more or less

There are those who say they want LESS Government, so that MORE power is concentrated in the hands of fewer people, LESS gets done to protect citizens' rights, and LESS gets done for the most vulnerable. There are those who say they want LESS Government regulation over business practices, so that MORE money is made for the few, and Greed becomes MORE the norm, so that the many can be more easily fleeced by them, and the economcy for the many is shot, while the few make more. Many of these same folks say they want MORE legislation over people's love lives and bodies, while adding MORE legislation to allow LESS restraint on those who would like to make discrimination a part of their religious freedoms. They also want MORE War, LESS responsibility for the lives of those who fight them for us, MORE profit out of war and LESS restraint in the inhumanities committed in War. They want MORE freedom to profile, harrass and openly kill young, black men. They want LESS participation by all citizens in the voting process. They want MORE profit and privitization of schools and prisons, so there is LESS education for the poorest among us, but MORE room for them in prison and the free labor they provide to farms and factories. They want LESS freedom for people to love who they love, and MORE freedom to openly hate them. They want MORE freedom to buy weapons with not limits, amd LESS affordable healthcare for our citizens. I believe that these attitudes, behaviors, philosophies and ideologies are MORE hurtful and therefore LESS Christ-like than those of the folks who oppose them, so I am one of them. Pastor Jamie PS - it was suggested by a good friend and doctor, that you look up "We are the many" by Makana on YouTube..., that it speaks to this very well... I agree!

I've got an idea...

How about...

Those in business who profess to be followers of Jesus
     pay their laborers their wages... all of them... in a timely way
     feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, give benefits for their employees who
           might get sick...hire those who were in prison...
     do not pay women 77% of what men in comparable positions/experience get
     do not find ways to keep from paying a living wage for your own bonuses and greater profit
and make ENOUGH... be satisfied with ENOUGH so that ALL can have enough...

Those in politics who profess to be a followers of Jesus
    feed the hungry and not take away their food stamps
    clothe the naked and not take away their assistance
    welcome the stranger and do not deport them
    keep ACA so the sick can get cared for, yes, even the poor ones
    create one justice system for ALL... the same for ALL...
    make sure that the penalties AFTER someone gets out of prison do not
          further marginalize them and limit their legal options
    do not kill the creation for the sake of more profit for their friends...
    do not take away from the poor and most vulnerable so the powerful rich have more
    do not jeopardize our nation's security by undermining our President
    do not do whatever it takes to rush off to war for more oil, profit
    do not create bogus scandals to misdirect folk from seeing the truth of their works of darkness
    do not make up lies to scare voters so that they will vote for them
    do not intentionally work to make voting impossible for the young and minorities AGAIN
    do not crush labor so that management can exploit people at will
    do not claim to be job creators and then lay off millions for the profit of a few
    do not claim to be "right to life" and Pro-death penalty
    do not claim control over women's bodies on some bogus claims of righteousness   
    do not claim that you love democracy when it is only laissez-faire capitalism that you love
    do not claim patriotism when you willingly sacrifice lives on trumped up wars to make profit...
    do not obstruct every progressive, caring, logical, reasonable, responsible bill or appointment
        because a. you HATE our black President, and 2. you HATE progress for others
    do not dupe the elderly into voting for you and then take away their financial support
    do not sell your votes to the highest lobbyist bidders...
    stop being duplicitous about EVERYIHING
    and
GOVERN all the people equally... represent ALL the people equally...

... and those regular citizens who profess to follow Jesus...

PATRONIZE ONLY BUSINESSES WHO TREAT THEIR EMPLOYEES WELL,
    PAY A LIVING WAGE... PROVIDE BENEFITS...
    DO NOT EXPLOIT WORKERS/RESOURCES OVERSEAS,
    PAY A FAIR PRICE FOR GOODS HERE AND ABROAD,
    KEEP PEOPLE EMPLOYED, EVEN WHEN TIMES ARE HARD...

VOTE FOR POLITICIANS WHO WILL TRULY FOLLOW JESUS
    IN THE DECISIONS THEY MAKE, ACTIONS THEY TAKE AND
    LAWS THEY WRITE...

