If you had to watch a movie, but you only had two cliché movies to choose from,

Would you rather
Watch a Steven Seagal movie
or
a Jean Calude Van Damme movie?

Oh the headache….

Below, I posted a video I came across on YouTube.

This is my first introduction to Greg Boyd… How have I never known of this man’s existence?

Looking through the history of the church, we see that the church and the state were never meant to mix in the way they have now… Surely, government has poisoned the Church. How did we get from not compromising our aligence to God by dividing between Him and Country, to killing other Christians in His name? This is the danger of mixing church and state.

Thank God for His provision. One day, he will make sense of it all.

What are your thoughts on Greg Boyd’s sermon?

“When government and church mix, you’ve got a problem. It’s like mixing ice cream and horse manure; you won’t ruin the horse manure, but it will ruin the ice cream. I think to mix the church and the state is, in fact, to put the church in a compromising position.” -(The Great) Tony Campolo

What are your thoughts?

LoBornlytesThoughtPalace made a post yesterday about the most annoying “liberal” Christians on Xanga. I made the list, as well as some very dear friends of mine. Now, I’m not one to retaliate, but I will say this: I can’t speak for everyone on her list, but I know that her post was a giant misrepresentation of what I actually believe.

I’m not going to let it get to me though. Instead, what I am going to do is give a small list of some of the best Christian Xangans I’ve encountered throughout my time on Xanga. If you are unfamiliar with them, perhaps this is a great time to check their blogs out!

SirNickDon
TheGreatBout
t_sheffield (my wife, but she’s brilliant so I put her on the list)
crevis05 (my cousin, but he holds such respectable convictions)
SpokenThruScott
MagisterTom
foxes_have_holes

And I’m sure there are others out there who are just as awesome.

What I really like about each and every one of these Xangans is not just the fact that they are somewhat like minded with me, but rather, they have such strong convictions to loving one another as the body of Christ, loving God, and loving others, whether or not they agree with them.

In most circumstances, you won’t see any negativity coming from them. No, these people will welcome you and your opinions.

They show the fruit of the Spirit through their writings (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control).

They aren’t afraid of these labels: Conservative, Liberal, Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Capitalist, Communist, Anarchist and everything else in between. They simply don’t care. They are Christians first and foremost, and they are not afraid to let Christ’s light shine in whatever context they live.

They are thinkers, theologians, philosophers, and intellectuals. If they don’t get you to think after you’ve read their posts, then you probably didn’t read their posts.

They are willing to do whatever it takes to keep God first.

They are very consistent in their theology.

They don’t claim to know it all, and they know that they don’t have to be right. Often times, they even question their own thoughts and motives. They are willing to search for more answers.

The list can really go on and on, but these are some good people with a heart fully dedicated to Christ and his Calling to go and make disciples. It is evident in their writings, and I know God smiles at them.

Gorillaz always puts me in a very good mood….

Shalom.

I just got done reading “Jesus Manifesto” by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola on Friday. It was a great book, and I highly recommend the read. Essentially, it’s all about lifting up Christ’s name above ever other and all other things in this life. It presented the Messiah in a way that is needed in this day and age: larger than life.

I pulsed a quote from the book that stood out at me.

“Too many Christians want to change the world, not because they love the world, but because they hate the world.”

I think this really rings true to many, if not, most Christians.

I work as a janitor for a large hardware store. They want me to clean the parking lot every morning starting at 5:00am (when it’s dark). I also spray weeds and basically, whatever needs done outside. It takes me about 4 hours to accomplish my entire job (3 of those hours I spend picking up the parking lot. It’s filthy because it’s right off of a highway.), so I often let my mind wander. About a week ago, I let it wander to sad images, and horrific thoughts. Nothing too bad, just things we have to deal with in everyday life… and when this passed my mind, I was immediately alarmed and grieved. I began to pray to God, begging for Him to come soon… because this world is just too terrible. It’s a mess. I hated it.

As I was thinking these things and praying over this sad, seemingly forgotten world, I looked up over the highway our store sits on. I noticed it was getting lighter out. I could see bright colors of pink, yellow, orange, and red blending together over the sky. The sun was rising. And aside from the highway, it was a beautiful sight and I remembered how God created this world. And after he did, he called it good. Not only was it good… it was beautiful. Suddenly, I found myself telling God that he can take his time coming if he wants to… there is just as much beauty and good as there is terror and evil in this world. We have to make the most out of what we’re given.

Too often, we Christians try to control the terrible situation this world is in. There is no doubt that we should be in action about it, but what is the best way? Is it through the government? Is it through power? Is it through manipulation or guilt? Is it because we are right and we want the world our way?
Or is it simply done as a church body? Is it through the authority and power of the Holy Spirit? Is it through our love? Is it because we want to live in harmony with our God as well as the rest of creation?

I think it’s good for Christians to want to change the world. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s a conviction that should be overflowing our hearts. But if changing the world is what we want to do, then we must do it as one body. We have to do it as the Church. We shouldn’t dilute it with government and politics. It’s worldly and has nothing to do with Christ. That is the way government will always be.
And finally, let’s remember this one thing: We want to change this world because God said it’s good. If we want to change it because we hate it, even in it’s present state, we’ve totally missed the point.

He’s certainly come along way since his “anti-theist” days, hasn’t he? I never would have imagined him being “OK” with people praying for him.

Do you think there is any hope for Christopher Hitchens to come to Christ?

