Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of "the other") is what Jesus commanded.
Jesus especially taught, commanded and exemplified this love for those who did not "deserve" it, the "least" (most vulnerable among us) and even stranger and enemy (who Jesus defines as "neighbor" Luke 10:25-37)...
I MUST believe that this Great Commandment is the standard that Jesus wants me to hold on how I live in this world... in fact, Jesus said it is THAT by which others will know I am HIS disciple... not my praise, worship, tithing or outward righteousness... but in that I Agape Love others... and, in fact, it is by how I treat others (especially the "least") that I am judged in the end (Matthew 25:31-46).
We who profess to follow Jesus... who are called by His Name... who claim Him as Savior... who praise and worship Him... are ON NOTICE...
Our attitudes, beliefs, philosophies, behaviors are all held to the Agape Loving Standard...
How we treat others around us, engage in politics and economics, view and act in society are all held to the Agape Loving Standard...
that gives me pause...
it is a tall order...
I will spend the rest of my life learning how to live this Agape Love...
because Jesus did not ever say, "Worship Me" or "Praise Me" or "Tithe Me", but Jesus DID say,
"follow Me"... "Love the Lord your God... Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF"... "Do not
judge"... "forgive"... "Repent (change your thinking) and believe in the Good News" - what
Jesus taught, commanded and exemplified in the Gospels...
Jesus DID SAY, "If you (Agape) love me, you will keep MY COMMANDMENTS."
Let's start there, shall we?
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Sunday, May 18, 2014
"for more profit" = Greed= Destruction
It was "for more profit"...
Then...
that people worked 7 days a week at barely subsistence level wages in the first "gilded age", while millionaires reaped the benefits...
that their children did not go to school, but worked in the factories, mines and fields as well
that anyone who talked of strikes was fired, and when strikes occurred, paid thugs started riots and the police dispersed legally assembled crowds, in some cases, the national guard FIRED ON them...
all "for more profit"...
And then...
government safeguards for workers and salaries, job security were pushed out (1981 and following)...
regulations on overuse of natural resources of lumber, fish and other foods, water were thrown out
regulations on pollution were disregarded and then thrown out
regulations on destroying our forests, lakes, habitats and lands were thrown out
safety regulations on drilling, mining, factories...
all "for more profit" ...
And now...
wages are below subsistence level again...
workers' rights are being dismantled... job security is no more...
people are laid off or fired on a whim...
jobs are still being shipped overseas...
schools are more and more privatized, so SOME children can't get or stay in...
prisons are privatized, so that MORE people need to be locked up...
government is bought by the wealthy (again)...
we ignore the pollution of our air, water, land...
we destroy rainforests and other habitats...
we waste natural resources...
we get involved in wars and conflicts because there are financial gains to be had in them...
all, "for more profit", not for all or even for most, but for a select FEW, at the expense of the many and the whole planet we live on... the greedy obsession with quick profit drives the greedy to do whatever to whomever or whatever for their own gain...
and somehow... people think this is ok, good or normal...
GREED is IMMORAL. It destroys life.
Pastor Jamie
Then...
that people worked 7 days a week at barely subsistence level wages in the first "gilded age", while millionaires reaped the benefits...
that their children did not go to school, but worked in the factories, mines and fields as well
that anyone who talked of strikes was fired, and when strikes occurred, paid thugs started riots and the police dispersed legally assembled crowds, in some cases, the national guard FIRED ON them...
all "for more profit"...
And then...
government safeguards for workers and salaries, job security were pushed out (1981 and following)...
regulations on overuse of natural resources of lumber, fish and other foods, water were thrown out
regulations on pollution were disregarded and then thrown out
regulations on destroying our forests, lakes, habitats and lands were thrown out
safety regulations on drilling, mining, factories...
all "for more profit" ...
And now...
wages are below subsistence level again...
workers' rights are being dismantled... job security is no more...
people are laid off or fired on a whim...
jobs are still being shipped overseas...
schools are more and more privatized, so SOME children can't get or stay in...
prisons are privatized, so that MORE people need to be locked up...
government is bought by the wealthy (again)...
we ignore the pollution of our air, water, land...
we destroy rainforests and other habitats...
we waste natural resources...
we get involved in wars and conflicts because there are financial gains to be had in them...
all, "for more profit", not for all or even for most, but for a select FEW, at the expense of the many and the whole planet we live on... the greedy obsession with quick profit drives the greedy to do whatever to whomever or whatever for their own gain...
and somehow... people think this is ok, good or normal...
GREED is IMMORAL. It destroys life.
Pastor Jamie
Saturday, May 10, 2014
America's soul...
It has been becoming more clear that we have SOLD OUR COLLECTIVE SOULS in America.
