Today: Is a slow day at work, and I am enjoying peace and quiet.
Verse of the day:
“My people will beat their weapons into plows...and study violence no more” (from Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3)
Song of the day: "Oh Jerusalem" by Lauryn Hill
Currently Reading: "Jesus for President", "The Irrisistable Revolution", "UnChristian", "Free of Charge", and a pile of other books that I probably won't open again until I'm finished with the ones listed.
If you don't really care about human suffering, if you would rather just be left alone, if you could care less about getting to know the creator of the universe, then this message is not for you.
But if you have a longing in your heart to know God, not just to know about Him, if your heart breaks for those who suffer, and longs to belong to a loving community of people who unconditionally love you by holding you accountable without being judgemental, then read on.
I've been reading Shaine Claiborne's "Jesus for President"--actually, "drinking it in" would be a better way of describing it. It's like, all my life, I've known that following Christ is not about going to church. In fact, there have been times when going to church would have been the opposite of being Jesus' disciple. I've spent so much time pointing out the things "Christians" have gotten wrong, and seeing ways the church has missed the point. I know what being a Christian isn't, but up until this point, I've had no idea what following Christ really is.
A few years ago, God whispered in my ear and shouted in my heart of His love, which is beyond comprehension. People spend so much of their time, money, and energy studying war, learning how to win, how to gain and keep power, etc., and we all forget to study the one thing we were made for: love. So I began to study love, to try my hardest to pursue it.
This past spring, God started stirring my heart in Sociology class as I read about injustice, poverty, globalization, and war with a whole new perspective. I started asking myself questions like, "What if people actually lived the way Jesus taught? Would injustice even be possible?
What if Christians really cared about their neighbors, would drive-by shootings still happen? What if Christians saw every person as a creation deeply loved by God, would we be able to condemn those with a different point of view to eternal torment?
What if communities of Believers, living in the same neighborhood, didn't drive 20 minutes away to 50 different churches to meet with people they only see once a week to worship a God they don't understand?
What if Christian neighbors got together weekly and shared their lives with each other on a personal level, as a community, providing for each other's needs, praying for one another, actually relating to and caring for each other?
Would the world be different?"
And just above the voices that say things like: "But these are naiive questions, Rachel, we live in a fallen world where unconditional love just can't exist. You know that every human is fallen and cannot be perfect, nor can we truly love one another. So we have to carry on in the way we always have, unwillingly conforming to the patterns of this world, because it is foolish and childish to dream of any other way to live,"
I hear the voices of people like Rob Bell, Shaine Claiborne, Dan Kimbrough, and Brian McLaren, all saying, "Another way of life is possible. It really is possible to follow Christ, to be like Christ in this day and age. No matter how people scoff, practicing the love of God is a viable way to live."
Read about the movement: http://www.thesimpleway.org/
Grace and Peace to all.
rAch
Verse of the day:
“My people will beat their weapons into plows...and study violence no more” (from Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3)
Song of the day: "Oh Jerusalem" by Lauryn Hill
Currently Reading: "Jesus for President", "The Irrisistable Revolution", "UnChristian", "Free of Charge", and a pile of other books that I probably won't open again until I'm finished with the ones listed.
If you don't really care about human suffering, if you would rather just be left alone, if you could care less about getting to know the creator of the universe, then this message is not for you.
But if you have a longing in your heart to know God, not just to know about Him, if your heart breaks for those who suffer, and longs to belong to a loving community of people who unconditionally love you by holding you accountable without being judgemental, then read on.
I've been reading Shaine Claiborne's "Jesus for President"--actually, "drinking it in" would be a better way of describing it. It's like, all my life, I've known that following Christ is not about going to church. In fact, there have been times when going to church would have been the opposite of being Jesus' disciple. I've spent so much time pointing out the things "Christians" have gotten wrong, and seeing ways the church has missed the point. I know what being a Christian isn't, but up until this point, I've had no idea what following Christ really is.
A few years ago, God whispered in my ear and shouted in my heart of His love, which is beyond comprehension. People spend so much of their time, money, and energy studying war, learning how to win, how to gain and keep power, etc., and we all forget to study the one thing we were made for: love. So I began to study love, to try my hardest to pursue it.
This past spring, God started stirring my heart in Sociology class as I read about injustice, poverty, globalization, and war with a whole new perspective. I started asking myself questions like, "What if people actually lived the way Jesus taught? Would injustice even be possible?
What if Christians really cared about their neighbors, would drive-by shootings still happen? What if Christians saw every person as a creation deeply loved by God, would we be able to condemn those with a different point of view to eternal torment?
What if communities of Believers, living in the same neighborhood, didn't drive 20 minutes away to 50 different churches to meet with people they only see once a week to worship a God they don't understand?
What if Christian neighbors got together weekly and shared their lives with each other on a personal level, as a community, providing for each other's needs, praying for one another, actually relating to and caring for each other?
Would the world be different?"
And just above the voices that say things like: "But these are naiive questions, Rachel, we live in a fallen world where unconditional love just can't exist. You know that every human is fallen and cannot be perfect, nor can we truly love one another. So we have to carry on in the way we always have, unwillingly conforming to the patterns of this world, because it is foolish and childish to dream of any other way to live,"
I hear the voices of people like Rob Bell, Shaine Claiborne, Dan Kimbrough, and Brian McLaren, all saying, "Another way of life is possible. It really is possible to follow Christ, to be like Christ in this day and age. No matter how people scoff, practicing the love of God is a viable way to live."
Read about the movement: http://www.thesimpleway.org/
Grace and Peace to all.
rAch
posted by Eliora at
11:40 AM
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