what it is...

Elected officials of Congress are elected to represent ALL the people, not just in their areas but in the nation.

They are NOT elected to represent only the most RADICAL FRINGES, the WEALTHIEST, the most POWERFUL or INFLUENTIAL.  ALL THE PEOPLE... to protect the interests of ALL CITIZENS...

What we have here is OBSTRUCTIONISTS...
   They obstruct the economic growth of the many poor, in the interests of the few wealthy...
   They obstruct the stability of the middle class, because a few profit from them being unstable,
             and joining the ranks of the poor...
   They obstruct the empowerment of the many weak, in the interests of the few powerful...
   They obstruct the responsible stewardship of the whole planet, in the interests of the few who profit
             from its waste, pollution and ultimate destruction...
   They obstruct peace, because there is profit in war...
   They obstruct justice, because there is profit and power in corruption and injustice...
   They obstruct equality, because there is more power for a few when people are pitted against each
             other...
   They obstruct equitable education, housing, utilities, healthcare, taxes, employment, wages and
             other necessities for a society to flourish, because a few profit from inequitable treatment...

They obstruct EVERYTHING this President tries to do...
    to dig us out of the economic hole we were thrown into the last time they were in power...
    treat people with equality, equity and dignity, regarding race, ethnicity, sexual orientation
             and gender...
    grant healthcare to ALL in the nation...
    promote the well being of MANY MORE citizens in the nation...
in fact, they obstruct EVERYTHING this President tries to do at all...

because of their Racism, Sexism, Classism, Homophobia, Ethnocentrism, Xenophobia, Greed, and Lust for Power...
    driven by their ruthlessness and fueled by a strong and false sense of superiority and entitlement...

What it is... is that these nuts got into office because the extremist nuts voted in 2010... many
    progressives and people with any heart or soul, did not...
What it is... is that if we want truly representative government, we must vote in 2014...

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN "OFF YEAR" ELECTION anymore...

THIS MUST CHANGE, or our nation and its soul will be lost...

VOTE... NOT only for your own interests, but for those of the most vulnerable and ALL others in the nation...

Pastor Jamie
  

our true colors showing...

Many have talked about us being in a "post racism" age, since we elected a black President.  Indeed, the world took note of that rather progressive event, and many across the globe saw it as a hopeful sign for us...

The vehement hatred that has been spewing from the mouths, writings, broadcasts and actions, even legislation since then has also been noticed.  The obstructionist Congress and the hateful posts, articles, demonstrations and rhetoric have born witness to our deep-seeded racism as a nation, and the desperate, panicked and ruthless efforts to "take back" America from, well, we know who, betrays a people afraid of losing their entitlement by race and economic class.  It has not gone unnoticed.

The political refugee children, here because desperate parents weighed their risk at home vs. their risk of a very dangerous trip (some of them alone), and had them make that trip, are being screamed at by radical American Talibanists at the border and actively targeted for deportation by their representatives in the Reprobate Party... Strike the words "bring me your tired, your poor, your huddle masses, longing to be free" from the statue.  We stopped wanting them years ago (1981).

Voter rights suppression is on the rise again, with gerrymandering (even blatantly illegal stuff in FL).
Take out the words, "All men (people) are created equal."  We NEVER believed that.

The KKK is actively recruiting in Florida and Georgia.  People can openly carry weapons in most public places in those states, even in bars and church and near the polls... think about that...

Women's rights... once getting more and more secure... are now being stripped over decisions regarding their bodies... over income equality... over upward mobility in the workplace... over insurance that covers their protection and responsible living sexually... over RELIGIOUS rights by corporations...

The Koch brothers are backing with billions those who will further gut any strength of organized labor in an attempt to return us to the gilded age of the 20's, during which (like now) only the few had the money and the many struggled to survive...They have already purchased the Congress and Supreme Court toward those ends... what more do they need?

We are itchin' to get BACK INTO one war we left, STAY in the other and FIND ANOTHER, so we can feed the oil industry and military industrial complex... blood for oil is an acceptable exchange for the Reprobates hawks...

We are privatizing schools and prisons, so there will be a direct pipeline between them for our young brown and black males in the future... and inmates will be shipped to fields and factories to offer labor profitable only to the prisons... sound familiar??????

With all of these things getting more firmly in place everyday, the Reprobate Politicians have the time to waste millions on witch hunts over Benghazi, truly frivolous lawsuits against the President and impeachment rhetoric...

BECAUSE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ALLOW IT.
They represent us.  If they are NOT representing us, then we need to elect those who WILL.  If they ARE representing us, then they are showing how hateful, ruthless, greedy,  power hungry, corrupt, mean-spirited, predatory, racist, classist, homophobic, sexist, ethnocentric, xenophobic, nationalistic and (did I mention?) ruthless we are... OUR TRUE COLORS ARE SHOWING...

