Here is how one can tell if he/she or someone else, say an elected official, business executive, neighbor, family member, friend, pastor, colleague, educator or anyone else is REALLY a follower of Jesus -
Do you/they follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for living in THIS PART of God's Kingdom?
Paul would say that they should be putting in the world around them -
Agape Love (selfless, unconditional, active commitment on behalf of the OTHER), Joy (not unhappiness), Peace (the well-being, completeness, wholeness of self AND others), patience (not punitive action or intolerance), kindness (not ruthlessness, mean-spiritedness or intolerance), generosity (giving freely, not holding for self, selfishness or exploitation for personal gain), faithfulness (to God and neighbor - the "least" of these, even stranger and enemy), gentleness (not use of force to get what one wants, abrasive words or actions) and self-control (not control over others, dominance over others). (Galatians 5:22-26)
Jesus says they are the ones (NOT who are pure, holy, worship, praise or tithe) who:
Love God with all they have...
Love neighbor, even stranger, enemy and "the least" among us AS much as self
(Matthew 22:34-40; Luke 10:25-37; Matthew 25:31-46)
Those who abide in HIS Word, keep HIS commandments...
Those who deny self, take up the Cross and follow Jesus...
Those who humble themselves and do not take places of honor, prestige or power over others
Those who sacrifice for the sake of others
Those who do not try to serve both God and wealth
Those who accept others from other lands, resident aliens and those of other faiths
Those who do not subjugate or attack women
Those who do not neglect or hurt children
Those who do not ignore the needs of the poor
Those who do not only care about accumulating wealth for themselves
Those who repent from exploiting others for their personal gain
Those who do not judge others, but who do forgive others
Those who show mercy, instead of punishment
Those who do not see their "self-righteousness" as a value of God, but see Graciousness as one
Those who live Agape Love... THAT is how folk will know we follow JESUS...
Anyone who does otherwise but claims Jesus...
Even life-long church goers...
Those running for office...
Those in power...
Those with wealth...
The Bishop or Preacher...
Is a LIAR...
They can claim whatever they want, and they are following some spirit, but it ain't Jesus...
Strive to live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us. THAT makes one a follower of Jesus.
"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord', and do not do what I tell you?" Luke 6:46
Just sayin'
Pastor Jamie
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Saturday, December 24, 2016
The People who walked in darkness…
When dark alliances with dark ideologies
strive to extinguish the light,
When evil allegiances with evil agendas
convince that they are right,When the hateful, hurtful and ruthless gain the world
When the greedy, powerful rule and prophets go unheard
When the new norm all around means extreme gains for the few
While the many and the vulnerable struggle just to make it throughAnd the wars and rumors of wars are fought for profit solely
As the blood of the young is poured out for what is most unholy
As inequities mount, and injustices
flourish
And the hatreds of some are what now only
gets nourishedWhen the powers that be strive only self to serve
And when millions receive shamefully what they do not deserve
When the stench of the hatred and greed permeates
So that the definition of aromatic they must re-createAnd our hearts, minds and spirits are left devastated and broken
THEN the Words of Great Hope must most loudly be spoken
This will get very ugly for many and quite difficult for most.
To put our heads in the sand now will not help in any way.
To pretend that it won’t be so bad will not be helpful to anyone.
I recommend that you prepare yourself for the worst, because truly it will be close.
I recommend that you get ready to do what you need to do in order to endure this.
I recommend that you not be bogged down in indecision at a time like this.
Prepare. Have a plan. Determine yourself to do what you need to do now.
occupied by evil power and wealth, when their leaders were puppets to a great
empire and their religious leaders twisted the word to suit their own gains in
power, prestige, position and wealth, and remained silent in the face of the
horrible oppression, even added to it when it suited them. People were treated
shamefully and justice was not the norm. It became very ugly and hatefulness,
ruthless power and greed were the only things that really thrived in the world.
and an insignificant child was born into poverty in a barn and laid in a feeding trough
for animals. All the heavens broke open with praise and announced to the night shift
of manual laborers that this was a gift for them, not kings or emperors, not the wealthy
or powerful, but them. He would soon be made a political refugee in order that his life might
be saved from the oppressors who pursued to kill him. He would also bring HOPE, because
“the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep
darkness on them light has shined.” Isaiah 9:2
Sunday, December 18, 2016
onward
So, what we now have will destroy our economy, at least as bad as the last Reprobate administration orchestrated up to 2008, and the recovery will not be as fast as with our current President (in spite of obstructionism to recovery by the Reprobates in Congress).
It will put us in danger of new wars and a heightening of the current ones that the last Reprobate administration got us into, because of the hawks in the cabinet, and the profit of the military industrial complex.
It will disenfranchise minority voters as gerrymandering and voter suppression become the new political norm, among other Reprobate tricks (i.e. North Carolina and the Governor's office right now).
This will sour our relationships with allies and create new enemies, and we may be a puppet government for the political rise of the Soviet Union (again) and economic rise of China.
Jobs will be lost. Healthcare will be lost. Resident aliens, scapegoated by those who put these self-destructive-for-their-profit policies in place will be deported. Muslims will be targeted, all people of color treated shamefully along with women and our LGBT sisters and brothers, anyone not practicing white, fundamentalist "christianity" will not be tolerated and our environment will be wasted, destroyed and polluted, all for the profit of the few.