Intolerance of others is the symptom of an arrogant hubris that comes out of a desire for prestige and position... being seen as being higher than others... complete with a false sense of entitlement and superiority...
Hatred comes out of fear... the fear of knowing that we view others who are differently with disdain and that they will react badly that we do... fear that others might have within them the same malice toward others that we hold within ourselves... fear that others might do what we THINK of doing - to us... fear of being found out for the horrible intolerance we have for others not like ourselves...
Greed is central to our being... it drives our goals, makes us predators with others for "more", demands our devotion all the time and skews how we look at value - the value of other human beings and their needs put aside... it drives us to get quick and large profit at the expense of others or EVERYONE else... because nothing else matters than what WE want... MORE of everything...
Lust for Power consumes many in our culture... the overwhelming desire to be in control over others and get what we want, in order to gain in wealth or prestige/position, or to get things the way WE want them... even on the backs of others they dominate... power OVER others, rather than self-control in our own lives is the desire, and it makes us into what we have never valued in people who have abused their power or control over us...
Our nation is becoming more mean-spirited, intolerant, hateful, ruthless, greedy, bigoted (i.e. homophobic, sexist, classist, racist) than we have ever been before... it is much more overt now... more verbal... more acted upon... more demonstrated... more legislated... more normative and more accepted than ever before...
and it makes me sad, angry, frustrated... and DETERMINED to put something ELSE out there in the world around me... to expose these ways of darkness and let shine the light of love, grace, peace, justice, truth and civility with others...
Jesus taught me that in word and example.
I will strive to follow Jesus in how I am in the world.
Pastor Jamie
Intolerance of others is the symptom of an arrogant hubris that comes out of a desire for prestige and position... being seen as being higher than others... complete with a false sense of entitlement and superiority...
Hatred comes out of fear... the fear of knowing that we view others who are differently with disdain and that they will react badly that we do... fear that others might have within them the same malice toward others that we hold within ourselves... fear that others might do what we THINK of doing - to us... fear of being found out for the horrible intolerance we have for others not like ourselves...
Greed is central to our being... it drives our goals, makes us predators with others for "more", demands our devotion all the time and skews how we look at value - the value of other human beings and their needs put aside... it drives us to get quick and large profit at the expense of others or EVERYONE else... because nothing else matters than what WE want... MORE of everything...
Lust for Power consumes many in our culture... the overwhelming desire to be in control over others and get what we want, in order to gain in wealth or prestige/position, or to get things the way WE want them... even on the backs of others they dominate... power OVER others, rather than self-control in our own lives is the desire, and it makes us into what we have never valued in people who have abused their power or control over us...
Our nation is becoming more mean-spirited, intolerant, hateful, ruthless, greedy, bigoted (i.e. homophobic, sexist, classist, racist) than we have ever been before... it is much more overt now... more verbal... more acted upon... more demonstrated... more legislated... more normative and more accepted than ever before...
and it makes me sad, angry, frustrated... and DETERMINED to put something ELSE out there in the world around me... to expose these ways of darkness and let shine the light of love, grace, peace, justice, truth and civility with others...
Jesus taught me that in word and example.
I will strive to follow Jesus in how I am in the world.
Pastor Jamie
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Racism's "New Normal"
People who have claimed that we live in a "post-racism" age, are either VERY optimistic, delusional or actively trying to get away with their blatant racism. Since 2008 (yes, THE election), we have seen a RETURN to normalized hatred. Provoked by the election of a person of color to the Presidency, the racism of some that was once a slow, low burning and thinly covered ember of false entitlement and hatred under the surface, got oxygen and erupted into flames. Further fueled by the rhetoric of the political "right" and their propaganda machine talking heads, it continues to flame up and threatens to consume the soul of our nation. What once was almost universally rejected as unacceptable verbiage is now common place again, as people who are emboldened by the radical racists feel comfortable spewing their petty and hateful bile publicly again. The taking away of public funding for urban poor even as high party officials vomit up their disdain for "those people" (and we all know who "those people" are), has been accepted by both parties in Congress. Voter suppression efforts have been justified out of the thinly veiled concern over "voter fraud", have been exposed as RACISM, made clear because of its virtual non-existence.
