What is the point of claiming a faith, any faith, if one walks away from that tenets of that faith?
What is the point of claiming a Lord, if one does not follow the way of that Lord?
If we claim to be "Christian" but do not live by the tenets of the faith, especially those of the Christ who is Lord of those who claim the faith, of what good is the claim?
If we worship, praise and tithe to please God, but do not live what Jesus our Lord taught, commanded and modeled for us to live in this part of God's Kingdom, of what good are our efforts to please the God who sent Jesus and His Good News?
Jesus' instruction (often harsh) for correction among the Pharisees, as we have that in the Gospels, shows us that claiming a heritage, claiming a position and claiming to be representatives of the faith mean nothing if folk are unwilling to live what God calls us to live.
Jesus' examples of faithfulness, as we have them in the Gospels, are always folk who exhibited Agape Love and Grace with others around them in how they lived, flying in the face of the Empire values that others around them had adopted as their normative behavior.
One cannot hate (xenophobia, ethnocentrism, racism, classism, religiophobia, homophobia, misogyny, extremist ideologue) in words or actions AND follow Jesus. Hatred from fear, hubris, greed or any other source causes divisions that the Jesus of the Gospels condemned in very strong terms. Jesus instead commanded His followers to love stranger and enemy and help them in life, along with the most vulnerable among us. Jesus stood on the side of the Refugee. Jesus stood with the Laborer. Jesus stood with people of other ethnicities, faiths and genders. Jesus stood with the poor. Jesus powerfully identified with "the least" in a society divided and exploited by empire, and commanded His followers to help them. His basis for salvation (Matthew 25:31-46) is centered in how people of God treat them and thereby treat HIM, according to the Gospel.
Do you call yourself a "Christian"?
Have you read what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled in the Gospels?
Do you strive to live what Jesus, Son of God, Redeemer, Savior and fulfiller of Law and Prophets taught, commanded and modeled in the Gospels?
If not, what's the point?
If so, continue to strive to be the (Agape) Loving and Gracious person Jesus calls you to be in how you live here and now, in THIS PART of God's Kingdom.
With you in Jesus' Way,
Pastor Jamie
People of the Way of Jesus
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Sunday, January 20, 2019
It's in the Gathering
It's in the gathering that we connect in real and powerful ways.
Like when Jesus was the impetous for over 5,000 to gather, when folk gather around Good News AND to stand up to the bad news it raises the spirit of community and gives hope in hopelessness and brings determination to bear on our despair.
I was gathered with thousands on yesterday, a diversity of persons standing with one another and against oppressive, corrupt, unscrupulous, deceitful, exploitative and bigoted forces that have been present for many years but more prominent in the past few.The signs carried reflected a lot of different concerns and perspectives but we all gathered in one crowd and with one voice raised our solidarity to demand justice for all, equality for all, equitable treatment for all and well-being for all. It lifted my spirit to be a part of this event, as it has for three years, just as it lifts my heart to be a part of a worshiping assembly that are mindful of how to apply our spirituality to life and social issues in it.
We live in an age of isolation. Folk are sometimes only connected online and/or through social media outlets. We throw words out there, even great thoughts and words, without physically gathering together. What is lost is looking into the eyes of others who come to share their life experiences, pains and joys. What is lost is hearing the voices of others share a unity of thought and desire. What is lost is touching others around us, physically and emotionally, in solidarity with a unified presence. What is lost is the power of the people, united. I believe that sharing our words of agreement, empathy, compassion and solidarity is important by whatever means available to us. I also believe that there is no substitute for gathering with others in unity and solidarity toward the well-being of all. It is in these gatherings that God's presence, power and love are most wonderfully experienced.
I hope you have community. I hope you have others with whom you can gather, maybe to be fed with bread and Good News and maybe to then experience the powerful lifting of hearts and minds to stand with the most vulnerable, stand up to power and stand for justice and well-being for all.
