Viral Faith

  Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem Nativity Scene When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.  8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:1-10 NRSV It is hard to celebrate the birth of Jesus, when the birthplace of Jesus is experiencing the ravages of war.  I wrote elsewhere about the Israel-Hamas...

  God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God . (MT 5:9 NLT) "Christoformity is a hermeneutic for real life decisions by real followers in real situations.  Nor is it as simple as "What would Jesus do." Rather we ask, how do I embody the incarnation of God's redemptive love in this moment for this person or persons or situation as one who is in communion with Christ through the Spirit?"     --Scot McKnight in The Audacity of Peace Stop the genocide!  Stand with Israel! Both are slogans of public rallies, supported by faith-based organizations.  Widely discrepant understandings of the conflict, its history and its complexity further complicate the situation. The world is rightly concerned about the Israel-Hamas war that has been going on now for over a month. Thousands of people have lost their lives, disproportionately affecting non-military people, with children bearing the greatest brunt of the violence (See World Hea...

  “ The herdsmen fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs. And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.” Mark 5 : 14 - 17 NLT “Church is a community of people animated by the wild, unpredictable spirit of God unleashed to bless the world through love, healing, joy, repentance, and reconciliation.” — Sean Palmer In Unarmed Empire At the time of this writing, Asbury university is experiencing a unique movement of God where its students are experiencing the presence of God’s Spirit.   Social media is flooded with eyewitness testimonies of the experience of awe and wonder a...

Matthew 25:41-45 Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;  for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'  Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?'  Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' By now, you have seen the commercials that are part of JesusGetsUs ad campaign. Incredibly insightful commercials that portray a variety of people who are going through different situations with a refrain afterwards that simply says "Jesus Gets Us".  The provocative aspect of the campaign is th...