“The American People”

   I am SO TIRED of hearing politicians (left, centrist and “right”) claim that they know what “The American People” want, as if we are one people, as if we all think alike, as if we are not incredibly and frighteningly polarized.

So, who are these “American People” for whom they speak and who they claim to represent?

Do the 39 million who will continue to go without healthcare if the ACA fails, feel that the Republicans are right that they speak for them as “American People”?  For that matter, how many of the “American People” want the Government to be shut down in the most recent political stunt by those on the extreme right and those who are riding their coattails?

   The last Presidential election was won on a platform about The Affordable Care Act and other issues that this President has been fighting for, yet Republicans claim that their obstructionism is due to the will of “The American People” who elected him.  Clearly, the extreme right wing folks who got elected in an “off year” election four years ago and in the last election, were chosen by some of “The American People” too, but Democrats claim that “The American People” want nothing to do with their philosophy, policies and tactics. 

   I do not believe that other than the most wealthy and powerful, and some upper-middle class folks are represented by our government.  At its worst, 99% are not represented.  At best, the POOR are certainly not represented by those who have been elected to represent them as “public servants”.  Those who ARE represented are the most wealthy and powerful individuals and corporations who have bought the government, and those who have the ear of government because those in it HOPE to get their money in the future.  PAC’S, Corporations, Lobbyists and influential (wealthy and therefore power) individuals are represented.  Politicians belong to them.  No one else matters to those on the extreme and moderate right, and on the centrist to moderate left.

   I long to hear ANYONE champion the rights of THE POOR, THE ELDERLY, THE YOUNG, THE MARGINALIZED as they call them “THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.”  Yes, I believe that our President and his Party have come closer to representing them and enacting policies that will ultimately help them, but I do not hear them lifted up as valued citizens other than in rhetoric for debate.  Those in government represent those who will get them what they want – more power and money – the people just like them.  Homogeneity out of xenophobia is NOT a way to govern in a DEMOCRACY… of course, we have not had but a relative democracy for most of our history, and it is now a plutocratic oligarchy.  With that, necessarily comes marginalization and a lack of representation. 

   Are YOU one of “The American People” who these folks represent and accurately speak for?  Really?  Pastor Jamie

what we say and what we do

What we say and what we do are not always the same.
The days of "I say what I mean and I mean what I say" seem to be over.
It is about whatever gets me the most and best of what pleases me right now.
It is all about the pleasing of self and not the standing on our word.
It is all about appearing to be full of integrity, honor, good values and even a relevant faith,
    while doing what we can to please our selves and get all that we can for our selves,
    regardless of the means or of who is hurt in the process.

We claim to love our children,
    but when children are killed in their schools, we choose our love of guns over our children
    and when it comes to balancing the budget, we cut funds that literally take food out of their mouths
         rather than insist that the most powerful citizens and corporations pay their taxes

We claim to be the nation of welcome (see the words on the Statue of Liberty)
    but unless folks have a PhD or lots of money, we do not want them
    and unless we can exploit you for cheap labor and then send you home to your life of poverty,
         don't bother to come here

We say that we are a Nation among nations,
    but we use our position, wealth and power to exploit people in other nations to build our wealth
    and we march our military into other nations to take their resources for our selves

We say that we are the nation of equal justice for all,
    but when some intentionally line their pockets off the pensions and life savings of others
             illegally, they go to a "country club" prison to write their books, for a short term, if they
             get arrested at all
    and young black and brown men who out of desperation steal from an individual or sell something
    on the street to live, are sent up for hard time or shot and killed, unarmed, in the street, even just on
    suspicion...