Pastor Jamie 
   

work to do

The Good News of Jesus demands that Agape Love be lived. That brings about Peace, Justice and Equitable treatment of all God's children. In the world in which we live, the powers and principalities operate on a different system of values. Driven by greed and a lust for power, they seek self-indulgence at the expense of others. That runs contrary to Jesus' Good News. It is Anti-Christ. But how do we make a difference is a world that has this far gone down that path? 1. Know the Good News of Jesus. Read, learn, internalize and apply what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, as we have it in the Gospel witnesses. 2. Expose the works of darkness. When something is inconsistent, even or especially with what the church is doing, point it out, and remind folk of Jesus' more excellent way. 3. Be persistent in holding folk accountable for practicing what they preach. Hold anyone who claims the name of Jesus to the standard of His teachings, even (or especially) the church that bears His name. 4. Demonstrate Jesus' Good News Kingdom Values. LIVE Jesus' more excellent way of Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other) in the world around you, absent of judgment or intolerance, willing to forgive. 5. Speak, write and march out of Agape Love for Peace, Justice and Equitable treatment for all. The First Century believers lived Jesus' Way, and it changed the world by changing the thinking of those who witnessed His Agape Love in action. Let THAT be our mission today, here and now. Pastor Jamie

Lenten Repentance

The first command of Jesus, in the first chapter of the first Gospel written was “Repent, and believe in the Good News.” This imperative to “change one’s mind” (metanoia) or “change one’s thinking” is especially necessary for any who would consider living God’s Kingdom values of Agape Love and Grace that Jesus taught and modeled in His ministry, according to the Gospels. We must change our way of thinking in order to be people of Agape Love and Grace, for then we will be able to change our way of living Agape Love and Grace. But of what must we repent? I believe that Greed, Lust for Power and Self-Indulgence are preclusive of living the Good News of Jesus in the world. Agape Love is active commitment on behalf of the other, and these “values” are centered in self and not “other”. If these are core values in one’s life, then living Agape Love will be difficult at best. Despite our best efforts, we cannot truly be duplicitous in our values and faithful to Jesus’ teachings and examples of Agape Love. I believe that Apathy, Complacency and Hatred are also preclusive of living Jesus’ Good News in the world. Apathy, being the opposite of loving, does not allow for concern or commitment on behalf of the other. Complacency, being focused on one’s own satisfactory situation in life, does not often allow for the dissatisfaction necessary in order for us to be actively committed to another’s plight in life. Hatred leads one to anything but active commitment on behalf of the other, and may indeed lead to our commitment to actively hurt the other. Agape Love is rendered impossible from any of those orientations to the world. If we learn anything from the Gospels regarding Jesus’ teachings and examples around Agape Love, we learn that we must think differently in order to live it. The Rich Fool of Luke 12:13-21 faced grave consequences for living his greed in utter complacency. The Rich Young Man of Luke 18:18-30 willingly chose to hold onto his established value for greed and the consequent sadness, rather than repent, live Kingdom Values and ultimately be happy. The unnamed rich man of Luke 16:19-31 was slow to learn even while facing the fruits of his apathetic greed and self-indulgence. But the lesson of repentance in Zacchaeus’ story was different, as we find it in Luke 19:1-10. Zacchaeus changed his thinking and embraced a different value than the greed, power lust and self-indulgence he once held as his core values. His encounter with Jesus replaced the complacency of his station in life with Agape Love, actively lived in the lives of those who were once exploited in order for him to have what he had. Zacchaeus was transformed. And we find that the greed and hatred of the robbers, apathy and/or complacency of the priest and Levite are countered by the Agape Love of the “Good” Samaritan in Jesus’ teaching of Luke 10:25-37, changing the life of the stranger/enemy who was healed, and perhaps the life of the Samaritan and of listeners to the story. Repentance leads to transformation. When we embrace the Kingdom Values of the Good News of Jesus, we necessarily change how we think about things in this part of the Kingdom and how we live in it. Then the Good News of Agape Love and Grace come out from within us and into the world around us, also then transforming other individuals and whole communities. When we think differently than the normalized ways of greed, lust for power and self-indulgence, it makes us better within and has a positive effect on the world around us. When we leave apathy, complacency and hatred behind us in order to live active commitment on behalf of the other, we find within us a deep, abiding love for others that transforms us and them. The poverty, hunger, violence, injustice, inequity, inequality, discrimination and exploitation that are now commonplace in the world, could be things of a dark past if we could bring ourselves to shed our values for wealth, power and self-indulgence, leave behind our complacency, apathy and hatred and live the Kingdom Values Jesus taught and modeled of Agape Love and Grace. A world of well-being, peace, justice, equitable treatment and equality, adequate sustenance, mutual respect, acceptance and benefit is possible with different thinking. It starts with one heart and mind at a time. As you encounter Jesus this Lenten season, consider how repentance (changing your thinking) may bring about transformation that starts from within you and is manifested in the world around you. Pastor Jamie

Lenten Sacrifice

As I am a follower of Jesus' Way, one who values the message of the Cross especially, and one who relies fully on the redemption message of Grace and Agape Love...

