Jesus Wants to Save Christians Chapter One

Jesus Wants To Save Christians - Chapter One:  The Cry Of The Oppressed.

 

In the book of Exodus, there is a disruption.  Things change.  And the change begins with God saying:

       ”I have indeed seen the misery of my people…”

       ”I have heard them crying out…”

       ”I have come down to rescue them…”

       ”I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them…”

       The Israelites are oppressed, they’re in misery, they’re suffering - and when they cry out, God hears.

       This is a God who always hears the cry.

       This is central to who God is:  God always hears the cry of the oppressed.

       The cry inaugurates history.  It kicks things in gear.  It shakes things up and gets them moving.  The cry is the catalyst, the cause, the reason that a new story unfolds.

       But God in this story doesn’t just hear the cry.  God does something about.  The exodus is how God responds to the cry.

       The Cry - the cry inaugurates redemptive history.  These slaves in Egypt cry out and God hears and something new happens.  Things aren’t how they were.  Things change.

       These slaves are rescued from the oppression of Egypt.

Where have you seen misery?

Whose cry do you hear?

What will you do about it?

God always hears the cry of the oppressed and God always acts on their behalf.  He extends mercy over and over and over again.  And he extends this mercy through you and through me.

What will change because you hear the very same cries that God hears?

-Ben Nockels

Jesus Wants to Save Christians Intro

I recently completed Rob Bell’s latest book entitled “Jesus Wants To Save Christians:  A Manifesto For The Church In Exile“.  I highly recommend it to you.  I’d like to highlight some of the passages within and encourage us all to move from a place of “exile” and return to become the people of God, the Church God intended.

From The Introduction:  Air Puffers And Rubber Gloves.

       There is a place called Eden, a paradise, a state of being in which everything is in its right place.  A realm where the favor and peace of God rests on everything.

       And Cain is not there.  He’s east of there.

       And he’s not only east of Eden, but in chapter 4 of the book of Genesis, the text says that he was “building a city.”

       It’s not just that he’s east of where he was created to live, but he’s actually settling there, building a city, putting down roots.  The land of his wandering has become the location of his home.

       The writer, or writers of Genesis keep returning to this eastward metaphor, insisting that something has gone terribly wrong with humanity, and that from the very beginning humans are moving in the wrong direction.

       God asks Adam, “Where are you?”

       And the answer is , of course, “East.”

       East of where he’s supposed to be.  East of how things are meant to be.

The Kingdom of God is first presented to us in Eden.  This is the place where everything is just as God would have it to be.  The Kingdom is a reality.  God’s Kingdom is how things really are and how things should really be.  The already here, and not yet fully here, reality and will of God.  Tension.

Where are you in relation to this Kingdom reality and will of God?  ”East of there?”

Have you settled there?  Have you settled for a false reality?  Are you chasing the mirage of a false kingdom that will never come?

Are you moving in the wrong direction?

Where are you?

East?

East of where your supposed to be?

East of how things really are?

-Ben Nockels

Guest Post: Historic Day

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

These are the words that have been spoken by every President Elect since April 30th, 1789. When in New York, how could have George Washington known just how far reaching these words will echo in history?

And, friends… Romans… country men…. we are living History today.

No matter your beliefs, no matter what side of the Political Fence you find yourself on… no matter your faith or your religion… or your family and your state in life… I hope, that if for just one day, we can all be honest with ourselves and say, “Life, our country, our world, is never going to be the same again.”

We are barely 50 years removed from police dogs at civil rights marches, from little black girls being blasted by fire hoses in Alabama, from a religious man, an educated reverend, being shot on a balcony in Memphis. We are barely outside of Rodney King and the violence and ignorance it sparked… on both sides. 

And, yet somehow… someway… here we are! I have never been prouder to be an American than I am right now. Obama may, or may not, win today. But the fact that he could run, that he could force it to be this close, the fact that his intelligence and eloquence outshines the color of his skin tells me that the America that I believe in isn’t just a False Hope. It tells me that we are making moves in the right direction. It may be slow… but, at least we are trying.

And, one day… one very fine day… the America that I love so much will be the America that, once upon a time, a group of middle-aged farmers got together in Philadelphia, knowing full well that their actions meant Treason and possible Death, and they declared to the entire world… to the entire world…

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

I don’t care who you voted for. I don’t care if we agree on all the issues. 

All I know… and all I care about… is that after today… no matter the outcome of the election… after today… Race is never going to define who we are as a people.

And, that is Historic. And, as hard as the last few months have been on Americans coming to terms with who they are… the war of Political Thought… may today be, finally, the last battle of the American Revolution.

-Mark Brett
image via radiospike photography

Election day thoughts

Well, today is the big day. Campaigning has reached a frenzied pace, the attack ads have been hitting over the weekend. Some pastors have been preaching why Obama is God’s selection and other pastors have been preaching why McCain is God’s selection. Either quite a few pastors are not hearing God correctly or God was wrong, not sure which one the wrong pastors will go with at the end of the day.

I am very excited about voter turnout, looks like records are going to be shattered. It’s about time the people of this country decided to vote. What I’m not so excited about is the rhetoric being tossed about by both sides. To demonize either party isn’t the way of Jesus. Loving your enemy seems to not apply when supporting candidates, specifically parties.

I decided to gather a few links for you all to peruse, good and bad thoughts for future elections.

James Dobson, please don’t write another piece of fiction like this. (link downloads a PDF file)

Here is the rebuttal to James Dobson’s letter.

Relevant Magazine’s fantastic site had a fansasticer (I don’t think that’s a real word) post about Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw’s journey across the USA asking Americans to think about their vote.

Happy Voting Day everyone!
-Rex Barrett
image via niznoz

The old guy

Getting older is such a strange thing. My mind says, “Hey Rex, all is good, run, play, stay up late. Don’t worry all will be fine in the morning.” The problem is, all isn’t fine in the morning any more.

I like to hang out with people a lot. My wife likes to hang out with people from time to time. Luckily she gives me the freedom to spend Sunday afternoons playing basketball and ultimate frisbee from 3:00 - 8:15. I’m not a huge fan of exercise, people who have seen me can guess that pretty quickly, but I love being around all the guys. I meet them on their terms.

That’s the simple point of this post today. I meet them on their terms, I run the field and court because of my love for my friends, not my love of the game. We talk all day long, people open up, accountability happens NATURALLY. Between games, downing Gatorade, laughing as we fall on our faces, connection occurs.

My question is this… Where are you routinely meeting with people on their terms, on their field of play? Who are you connecting with to share your “stuff” and listen to them share their “stuff” too? For me, one of the most spiritual things I do all is miss a basket and open up to friends.

-Rex Barrett
image via Allan Gourlay