Folk are out there waiting for you to join them in fighting the beautiful fight. To quote the father of Vernon Johns, my favorite Civil Rights icon, "My daddy always said, 'If you see a good fight, get in it.'"
See ya out there,
Pastor Jamie
Like when Jesus was the impetous for over 5,000 to gather, when folk gather around Good News AND to stand up to the bad news it raises the spirit of community and gives hope in hopelessness and brings determination to bear on our despair.
I was gathered with thousands on yesterday, a diversity of persons standing with one another and against oppressive, corrupt, unscrupulous, deceitful, exploitative and bigoted forces that have been present for many years but more prominent in the past few.The signs carried reflected a lot of different concerns and perspectives but we all gathered in one crowd and with one voice raised our solidarity to demand justice for all, equality for all, equitable treatment for all and well-being for all. It lifted my spirit to be a part of this event, as it has for three years, just as it lifts my heart to be a part of a worshiping assembly that are mindful of how to apply our spirituality to life and social issues in it.
We live in an age of isolation. Folk are sometimes only connected online and/or through social media outlets. We throw words out there, even great thoughts and words, without physically gathering together. What is lost is looking into the eyes of others who come to share their life experiences, pains and joys. What is lost is hearing the voices of others share a unity of thought and desire. What is lost is touching others around us, physically and emotionally, in solidarity with a unified presence. What is lost is the power of the people, united. I believe that sharing our words of agreement, empathy, compassion and solidarity is important by whatever means available to us. I also believe that there is no substitute for gathering with others in unity and solidarity toward the well-being of all. It is in these gatherings that God's presence, power and love are most wonderfully experienced.
I hope you have community. I hope you have others with whom you can gather, maybe to be fed with bread and Good News and maybe to then experience the powerful lifting of hearts and minds to stand with the most vulnerable, stand up to power and stand for justice and well-being for all.
Folk are out there waiting for you to join them in fighting the beautiful fight. To quote the father of Vernon Johns, my favorite Civil Rights icon, "My daddy always said, 'If you see a good fight, get in it.'"
See ya out there,
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Don't Shut Down
The Federal Government is shut down.
Sanity, Integrity, Equity and Justice are being shut down.
Our standing with allies all over the world has been shut down.
Businesses and Industries have now started to shut down.
Half the time the stock market is shutting down.
The hopes of assylum seekers at our border are being shut down.
The words on the Statue of Liberty which we no longer mean as a nation are, fittingly shut down.
Civil Public Discourse has shut down.
A government of the people, by the people and for the people is being shut down with every
agency and department appointment.
The Supreme Court non-partisan status is being shut down.
The protections over our food safety, environment with clean water, clean air and livable ground is
being shut down for the sake of profit.
Regulations that safeguard our lives are being shut down for the sake of profit.
A value for rational thought, science, objective facts is all but shut down.
The hopes of the middle class and the poor (for years now) have been shut down.
What thrives... what has been opened up... started now in our nation...
are corruption, inequality, hatreds, intolerances, greed, manipulation, exploitation, lust for power, abuses of power and desire for status with insanity, "alternative facts" and false patriotism with a false, sick, hateful civil religion and INSECURITY for our nation.
In the midst of all this,
WE DARE NOT SHUT DOWN!
Stay healthy! Stay aware that this is not normal or necessary! Stay committed! Stay vigilant! Stay active in opposition to all that is being shut down and all that is replacing it!
In the face of all this chaos, uncertainty and insanity - WE DARE NOT SHUT DOWN!
We must again open up!
Keep the Faith! Keep on the Pressure!
Pastor Jamie
Sanity, Integrity, Equity and Justice are being shut down.
Our standing with allies all over the world has been shut down.
Businesses and Industries have now started to shut down.
Half the time the stock market is shutting down.
The hopes of assylum seekers at our border are being shut down.
The words on the Statue of Liberty which we no longer mean as a nation are, fittingly shut down.
Civil Public Discourse has shut down.