I suggest to all who claim Jesus' name that THIS LENT... on our way to the Cross...

we sacrifice our attitudes that keep Jesus on the Cross,
that we sacrifice those baser, darker corners of our spirit that relegate us to being part of the mob,
that we sacrifice those ideologies that preclude Agape Love,
that we sacrifice those philosophies that put us at enmity with those whom Jesus loves,
that we sacrifice those behaviors that come from "us" vs. "them" thinking,
that we sacrifice those instincts to judge others who are different,
that we sacrifice those bitterest feelings that keep us from forgiving,
that we sacrifice those most gut-wrenching, vengeful emotions that would bring us to violent
    words or actions or both,
that we sacrifice those personal guiles that would keep us from being Gracious,
that we sacrifice those norms that keep us locked into selfishness, greed and ruthlessness,
that we sacrifice those classist outlooks which are born of our sense of entitlement and that
    give us disdain for or license to exploit those poor who Jesus loves,
that we sacrifice those arrogant, self-serving, destructive leanings toward destruction of the
    creation we are charged stewardship over for some short term and personal profit or
    convenience,
that we sacrifice those racist residues that persist in how we view sisters and brothers that
    allow us somehow to see ourselves as "superior",
that we sacrifice those urges to find reasons in scripture to point fingers of self-righteous and
    arrogant disgust at our LGBT sisters and brothers,
that we sacrifice those temptations to engage in self-indulgence at the expense of anyone else,
that we sacrifice those stirrings within that would drive us to unfaithfulness to God, to
    spouse, to children, to humanity,
that we sacrifice ALL that is Anti-Christ, ALL that is Anti-Agape, ALL that is Anti-Grace...

THIS LENT... on our way to the Cross...

Let us unburden ourselves of these things,
sacrifice them at the Altar of Agape Love, Grace, Equality, Equity, Freedom, Justice and Peace,
out of devotion to the one whose going to the Cross means those very things to us...

Pastor Jamie

submission

I submit to you...

that those who have the most power and wealth would love for the rest of us to submit to their power and wealth,

that they would like for us to give them the nod of superiority and submit to their will so that they may gain more power and more wealth,

that our silence is seen as compliance to their superiority and entitlement to have more power and wealth than everyone else,

that our submission to them through our silence means that not only we, but others who are not them are hurt, exploited and held down, held out and held back,

that every time we have the opportunity to vote, speak, petition, demonstrate, write, march or rally and we do not do so for justice, equality and equitable opportunities for all, it is seen as submission to their will and compliance with/approval of their actions and methods,

that if someone came into our work place or home or neighborhood and tried forcibly to make us submit to their will, we would do what we needed to not to let it happen, '

but that because we mark success by how much power (over others) and wealth (at the expense of others) one has, we instead submit to these predators and aspire to BE them someday.

I submit to you, that this is NOT moral, loving, healthy, sustainable or sane.  Our silence is our sin.  Our compliance is our sin.  Our submission is our sin.  It hurts, not only us, but many around us who we love and who are loved by God.

I submit to you, that our lack of speaking out, acting out and VOTING in the church, in our neighborhoods and in our society, is a sin of omission in the face of this injustice, corruption, tyranny (buying government in order to hurt many for the sake of a few) and immorality (GREED, LUST FOR POWER).

I submit that it is time NOW for us to speak, write, demonstrate, march - to ACT against this and submit to the AGAPE LOVE command of Jesus that demands that we actively commit ourselves to the well-being of others...

I submit that it is the only way to restore our souls as individuals and the soul of our nation.

I submit to my Lord and His Good News of Agape Love and Grace -

Pastor Jamie

the inherent right to hate?

Many are claiming now that infringing upon their right to discriminate is to limit their freedom of religious expression.
Many of the same people are very sensitive to others' critical statements about their hypocrisies in practice as compared to the content of their sacred texts.

I believe that those of us who profess to follow JESUS and claim HIS Gospels as Kingdom teachings, should be careful about how we treat people who do not believe the way we do.  We need to be cautious about how we hurt others around us.  We need to be aware of our propensity to publicly scandalize people, support the legislation of our view of morality and create climates of intolerance of any others who do not believe or live the way we think they should.

Have you READ the words of Jesus, as we have them in the Gospels?

Do you believe that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament Law and Prophets in Agape Love, as HE said He does?

Do you believe that Jesus is not only Savior, but LORD of your life?

Do you recognize that Jesus identified with those who were hated, those who were marginalized and those who were judged by society and the religious leaders of His time?

Do you see that Jesus has a great love for the poor, sick and most vulnerable in the world?

Do you understand what it means not to judge and not to refuse forgiveness, for the sake of your own soul, according to Jesus?

Do you follow Jesus... are you a disciple of Jesus... or are you an adherent to the pharisaic manipulation of the Law and Prophets, like those whom Jesus confronted?

Hatred is contrary to the Agape Love that Jesus COMMANDED!

Claiming that one has the right to discriminate against ANYONE (even those who do not believe in Jesus), because of one's faith in Jesus, is ANTI-CHRIST. 

Pastor Jamie