Heritage of Hatred

My heritage is German and Dutch. I no doubt had some relatives who fought under the Nazi flag... I do not embrace THAT heritage... I do not fly a Swaztika flag, which was not a symbol of a nation, but of a normalized movement of economic, military power centered on bigotry and built on hatred and built on the backs of enslaved peoples and was expressed in the genocide of millions.
I am glad that we do not still fly the version of the American flag flown by Texicans who squatted on lands outside our territories and provoked through ramped up aggression a series of battles that created martyrs and ended in us forcing the treaty of Guadalupe hidalgo, so we could steal much of Mexico from that sovereign nation, and so that "our" citizens could steal the lands owned by generations of people who lived there, but who had no legal representation or "appropriate" legal documentation to prove it.
I am glad we do not fly the flag of 1848 also because it was the year that our FEDERAL GOVERNMENT reimbursed mining settlers $1million for BULLETS used to kill native Americans just in the Sacramento Valley... money they collected by producing the scalps of those "barbaric heathen"...
... and the Confederate flag, that is the banner of a movement, considered even a nation by some, a way of life based on an economy built on the enslavement of people, dehumanizing them to be considered chattel, kidnapped and sold... out of a false sense of superiority, entitlement and privilege... wealthy, white landowners getting wealthy for generations on the backs of black slaves through a white construct of race, and some share-croppers because they were easily exploited, who were also turned against others based on race to keep them under the boots of those who "owned them"... it was the banner of a movement, a hateful heritage, because the confederacy is gone... it no longer represents the CSA... but a movement in hearts and minds, where the heritage of hatred continues... a desperate holding on of false superiority, supremacy, entitlement and privilege... based on power over others... which brings memories and images of the "good ole days" for them, and the BAD OLD DAYS for those whose heritage was the victimization of these ruthless folk... I HAD to protest in Columbia on Saturday... we must rid ourselves of these banners of a hateful heritage that further embolden the bigots whose vehement contempt for our President is already unchecked, whose murders of unarmed young black men and women by the police go unchallenged, and whose voter suppression efforts go un-addressed... these are desperate attempts by desperate people to hold onto their false supremacy, privilege and entitlement... a hateful heritage... we necessarily need NOT to let that be displayed... particularly on ANY public land or property...
Pastors - we need to NOT BE IRRELEVANT to the time in which we live (rough quote of Rev. Al Sharpton), the circumstances in which we experience injustice, greed, unrest and gross abuses of power... our silence is compliance, and it SCREAMS of our irrelevance in these situations! The Gospel of Jesus addresses it, when we preach it, teach it and live it... Pastor Jamie

What is the GOOD news?

I rant and rave often in this blog about what is wrong. 
I believe that we need to expose the works of darkness, and
defend those who are hurt by them...
I believe that loving others means advocating them, standing
with them, lending them our power, our presence, our voices...
I believe that loving "the least of these" children of God is
our call as humans, and especially as people who claim to be
followers of Jesus... and loving them with the Agape Love
commanded by Jesus means ACTIVE commitment on their
behalf and not some warm, sympathetic feelings...
I prefer EMPATHY that does not distance, but rather draws
from within me an understanding and desire to closely
walk with those who God loves and positively affect their
well-being...
The GOOD NEWS of Jesus compels me to live that Agape
Love...
So, the Good News in all this is that when we expose the
works of darkness that hurt others, we ARE shedding LIGHT
on them... and when we clearly see what they are, we are
compelled by Agape Love to first, defend those who are being
victimized by them, and then eliminate them...
The Good News for you is that someone did that for YOU!
The Good News for others is that the someone who did that
for you, compels you to do that for OTHERS...
Instead of requesting supernatural interventions, why not pray
for the kind of strength, commitment, compassion and
endurance it takes to LIVE the Agape Love commanded in the
Good News of Jesus, and CHANGE THE WORLD AROUND
YOU?
That would be living the Good News, indeed!
Pastor Jamie

Part of Loving

It is a natural part of loving to defend those who you love.
It is a natural thing to stand with those who need support,
    to lend one's voice to those who have none,
    to use one's power for the powerless,
    and expose the works of those who would hurt them,
        shield them from lack or harm
        and work to assure their well-being.
If that means speaking truth to power,
    standing up against the prevailing, punishing powers
    standing WITH those who one loves, who God loves,
         voicing truth and justice to the lies and injustice of others...
    then that is what one who loves does.
Prophets love.
Activists love.
Followers of Jesus love.
So we ACT on that love on behalf of others.
   We speak, we write, we demonstrate, we demand, we work
         toward the day when all are treated with justice and
         equity, equality, peace and have well-being...
So when those who would want to profit off the exploitation
    of others complain about "class warfare", we continue to
    work against them.
And when those who hate ANYONE and discriminate against
    ANYONE for ANY reason complain that their religions
    or civic rights are violated when they are kept from doing
    so, we continue to work against them.
When equal education, affordable housing, transportation, food,
    jobs, livable wages, insurance, safety, clean air, water and
    land are withheld from any of God's people for the increased
    profit of a few, we continue to work against them...
because it is NOT what we are against that matters,
    but what we are FOR...
    that we LOVE them... THAT is what matters to us,
    because our protest, our insistence and our action is out of
    LOVE... and love never ends!
Pastor Jamie