A government of the people, by the people and for the people is being shut down with every
agency and department appointment.
The Supreme Court non-partisan status is being shut down.
The protections over our food safety, environment with clean water, clean air and livable ground is
being shut down for the sake of profit.
Regulations that safeguard our lives are being shut down for the sake of profit.
A value for rational thought, science, objective facts is all but shut down.
The hopes of the middle class and the poor (for years now) have been shut down.
What thrives... what has been opened up... started now in our nation...
are corruption, inequality, hatreds, intolerances, greed, manipulation, exploitation, lust for power, abuses of power and desire for status with insanity, "alternative facts" and false patriotism with a false, sick, hateful civil religion and INSECURITY for our nation.
In the midst of all this,
WE DARE NOT SHUT DOWN!
Stay healthy! Stay aware that this is not normal or necessary! Stay committed! Stay vigilant! Stay active in opposition to all that is being shut down and all that is replacing it!
In the face of all this chaos, uncertainty and insanity - WE DARE NOT SHUT DOWN!
We must again open up!
Keep the Faith! Keep on the Pressure!
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Season of Light
So, I wake up and go to work in the darkness.
I drive home from work in the darkness.
It feels like 10pm at 6pm.
But today we celebrate Epiphany, the season of light to the nations.
It begins the season of Epiphany.
In this time that psychologists call "the dark night of the soul" because of heightened Season Affect Disorders and Depression along with post holiday despair... we celebrate the LIGHT to ALL people. I like that.
Putting Vitamin D aside for a moment, I believe the real shot in the arm for folk at this time of year is to focus on the LIGHT in the Darkness. The light is most pronounced in the deepest darkness. The light illumines one's path and is a beacon for direction in some cases and a warning of danger in others. The light is what we make it to be for us, and it is most necessary in our lives.
Light is hope. It is the hope of a people who have not only "walked in darkness" but who "dwell in deep darkness", that darkness will not overcome them or the light. It is the hope that the despair of being occupied and oppressed by whatever persons or groups, systems or forces will not ultimately triumph, but that the God of all peoples and nations will bring justice and peace to all people and nations.
Light is truth. It is the illumination of what is true in the face of lies. It exposes what lies in the darkness for what it is and by doing so allows people to see clearly and name those things of darkness that occupy and oppress them in their lives. It represents a refusal to give in to the darknesses of relativism, alternative facts, corruption, abuses of power, victimization, exploitation and propaganda designed to create new norms based on falsehood and hatred.
Light is goodness. It is the healthy, caring way that counters the harmful, hateful and destructive ways of darkness within the heart and in community. It draws from the truth and hope that lead us to do what is good for all people, as opposed to those things done in the darkness in order to benefit only the few at the expense of the many. It is an expression of "the better angels of our nature" that would be liberal in sowing well-being for all, instead of inequitable benefits among us.
I embrace the darkness and its calmness, reflection, rest and centering at this time of year. I am able to embrace it because of the warmth of the light that represents for me the presence of well-being and wholeness, completeness and peace.
I believe that we HAVE the Light given to us in order to BE the Light for others around us. I am not called or empowered to hold the light within, which maintains and promotes darkness around me. I am called and empowered to let my light shine in the world so that it may illumine the lives of those around me and promote light in community around me.
So, I strive to put HOPE and TRUTH and GOODNESS out in the world around me, for that is the world in which I live, along with others who God loves. I shed with the darkness the things that lead to despair and destruction for some as I live HOPE for all. I shed with the darkness the things that lead to hatred and division for many today as I live TRUTH with all. I shed with the darkness the things that lead to exploitation and discrimination for the most as I live GOODNESS with all.
When we focus on the light, the darkness is of no consequence. I pray for the day when the darkness of despair, lies and bigotry will be of no consequence because we are all focused together on the light of Hope, Truth and Goodness. Then we will be "the Light of the World" that we are called to be, the light to all nations and all peoples in Agape Love.