Is that the America you want us to be as YOUR nation?
NO?
WRITE, CALL, SPEAK, DEMONSTRATE and VOTE (while you still can)....

If the Congress remains in the hands of the Reprobate Party, and if the Senate falls into their hands, the President WILL BE SUED, and WILL BE IMPEACHED, and at the very least, NOTHING GOOD WILL HAPPEN for another 2 years, until we awaken from our apathetic, complacent slumber and VOTE AGAIN (if that right has not been taken away from you)... out of desperation...

Rather than do that, why not be PRO-ACTIVE?  Keep it moving in a progressive, compassionate, kind, generous, accepting (or at least tolerant), reasonable, rational, civilized direction!!!!!!  It truly is in your hands, and mine and those of those around us, who either know from us what we believe is a better way, or they do not.

Prayer is ACTION.  ACTION is our prayer.  Pray and act out of Agape Love.

Pastor Jamie

What it's all about (for me)...

It is not about purity or holiness, at least not according to Jesus...
It is not about worship, praise, tithes according to Jesus...
It is not about being a part of an institution, social club or cult according to Jesus...

It is ALL ABOUT...
   living Agape Love... active commitment on behalf of the other... both God and Neighbor
It is ALL ABOUT...
   Keeping HIS Commands, as Jesus repeatedly taught...
   Abiding in HIS Word
   Denying Self, Taking up the Cross and Following Jesus
         what He commanded, taught and exemplified, as we have it in the Gospels...

If I want to follow Jesus, I must go where Jesus went...
   I must live Agape Love, even on my way to the Cross...
  
Jesus, Fulfiller of the Law and Prophets... Savior and Lord of my Life...
   Commands... Teaches... Exemplifies Agape Love for all who would follow Him...

So, to follow Him...
   to submit my will to His Will for my life
   to conform my way to His Way for how I live in this part of God's Kingdom
        makes great sense to me, not just for my sake, but for the world around me...

If we lived what Jesus commanded, taught and exemplified in the world around us,
   the world would be a VERY different place... an Agape Loving place...

I want to live those Kingdom Values of Jesus here and now, and hope that in some small
   way it will offer light for the path of others around me...

So, what I live, what I preach and teach, what I write will be about Jesus' Way,
   and my striving will be that of actively living what Jesus taught, commanded and
   showed as Kingdom Values for me to live in this part of God's Kingdom...

It is a good way, the best way for me.

Pastor Jamie

Simple

It's really simple...
The wealthy class, a very small minority, the epitome of which is the Koch brothers...
Energize the Religious "right" on issues, use fear and provoke hatred...
To keep those in government who would lift the poor and strengthen the working class from having
    any power...

The end goal is
NOT a more faithful America...
NOT your benefit...
NOT justice, equality or equity...
NOT your democratic rights...
NOT the well being of the whole nation...

The end goal is
simply THEIR unchecked GREED and lust for POWER getting them more at our expense...

They do not care about you.
They will use you, manipulate you, exploit you to get more for themselves.

If you support them, you are working toward your demise and the end of our democracy
   or any relative prosperity average American citizens can have...

If you allow them to pit you against minorities (sexual orientation, religious, race, class), then you are
    their tools that will be used to hurt others and eventually yourself - our whole nation...

When it is all said and done -
Will you support ALL people and their democratic rights and ability to sustain their lives,
    or will you support the very FEW who will get all they can at the expense of all others?

As a follower of JESUS, I must expose their works of darkness and lift up those who have been hurt
    by them, keep others from being hurt by them and end the conditions that allow them to hurt any
    others.

Will you be the servant of God in this struggle, or the servant of the Greedy and Powerful?

Pastor Jamie

hopeful signs

I must say,
after the radical actions of the ruthless, greedy, hateful in politics and economics...
I see positive signs of people responding and acting to counter the pain caused by them...
recently, I have taken hope in...

numerous states raising their minimum wage, some even to a  LIVING WAGE of $15 per hour...
numerous states ending the ban on equality in marriage...
numerous church bodies are standing in solidarity with gay and lesbian folk...
people responding to threats of "suing" our President by giving generously to his party...
people standing up to the loss of buffer zones around family planning clinics by suggesting
     that people "get in the face of" conservative folk as they protest...

we need to speak TRUTH to power, especially when it hurts others...
OUT OF LOVE...
OUT OF NECESSITY...
OUT OF CIVILITY...

people are standing up to the insane and extreme gun lobbyist efforts...
people are standing up to the racist hate-mongers in Washington...
people are standing up to the greedy oligarchs who want to buy our government...
people are standing up to the sexists who want women to have no rights, no equal pay...
people are standing up classists who hurt the poor and then blame them for their plight...
people are standing up to those who want to crush organized labor so they can exploit workers...

it is the AGAPE LOVING thing to do...
so, are YOU doing it?