We say we honor our military and support them,
    yet we vote for politicians who write laws that strip the VA of funds for them when they come
             home, denying their care in diseases and disorders they have because of their service
    and we keep their families in the need of food stamps even while their loved ones are on active
             duty, and THEN cut SNAP funding on them

We say that we are the land of equal opportunity,
    but many schools get MUCH less funding for their students, because of tax brackets
    and wages range from those who make 300x what laborers make, to below poverty level wages
    so we bail out major corporations and their exec's and stockholders make more money, while
            those who work for them get laid off from making even their meager wages
    and we break up any organized labor, so that no one will stand up for worker rights, and those
            who own and benefit from their labor can exploit them further to line their own pockets

We say that we recognize that "all (men) are created equally"
    but the disparities by race are played out in every aspect of society
    and the disparities by economic class are played out just the same
    we deny women the same wages for the same job with the same experience
    we deny our gay and lesbian citizens equal rights to marriage and the benefits of it

The truth?
The truth is that our greatest love is only, exclusively for our selves and those just like us,
    that our idol in America is SELF... getting more for self... benefitting self above all others
    and on the backs of others... being above others to elevate self... so, we re-create God in our
    image until our god IS SELF... even changing what we SAY God says, to match what pleases
    us in our churches and in our society...
    we will say one thing that sounds good so that others might not hold us in total disdain and to
    appease our guilt over our duplicity, but do whatever it takes at the expense of others not like us, to
    benefit our selves and those who are just like us...

We do not say what we mean or mean what we say... it doesn't pay (at least not what we want)

... and I GOTTA TELL YA, God is not pleased with us as a nation.

Repentance means to "change one's thinking" so that one's direction changes...
    We need to repent... this is NOT the narrow way that Jesus directed us to travel in life...
    It is time to change our way of thinking and our direction...

It is time to give up our Idolatry to GREED, LUST FOR POWER AND PRESTIGE and ultimately SELF... because giving lip service to God while serving those idols INSULTS GOD, as the prophets have taught us...
It is time to AGAPE LOVE God with all that we have, and love our Neighbors AS WE LOVE OUR SELVES... active commitment/committed action on behalf of the other, for the sake of the other... as Jesus COMMANDED...

then, our words and actions will be in alignment
then, our integrity and honor will be intact
then, our souls will thrive and not slowly die - along with the soul of our nation
then, our people, ALL our people will thrive and not some of them slowly die while others live in
    excess...
then, God will be pleased.  Not until then.

Pastor Jamie
   

Being Prophetic in America

   The Prophets were raised to TELL GOD'S WILL TO GOD'S PEOPLE, and especially in times when God's people had abandoned God's Will for their own, and were doing horrible things while claiming to be "people of God".  It was not about telling the future, but rather sharing with the people of God what would happen if they continued to walk away from God in how they lived in the world.
   Today, most Prophets are silent because there is no money in it - they can't sell their books to a public in America that wants to believe the Prosperity/Power/Entitlement myths that have been sold to them by false prophets over the past 30+ years.  Some are silent because they do love their country and cannot bear to be called "un-American".  Some are silent because they are compliant with what is happening in the country and across the world - which itself makes them false prophets.
   I love this country, but I love ALL of it, and not exclusively those just like me.
   I love God's Word as it reveals God's Will, and not just those parts that benefit me.
   Therefore, being instructed to "speak(ing) the truth in love", I want to share the words of an Old Testament Prophet, and New Testament Prophet and some thoughts around each.

AMOS 5:10-11  God does not value those who twist the truth and silence those who do speak it, and the one whose judgments are unjust, those who get more on the backs of the poor.  God promises that what they have gained by exploiting others will be taken from them.

AMOS 5:21-24   God is clear on what God wants, and it is not worship and praise by the same folks who are actively seeking to do injustice and act wrongly to hurt others around them.

AMOS 8:4-7  God will not tolerate those who look for every opportunity for personal gain on the backs of the most vulnerable and ignore the needs of the poor.  God does not forget.

We keep people down in our own land with UNEQUAL education, employment and wages, healthcare, housing, corrections and transportation.  Some benefit from doing it, so the system continues to be built on the inequalities that make a few richer without limit and many more poorer without hope.  Some who claim to be people of God promote this with their attitudes, philosophies and behaviors.  They vote for those who stand for this kind of system.  They blame the victims of this systemic injustice for their own plight.  They ARE those with the most power or wealth, or ASPIRE to be them in the future.  This is NOT God's Will.

