Viral Faith

The past few weeks, I have taken a couple of President Obama's statements regarding of his faith and posted them on facebook.  Taken at face value, it is clear that the President expresses an evangelical Christian faith.  However, there is a large segment of evangelical Christians who reject his confession and many, like Evangelical Christian leader, Franklin Graham (son of Evangelist Billy Graham) even question his identity as a Christian person. The reason is due to the President's stance on a single issue that has become the standard for understanding faith. The President was asked a question in 2010 about how he could say he is a Christian and support the legal right for abortion.  He responded by saying that Abortion should be: "safe, legal and rare, allowing families -- not the government -- should be the ones making the decision" He then went on to say that although his faith is Christian, he leads a nation that is not. Regardless of whether you supp...

 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (I Corinthians 1:23-24)  "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." GK Chesterton Its not practical..... Its not feasible.... Religion is a private matter, that has no bearing on the public sphere... The Bible was written at a different time and the story it tells is no longer relevant to the complexities of today... So called Christians have messed up the name of Christianity so badly, that we are embarassed.... These are the statements that I commonly hear from other Christians when I ask why Christians do not press for a Kingdom priorities in the public sphere.  There is a sense in which the church has been thoroughly secularized, whereby our faith pertains to smaller and smaller spheres of our lives.  Fa...

"Is this all there is?  Is this what church is"   Chery Dulaney, member of New Hope's ministry team (www.newhopefree.org) This morning, I began to re-read the book of Acts.  For those unfamiliar with the Book of Acts, it is the chronicles of the development of the early church immediately after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Its an amazing read as we see a movement that literally began with about 120 adherents explode to thousands in several years. The movement of Jesus followers had an explosiveness or dynamism that endured persecution, crossed cultural barriers, and overcame civic opposition.  All of this without programs, nice church edifices, or a dominating clergy class. Among pastors, there is this aching and haunting reality in many of our churches: Our churches do not look or feel anything like the dynamic movement of Jesus followers in the book of Acts.  Yes, there are programs, and new buildings, and increased staff, but no revi...

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. (Philippians 2:1-2, ESV) There is to be unity among Christians.  In fact, according to Jesus, one of the cardinal signs of the authentic church is to be unity (John 17:21-22).  However, Christians have allowed political affiliations and ideologies to trump theological considerations.  Christian's, unfortunately have allowed to their alliances to political parties and conservative/liberal agendas to shape their commitments to Jesus Christ, as opposed to the commitment to Christ defining their political reality. As I see candidates from different sides of the political spectrum seek out support for the Christian vote, I want to make the following observations: 1. There is a tendency to oversimplify political strategies and realities . ...

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33 The essence of the Christian faith is radicalness.  The very language that Jesus uses to describe that nature of our relationship with God, through faith is countercultural and in opposition to the cultural norms of the day.  He challenged his listeners to understand their priorities and loyalties by describing  the relationship in terms like Kingdoms and followership.  There is a tendency to domesticate faith.  There is a tendency to fit it into our current values and priorities.  We want a reasonable faith.  We want a decent faith, but are intimidated by a dynamic one.  We are tempted to select a faith that affirms our goals, instead of one that defines and directs our dreams.  Jesus calls his adherents to an "all or none" type of commitment.  He states that unless his followers are willing to give up everything, they should rethi...

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 The youtube video above is called "Why I hate religion, but love Jesus" and has been virally spreading all over the web over the past several days.  Its a powerfully done spoken-word on the difference between authentic, living faith and a rigidly constructed rules oriented set of beliefs that many see as religion.  I have listened to the video several times as links were sent from friends and I agree with much of what this talented young man is saying. What he is saying is not new but a creative expression of the realization of many that Jesus came to develop a rich connection with us and among us, not a set of rules and regulations inwhich to live by.  It would also be wrong to think that Jesus came to simply send people to heaven and had no sense of accountability or ethics.  Jesus came to transform people ...

He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Isaiah 2:4 It is clear from the plain reading of scripture, that God's intention is to end war and its brutality as the means in which nations, peoples, and tribes relate to one another.  From a Christian perspective, one of God's aims through Jesus Christ was unity of all people, not based upon ethnicity, nationality, culture, or families, but based upon the person and work of Jesus.  This is the remarkable thing about the good news of Jesus, is that it radically sought to demolish the divisions and fractures that have defined humanity since its inception (Ephesians 2:14-16). Its interesting that when we talk about allowing Christ to work through us to accomplish Kingdom goals, we rarely see ending war and warfare as one of ...