Pastor Jamie
I drive home from work in the darkness.
It feels like 10pm at 6pm.
But today we celebrate Epiphany, the season of light to the nations.
It begins the season of Epiphany.
In this time that psychologists call "the dark night of the soul" because of heightened Season Affect Disorders and Depression along with post holiday despair... we celebrate the LIGHT to ALL people. I like that.
Putting Vitamin D aside for a moment, I believe the real shot in the arm for folk at this time of year is to focus on the LIGHT in the Darkness. The light is most pronounced in the deepest darkness. The light illumines one's path and is a beacon for direction in some cases and a warning of danger in others. The light is what we make it to be for us, and it is most necessary in our lives.
Light is hope. It is the hope of a people who have not only "walked in darkness" but who "dwell in deep darkness", that darkness will not overcome them or the light. It is the hope that the despair of being occupied and oppressed by whatever persons or groups, systems or forces will not ultimately triumph, but that the God of all peoples and nations will bring justice and peace to all people and nations.
Light is truth. It is the illumination of what is true in the face of lies. It exposes what lies in the darkness for what it is and by doing so allows people to see clearly and name those things of darkness that occupy and oppress them in their lives. It represents a refusal to give in to the darknesses of relativism, alternative facts, corruption, abuses of power, victimization, exploitation and propaganda designed to create new norms based on falsehood and hatred.
Light is goodness. It is the healthy, caring way that counters the harmful, hateful and destructive ways of darkness within the heart and in community. It draws from the truth and hope that lead us to do what is good for all people, as opposed to those things done in the darkness in order to benefit only the few at the expense of the many. It is an expression of "the better angels of our nature" that would be liberal in sowing well-being for all, instead of inequitable benefits among us.
I embrace the darkness and its calmness, reflection, rest and centering at this time of year. I am able to embrace it because of the warmth of the light that represents for me the presence of well-being and wholeness, completeness and peace.
I believe that we HAVE the Light given to us in order to BE the Light for others around us. I am not called or empowered to hold the light within, which maintains and promotes darkness around me. I am called and empowered to let my light shine in the world so that it may illumine the lives of those around me and promote light in community around me.
So, I strive to put HOPE and TRUTH and GOODNESS out in the world around me, for that is the world in which I live, along with others who God loves. I shed with the darkness the things that lead to despair and destruction for some as I live HOPE for all. I shed with the darkness the things that lead to hatred and division for many today as I live TRUTH with all. I shed with the darkness the things that lead to exploitation and discrimination for the most as I live GOODNESS with all.
When we focus on the light, the darkness is of no consequence. I pray for the day when the darkness of despair, lies and bigotry will be of no consequence because we are all focused together on the light of Hope, Truth and Goodness. Then we will be "the Light of the World" that we are called to be, the light to all nations and all peoples in Agape Love.
Pastor Jamie
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
New Year
New Chance.
New Opportunities.
New Possibilities.
New Hope.
New direction.
New dedication.
New commitment.
New action.
New relationships.
New completeness.
New wholeness.
New well-being.
New discipline.
New joyfulness.
New loving kindness.
New Grace.
In my 60th year of life, seven months from turning 60 years old,
I will embrace the one who says, "Behold, I make all things new."
I will be God's New Creation.
I will actively commit to living Agape Love in the world around me,
so that it might be new in transformation, in evolution, in renewal and
reconciliation and life.
Pastor Jamie
New Opportunities.
New Possibilities.
New Hope.
New direction.
New dedication.
New commitment.
New action.
New relationships.
New completeness.
New wholeness.
New well-being.
New discipline.
New joyfulness.
New loving kindness.
New Grace.
In my 60th year of life, seven months from turning 60 years old,
I will embrace the one who says, "Behold, I make all things new."
I will be God's New Creation.
I will actively commit to living Agape Love in the world around me,
so that it might be new in transformation, in evolution, in renewal and
reconciliation and life.
Pastor Jamie
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