I live in Georgia, so I am not surprised to see blatant racism demonstrated openly around me. It is unfortunate, but true. But it seems that the intolerance of the WHOLE nation has reached a new high (LOW), and the rhetoric, actions and even laws that have been passed are CLEARLY expressions of that. Rational people knew that "Stand Your Ground" laws were written for gun toting whites in Florida, Georgia and elsewhere. The ways they have been selectively used in favor of whites surprises none of us. That they have not been summarily thrown out is beyond us, however, along with the new "carry anywhere in public" laws that a few, backward states have also been passing. Just when I thought Gerrymandering was the most blatant acceptable form of racial discrimination in elections, then states that had to be monitored because of their history of blatant racism were let "off the hook" by the Supreme Court, and now can use voter suppression laws and ARE using them to guarantee that the party that favors wealthy over poor and middle class, the party that stands for the majority (not of number, but of power) in the nation always being wealthy and white, the party that has consistently, persistently and systematically done all they can to keep people of color down and out gets more control and stays in power.
The false sense of entitlement, out of ethnocentrism and xenophobia was provoked by the election of this President. The obstructionist Congress actively kills efforts to help the economy of the WHOLE nation, help the WHOLE nation with affordable healthcare and improve the life of the WHOLE nation in other ways (ecologically, energy, jobs, organized labor, living wage, etc., etc.) just to punish this President... they hurt EVERYONE to hurt him (the new racism), and people support them out of their own hatreds (the new classism). Now, the hateful words and actions, even laws regarding their bodies are now being felt more deeply by women in our nation, as even the possibility of Hillary Clinton running is out there (the new sexism). The anti-gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender rhetoric and actions are being felt and even exported abroad by those on the political and "Christian" right, even as more equal rights have been gained in recent years for them (the new homophobia). Those who feel threatened by these things expose their hearts of hatred, intolerance and greed over and over again by their words and actions. Their words and actions do not demonstrate righteousness or morality, purity of motive or integrity. They demonstrate the HATRED in their hearts. That some call themselves "Christians" is truly troubling. That some of them consider themselves "human" is even dubious. Can we be fully HUMAN and be so hateful and intolerant of others? Isn't there some level of arrested (human, moral) development being demonstrated here?
Put Love, Joy, Peace, Tolerance, Acceptance, Equality, Equity and Justice out there, my sisters and brothers who would truly follow Jesus or ANY sense of human decency. I am with you. Pray and WORK for the day when LOVE conquers HATRED, even more consistently, intentionally and persistently than their efforts.
Pastor Jamie
I live in Georgia, so I am not surprised to see blatant racism demonstrated openly around me. It is unfortunate, but true. But it seems that the intolerance of the WHOLE nation has reached a new high (LOW), and the rhetoric, actions and even laws that have been passed are CLEARLY expressions of that. Rational people knew that "Stand Your Ground" laws were written for gun toting whites in Florida, Georgia and elsewhere. The ways they have been selectively used in favor of whites surprises none of us. That they have not been summarily thrown out is beyond us, however, along with the new "carry anywhere in public" laws that a few, backward states have also been passing. Just when I thought Gerrymandering was the most blatant acceptable form of racial discrimination in elections, then states that had to be monitored because of their history of blatant racism were let "off the hook" by the Supreme Court, and now can use voter suppression laws and ARE using them to guarantee that the party that favors wealthy over poor and middle class, the party that stands for the majority (not of number, but of power) in the nation always being wealthy and white, the party that has consistently, persistently and systematically done all they can to keep people of color down and out gets more control and stays in power.
The false sense of entitlement, out of ethnocentrism and xenophobia was provoked by the election of this President. The obstructionist Congress actively kills efforts to help the economy of the WHOLE nation, help the WHOLE nation with affordable healthcare and improve the life of the WHOLE nation in other ways (ecologically, energy, jobs, organized labor, living wage, etc., etc.) just to punish this President... they hurt EVERYONE to hurt him (the new racism), and people support them out of their own hatreds (the new classism). Now, the hateful words and actions, even laws regarding their bodies are now being felt more deeply by women in our nation, as even the possibility of Hillary Clinton running is out there (the new sexism). The anti-gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender rhetoric and actions are being felt and even exported abroad by those on the political and "Christian" right, even as more equal rights have been gained in recent years for them (the new homophobia). Those who feel threatened by these things expose their hearts of hatred, intolerance and greed over and over again by their words and actions. Their words and actions do not demonstrate righteousness or morality, purity of motive or integrity. They demonstrate the HATRED in their hearts. That some call themselves "Christians" is truly troubling. That some of them consider themselves "human" is even dubious. Can we be fully HUMAN and be so hateful and intolerant of others? Isn't there some level of arrested (human, moral) development being demonstrated here?
Put Love, Joy, Peace, Tolerance, Acceptance, Equality, Equity and Justice out there, my sisters and brothers who would truly follow Jesus or ANY sense of human decency. I am with you. Pray and WORK for the day when LOVE conquers HATRED, even more consistently, intentionally and persistently than their efforts.
Pastor Jamie
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