JAMES 4:1-10  God does not value us doing WHATEVER IT TAKES to keep power over others and gain wealth on their backs, as a nation.  Not only do we abuse our own most vulnerable in the land, but we go overseas to exploit others for cheap labor and the un-restricted taking and waste of their natural resources with un-regulated pollution of their air, land and water.  For the sake of cheap prices for our own people, we go across the world to perpetrate injustice on others.  When we cannot dupe them through our manipulation of WTO and other international organizations, we try to buy them with our false promises of funds for their poor.  We buy their leaders to allow us to exploit their own people, sometimes propping up leaders who are ruthless enough to hurt or kill their own people, while we turn a blind eye to those abuses for our own gain.  When those means don't work, we use our military to get what we want, trumping up charges against them (some of the same ones we have supported to get what we wanted, until they stopped giving us what we wanted) so that other nations in the world will not so strongly object.  Then, we act surprised that people across the world at best hold us in contempt, and at worst hate us.  God is not pleased.  What we are doing to hurt our own people and those across the world is NOT God's Will.

I am sure that any who read this will react... some strongly.  It is hard to be in a position to address our own sins as a people, especially when we have so strongly adopted a perspective of American "Exceptionalism".  What is exceptional in our behavior is often our ruthlessness, greed, lust for power, nationalism, bigotry and self-centeredness in our own land and across the world.

The BEST of what God's Word has to offer is found when we search out what we believe God is saying about ourselves, so that we can submit to God's will and conform our way to God's way for us in the world.  The false prophets will talk about our entitlements, justifications, favored status and signs of God's blessings just for us.  They will talk about our nation sinning only in things like allowing the end of "corporate prayer" in schools, acceptance of homosexuals and other nonsense.  That is "smoke and mirrors" to keep us from looking at our age-old sins, even those addressed in The Word, regarding our GREED, LUST FOR POWER and OBSESSION WITH PRESTIGE/POSITION OVER OTHERS.  God broke God's own nation, Israel, numerous times to bring them back to God's Way over these sins.  What makes us think that God is not doing the same with us, now?

I love this nation, but I love ALL in it.
I love God's Word, and NOT just the parts that benefit me.
I ask for your prayers for this nation that I love and the living of God's Word of Grace and Agape
      Love, that I love.

Pastor Jamie

What's it all about, Jamie?

The First Century followers of Jesus were called “People of the Way of Jesus” or just “People of the Way”.  At first, it was a derogatory term for those who did not follow the established, institutional religion as Judaism had become, but later it was a reference to a people who had influenced the world around them by living the TEACHINGS and EXAMPLES of Jesus.  The followers of Jesus worshiped, to be sure, but they were noticed and known for how they lived Jesus’ COMMANDS (Imperative statements), as He taught them and as were reflected in the four Gospels they now had in written form.  What others saw in them was very different from what they saw in the world, even from those who claimed to be people of God in other, institutionalized faith practices.  They saw the Agape Love (active commitment/committed action on behalf of the other) that Jesus commanded and claimed was how people would know that they were His followers, being lived in the world.  The focus of these believers was not on keeping the religious institution going, but rather about living what Jesus TAUGHT (especially what Jesus COMMANDED) and EXEMPLIFIED in how to live in this part of God’s Kingdom.  It was about sharing the Good News of Jesus by LIVING IT in the world, acting in an Agape Loving way with others.  They kept that focus until between 325 and 380, with Christianity’s adoption as the “official” religion of Rome because of the conversion of Constantine.  The mission to share and LIVE The Good News of Jesus remained among a remnant of followers of Jesus, as their focus, as it does today.

What happened in the First Century because of that was a RADICAL expression of the commanded Agape Love of Jesus.

   They met in homes, as the disciples of Jesus were commanded to do when they were with Him.  We meet in our home.

   Jesus commanded, “You give them something to eat.” His disciples fed the 5,000.  In the First Century, an Agape Meal was provided with each worship service to feed those who did not have food.  We serve an Agape Meal as a part of every worship.

   Jesus commanded, “Do this in remembrance of me.”  His disciples shared The Lord’s Supper every time they worshiped.  We share in the Grace of God in the Lord’s Supper every time we gather.

   Jesus commanded that His followers live Agape Love and proclaim healing for the sick.  Peter made himself available and God healed even those on whom his shadow fell (Acts 5:12-16).  It was an expression of Radical Love.  We believe we have been made more complete and whole by the shadow of others’ lives that have touched us, and we are available so that the shadow of our lives may in some way make others around us whole.