Speak, write, petition, demonstrate, VOTE... out of Agape Love (self-less, unconditional, active commitment on behalf of the other) ... the world will be a better place for it...

Pastor Jamie

normalized hatred and our national identity

the extremes are what get noticed
the nation is getting more polarized - certainly economically and politically
    also in faith practice and social interaction
and the level of intolerance is on the rise
the level of violence is on the rise... especially shooting deaths
everyone carrying guns is not just an effect of that, but also its cause

an argument at a Waffle House escalated from water being thrown to someone being shot and killed
an argument in traffic ended up with one being followed home and killed
an attack on a courthouse by a single, well armed, individual
the pre-meditated, random murder of off-duty police officers by a couple at a restaurant
arguments over sports, politics, parking, the volume level of one's music, one's choice in music,
    wearing ritual garments, wearing certain colors, and just being of a certain ethnicity
    now moves quickly to intolerance, words, physical altercation and death

we objectify those different from us,
    vilify them, de-humanize them and then feel justified... just because they are not "like us",
    to say or do whatever we feel like saying or doing, without thought, conscience or
    the consideration of consequences to them and their loved ones, our selves and our society...

impulsive hatred
compulsive hatred
immediate hatred
from deep within, now right on the surface...
normalized hatred

Is that REALLY who we want to be?
Is it REALLY who we think God wants us to be?
Do we REALLY believe we can in ANY WAY be justified in this?
Is it REALLY the world we want to create and then have to live in?

Who will say, "NO!  HELL NO!"?
Who will stand up and say, "ENOUGH!"?

Instead of adding fuel to the fire (responses of hatred, more guns, fighting fire with fire), who will try the ALTERNATIVE... teach the ALTERNATIVE... exemplify the ALTERNATIVE... and tolerate, accept, even celebrate the other and live lovingly, graciously and kindly?

Will it be you?  Will it be me?
If not us, then who?

Pastor Jamie

Our Arrogant Hubris

On tomorrow, June 2, we will celebrate the 90th Anniversary (1924) of Native Americans being granted citizenship in the U.S..  Yes, you read that correctly.  After generations of displacement and genocide, we were KIND ENOUGH to grant the original inhabitants of this land with citizenship in it.

For over 300 years, we bought as "sub-human" property, people who were kidnapped from their lands, and used them for free labor in our economy.  We took away their language, names, families and heritage, justifying it with MANY bogus arguments.  Eventually granting them "some" civil rights, we continue to systematically, intentionally and ruthlessly hold as many of them down as we can.

In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo annexed California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and parts of Wyoming and Colorado from Mexico.  We stole it by sending our citizens to populate it illegally, and then starting a war so we could "legally" take it away from them, ending the violence with peace negotiations.
For generations, we BROUGHT Braceros across the border from those stolen lands to work for CHEAP, un-substantial labor in our fields (up North in the Summer and down South in the Winter), so that we can enjoy relatively inexpensive produce.  Now, private prisons will be "farming out" their inmates to the fields and factories, charging the farmers and owners for the profit of the executives and stock holders, transforming convicted criminals (some of whom have suffered GROSS injustice with long sentences) into slaves for these plantation owners.  Because of that, we are actively DEPORTING those who have worked and lived here for generations.  We are done with them.

American companies continue to colonize the world with gated communities for their executives, who hire local laborers on "their" property, but who are locked out of the walled, guarded communities after dark.  We plant the flag of not only America, but also the logos of those American companies in foreign nations so that we can benefit from the cheap labor, exploitable national resources and lack of regulations regarding the destruction and pollution of their land, water and air.

Our arrogant sense of hubris is lived out in nationalism, ethnocentrism, xenophobia - all out of a false sense of superiority.

We hate these people as a nation because we OWE these people.  We are STILL without penance for the deeds we have done to them.  In fact, we now do the same things by more subtle means, through our economic and military power.

We claim that any who hate us, hate us because they hate "freedom" or are just jealous of us.  We label any who strike out against us as being villains and "terrorists".  We have earned all of it, as a nation.

We hate them because we have WRONGED THEM and we know it, but our arrogant hubris (redundancy intentional) continues to shape our values.

Unconscionable.  IMMORAL.
It is time that we truly REPENT (change our thinking so that our behaviors and actions will change).

Pastor Jamie