I was stumbling around on the internet yesterday and I came across this news story from BBC. The story tells of a girl who dissuades an armed robber by telling him about Jesus. I’ve provided the full video below.

As a pacifist, I always get the big “What-If” questions. “What if a person is trying to rob you with a weapon?”, “What if a man is trying to kill you?”, “What if a criminal is attacking your family?”

Next to praying, my biggest answer to these is in the act of dissuasion. I believe that we (Christians) are able to let God talk through us if we let go of control. I think this story is a great example of how we should react to such a situation. She didn’t try to take control. She didn’t lash back in any way. She just started talking to this man about Jesus and how He changed her life. She also tried to understand his situation. She was caring, not judgmental. This touched the man just enough to make him walk out of the store, even telling her that his “gun” was a decoy.

Clearly, for this young woman, there was no hesitation to begin talking to this man about Jesus. If Jesus is in our lives that much, shouldn’t it be difficult to not share Him in such a moment?

People who don’t trust in pacifist methods often tell me about how dissuasion wouldn’t work in reality. This story shows that it can and does work.

How would you like to handle this situation?

I don’t keep it a secret that I hate the idea of worldly government. I understand its place in society, but I don’t think Christians should play any part in it. I believe that it is best to stay neutral, being politically aware, understanding what is going on in the world around us, and taking action not as a nation, but as a body of believers.

I can see why some people may not agree with my stance on anarchism in Christendom, but I at least think it should be a respected point of view.

Last week, I went out for coffee with a couple friends from my church, one of whom stands with me on Christian Anarchism (Jairus), and the other whom is vehemently opposed to the stance (John). 

As we were sitting in the coffee shop, eating our meal and drinking our coffee, a woman from our church (Tammy) came in, alone. Tammy is a really nice, Godly lady in her early 50′s and is the Recorder for the county of my hometown. She is a strong democrat (while most people in our church are republicans) and she relies on the votes of her friends and peers from the church for the security of her job.

As Tammy came in, she took a seat at the the table next to us. We greeted her and somehow, we got on the topic of politics. I’m not sure what started it, but what I do remember is Tammy looking at Jairus, saying, “We gotta get you to vote, Jairus!”

I tried to stay out of it, but John started snickering because he saw the can of worms Tammy opened. She asked what was so funny and John said, “Do you realize you are talking to two ‘anarchists’ who think that voting is evil?”

Tammy looked at me, with a confused, disappointed look on her face. She had no idea where I stood politically.

“Yeah… I also don’t believe in voting…”

Needless to say, she went on this big spiel that I’ve heard a thousand times, saying things like, “It’s your Christian duty to vote!”, “You shouldn’t worry about what’s happening now from your choice in abstaining from voting, you should worry about what the world is going to look like for your kids and your kid’s kids.”, “what do you think those who’ve fought and died for our country would think?” and of course, “This is just a phase. You’ll grow out of it.”

See, abstaining from worldly government is a discipline I take seriously. It’s useless to try to force Christianity into the world. The world has rejected Christ and will continue to reject Him. So seeping Him into the government is a little counterproductive. The government doesn’t win souls, Christ does… and last time I checked, this world is bound for destruction and will only get worse and worse until the true King’s return. We are to be a light shining in the darkness… and those who see the light will be drawn to it. You can’t force it. That’s my belief.

But I know what Tammy wants… My vote. And that’s ok. I mean, it’s perfectly understandable. If I was running for County Recorder every few years, I’d try to get people to vote too. But she passed me off as lazy and ignorant because of a conviction that has brought me peace.

I’m not lazy and I’m not ignorant. I’ve seen Democrats and Republicans and everything in between and outside going at it over stupid things that won’t matter once it’s all said and done. If Republican policies are put into effect, Democrats act like it’s the end of the world. If Democratic policies are put into effect, Republicans would think the sky is falling… but at the end of the day, they respect each other. They may not agree, but they respect each other because they are doing their part in trying to do something with a messy world.

I thought the point of the church was to do the same…

Nonvoters don’t get any respect… even if the purpose is valid.

It’s another political belief, but to me, it’s more than a political belief. It’s shaking off more of the world to focus solely on God. Now, I’m no dummy. I’m well aware that an anarchist state will never and can never exist. But that isn’t the point. The entire idea is to let the world be the world. We will live in it regardless of what that means… because the way I see it, as long as there is a God in Heaven, we will all be alright. We should be thankful for what we have and rejoice in what we don’t have, because we’ve seen the light, and in the darkest times, we thrive… we shine bright.. and we can easily be spotted to point those lost in the darkness to the source of our light.

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine;
this is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.

This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a prayer that peace transcends in every place;
and yet I pray for my beloved country –
the reassurance of continued grace:
Lord, help us find our one-ness in the Savior,
in spite of differences of age and race.

May truth and freedom come to every nation;
may peace abound where strife has raged so long;
that each may seek to love and build together,
a world united, righting every wrong;
a world united in its love for freedom,
proclaiming peace together in one song.

This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth’s kingdoms,
thy kingdom come, on earth, thy will be done;
let Christ be lifted up ’til all shall serve him,
and hearts united, learn to live as one:
O hear my prayer, thou God of all the nations,
myself I give thee — let thy will be done.

 

Dear Lord, We pray for peace. Let us all unite in one name, your Holy name, Lord. This is the only way peace will come