   Jesus prayed to the Father that all would be one with each other and God, and commanded those who followed Him to be concerned for the poor in their actions.  The First Century followers came together and shared in Radical Community out of Agape Love (Acts 4:32-37), even to the point of sharing of their abundance with those who had little or nothing in their lives.  We share 70% of our own offerings and those others choose to give, for community outreach here, and 20% for national and international sisters and brothers in need.  This Radical Sharing was practiced in the First Century (Acts 11:27-29), and we believe we are called to practice it today.

   Jesus said that those who were not against us are for us, and that we should live Agape Love even with stranger and enemy, including others in the community based on Radical Love.  His Apostles not only included those who were of a different ethnic background and religious heritage in the community, but also in the leadership of the community (Acts 6:1-8).  We pray for others to join us who want to serve rather than be served, and who want to walk with us as partners in radical community.

   Jesus included Gentiles, women and those recognized by society as sinners in His fold.  The First Century followers did the same, even with those who were ethnically, religiously and sexually different and excluded by the Law of Moses (Acts 8:26-40).  We are inclusive of ALL and ANY who would join us sincerely to learn and live the teachings of Jesus, especially the living of Radical, Agape Love in this community.

  Jesus commanded that we not judge others.  His Apostles sometimes got that right and sometimes did not, but a Radical Freedom to live one’s life in good conscience by one’s beliefs was maintained (Acts 10:9-16), and people of different ways were accepted into the Radical Community built on Radical Love.  We welcome people of ANY faith or non-faith background for sincere sharing in Agape Love around our table. 

  Jesus said that He came to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the Apostles practiced Radical Liberation spiritually and socially (Acts 27).  We work toward the empowerment of ALL people to be free from any bondage to things that keep them down in life, standing with them as advocates out of Agape Love in Radical Community.  We work to bring equality in Education, Employment, Housing, Healthcare, Transportation, and Justice for ALL people in this community.

We are People of The Way of Jesus.  We are in this community for good.  Stop by and see us sometime.  We open our hearts and home to you.  And if you ever want to experience this new/original way of being followers of Jesus’ Teachings and Examples in the world around you, we will welcome you in that, too.     3pm Sundays    649 Peeples Street  SW  Atlanta   30310

Rev. Jamie Kaufman      404-353-0387    Check us out on FACEBOOK for more information on what we are about…

Labor Day 2013

So, we have CLAIMED to want to help the middle class, and some have even CLAIMED to want to help the poor.

Yet, many who have claimed a concern for the poor and middle class support...

starting the trend of hiring part-time (1981) instead of full time, so that employers do not feel compelled to pay benefits for employees, also making people work 2 or 3 part time jobs just to survive...

breaking down organized labor that empowers workers, even creating "right to work" states that consistently mean lower wages and fewer benefits for workers, so that corporate heads can do what they want to with employees, having eliminated a balance of power

fighting every attempt to move to a living wage, or even raise the minimum wage so that people can make a living and even buy the goods companies are selling

going after a few who commit "welfare fraud" by eliminating that for the many, while ignoring the corporate welfare that cripples the nation

cutting the SNAP funds in the farm bill that help the most vulnerable with food, rather than make the wealthy (individuals and corporations) pay their fair share of taxes

letting the "job creators" lay off much of America, rather than take a little less profit for themselves, their execs and stockholders

de-regulating business that gouges citizens, while legislating the bedroom on many, but bailing out businesses that are "too big to fail", rather than let the laissez-faire (hands off) capitalism work in their cases, naturally

allowing companies to charge 20 cents more per gallon at the pump and 20% more at the supermarket in urban areas over suburban ones, where people are more likely not to have the alternative of shopping around, and where they can least afford the added cost

closing the schools in the inner-city, so that classrooms are more crowded and less controlled... perpetuating the stereotypes actively about urban (black and brown) youth, and making sure that they never have a LEVEL playing field in education and therefore employment and financial well-being...

Indeed - they love the poor so much that they are actively making MORE of them, and plunging those already in poverty into further depths of it... all for their own profit...

We NEED to stand together and fight the greed - THAT is the best thing possible for us to do in remembrance on this LABOR DAY...