] would argue that it is. here are some verses that clearly speak of the impending destruction [and not eternal torment] of the wicked:

• 2 thessalonians 1:9 everlasting destruction


• matthew 13:30; 42; 49-50 weeds burned up and destroyed


• galatians 6:8 god will destroy the wicked


• 1 corinthians 3:17


• philippians 1:28 both of these spoke about the fate of the wicked being death


• romans 1:32 the wicked deserve death


• romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death


• philippians 3:19 their destiny is death


• 2 peter 3:7 destruction of ungodly men


• 2 peter 2:1,3 swift destruction


• 2 peter 2:6 the evil will be like sodom and gomorrah which were utterly destroyed by god


• jude 7 cites sodom as the city that underwent 'the punishment of eternal fire'

it seems pretty clear that death and destruction is all that await the rebellious ones. while those who are humble and serve can expect eternal life in the kingdom of god as their reward.

even the verses that speak of 'everlasting destruction' can be countered by other verses using the same language but referring to places that are not still burning to this day but were utterly destroyed [like sodom].

even jesus' use of the word gehenna can combat the idea of eternal suffering. the idea of the worm that does not die does not mean that people are eaten by worms forever but is a reference to isaiah 66:24 when there were so many dead that the worms were able to feast on. the smoke that rises is not to indicate eternal, conscious torment but imagery to indicate total destruction and consumption.

listen, this is not designed to give anyone warm fuzzies but that is because the topic of hell must be seen as a very real threat written about numerous times throughout the scriptures. we cannot and should not ever become comfortable with hell as a destiny for anyone we know. jesus was not comfortable with this prospect and went to the cross to make sure that it would not be the fate of humanity.

however, god's love for humanity is so deep and profound that a place like hell must exist because our Lord does not force his love onto anyone who does not want it.

the world is full of clues about god and god's love but, as cam pointed out last night, he seems to purposefully withdraw his full glory so that we are forced to rely on faith.

seeing god in all the splendour of the Creator would eliminate the need for faith. but it might also eliminate real love. and that is one thing that god is all about: love.

so, in conclusion, whether or not you like the traditional, metaphorical, purgatorial, or conditional view of hell is not the point. we should not 'like' any of it. we should dig through scripture in prayer to find an answer to this question that can be supported.

but, as we talk with our friends over a coffee or pint or whatever we should ask them what they think about hell and offer our guidance. we can talk about the use of symbolism and metaphor and feel utterly confident to agree that the idea of eternal suffering does not coinside with the loving picture we get of god in the new testament [and in the old testament as well].

we must remember, first and foremost, that the god we serve is the god of john 3:16; is the god of the oppressed and downtrodden; is the god of mercy, love and compassion. we must look at the doctrine of hell in the same way we are called to look at everything: through the lens of christ.

what does christ teach us?

what was he like?

was he tolerant of sin? no. but neither was he vicious and sadistic to sinners.

if we can begin our discussions about hell [and discussions is what they should always be since none of us know exactly what hell looks like we should all be willing to entertain suggestions and not assert our conjectures dogmatically. remember the suggestions tell us more about the person saying them than about actual hell and if we are trying to understand someone listening to what they think about something is the easiest way to see them a little clearer.] with christ in mind then our opinions will be tempered with love and compassion and, who knows, we might actually help some people learn more about god because we talked to them about hell!

stranger things have happened.

now, here's a song about god....

the walk of faith

thanks to rose, one of our members, for this fantastic clip of the harrowing walk of el camino del rey.

we often talk about walking in faith and many of us picture a pleasant stroll through a sunlit field of fresh flowers with a bubbling stream. thus, we do not understand when things feel 'off' and we begin to think that we have been abandoned by god or that god was never with us to begin with.

however, if we start to think of our walk with god more like this we can see the inexplicable beauty of the journey but also the times when security and peace seem far and even times when life seems legitimately dangerous!

the walk of faith is more akin to el camino than it is to a pleasant sunday stroll! enjoy the view and remember that the destination at the end of the walk is worth it all!

happy viewing....