The free press is being threatened. The prophets are being silenced. Opposition is being rendered powerless. Policies are being put into place to assure that this will continue for decades by those who have controlled the Congress for six years and now have all three branches of government.
The hatefulness that lay under the surface with some, that others in the nation have learned to grow beyond, has already been emboldened and enlivened by this campaign and candidate, and will be the norm in our nation.
And who will be there to help us out of this, when all branches of government represent this hateful greed? And Europe is seeing a rise of hateful ideologies and intolerance with stupid economic decisions as well.
So, what must we do?
Nothing.
The time for doing was before November 8, 2016.
The time for doing was ON November 8, 2016.
Now, we live with it.
"You put down your money, you make your choice, and then you live with it."
The people who voted in the primary and election, and the people who did not vote have spoken.
I lament the pain that people I love and so many strangers who God loves will suffer.
I lament what this will do to the future, and for my grandchildren.
I lament what this will mean for the most vulnerable among us, who will be most hurt, as always.
I lament what has become of Christianity - the twisted, American Civil Religion, ignoring of Jesus' teachings, limited vision of me and Jesus, personal salvation theology, the self-promotion instead of practicing Jesus' mission of Agape Love in the world, and the juvenile level of faith and practice, the prosperity and church growth self-serving, and the silence of those in most mainline denominations.
The damage has been done and we will all feel the consequences of this.
We can write, demonstrate, call, speak and complain. At least four of those things we SHOULD do. Most among us are most likely only to do the last.
But with all three branches of government handed over to the Reprobates by this nation, we have no one to turn to for help.
Democrats in Congress can and should say, "NO" to everything hateful, hurtful and greedy that will be put in front of them, but with a majority who are Reprobates in office, that is all they CAN do. The power is in their hands.
We can strategize and plan the next local, Mayoral, Judicial, Gubernatorial, Congressional and Presidential election cycles all we want, but with the norms of greed and hatred being established, with the gerrymandering and voter suppression being put in place now, and the clearly gullible, easily duped electorate we have, any rational, reasonable or even progressive hopes are slight at best.
All we can hope for is that it will get SO BAD under this debacle that people will finally wake up and see that Reprobate policies in economics and hateful ideologies in politics HARM ALL OF US... but those who pull the strings are VERY adept at obfuscating the real causes by misdirection of blame, and there is no reasonable way to hope that this time will be any different. AND, if it is as bad as I am afraid it will be, there will be nothing left to save or restore.
The hatred of our black President, the misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, rising white nationalism, racism, ethnocentrism, religious intolerance, classism and abject GREED that drove this campaign and election has been energized, emboldened and in the eyes of those who perpetrate hatred and greed, legitimized by the easily duped and gullible who put them into office and the complacent and apathetic who did not stop them. The 1% pulled the strings and the puppets danced. Putin was included among the puppeteers, toward their desired ends.
The very few will gain MUCH off the backs of the rest, still pitted against each other and convinced that the 1% have their best interests at heart while others beside or "below" them, those other-than-them but most like them are to blame for their plight.
The New Gilded Age of serfdom begins. And with it, the predictable natural consequence of economic depression, except for the 1%, who will enjoy more wealth at the expense of everyone else and our environment.
With it comes the New Jim Crow era, and the intolerance of and discrimination against anyone not white, fundie, straight, male or submissive to males and a born citizen. Normalized hatred that many had made such strides in moving beyond, will again have daily expression.
The only form of justice that will be experienced is that while so many innocents are being hurt by this for the next decade or so, we can rest assured knowing that many among those hurt will also be the hateful who put the Reprobates in office. Their jobs will be shipped off, their economy ruined, their futures jeopardized, their retirement eliminated, their healthcare coverage taken away, their safety compromised, their houses lost, their children unable to attend for-profit schools or relegated to deplorable conditions in the for-profit schools in their areas, their environment poisoned and their loved ones killed in wars for profit.
This one small, bitter consolation will be there for the rest of us who must share the same fate.
So, we move backward, but onward. We do NOT progress. We live, well, some of us. We survive hopefully.
Every empire in the past that got corrupted by its hubris, greed, intolerance and exploitation of others has fallen. It appears that now is our time.
My prayer is that God, who has been ignored until now (even or especially by the fundamentalist conservative "christians", and the silent denominations), will make some good of this during and after the suffering. It would be nice to see it in my lifetime, but I have little hope of that because of what I have seen of late. This, I fear will have implications on life in America for decades to come.
Onward through the swamp we have created, we must go.
Pastor Jamie
It will put us in danger of new wars and a heightening of the current ones that the last Reprobate administration got us into, because of the hawks in the cabinet, and the profit of the military industrial complex.
It will disenfranchise minority voters as gerrymandering and voter suppression become the new political norm, among other Reprobate tricks (i.e. North Carolina and the Governor's office right now).
This will sour our relationships with allies and create new enemies, and we may be a puppet government for the political rise of the Soviet Union (again) and economic rise of China.
Jobs will be lost. Healthcare will be lost. Resident aliens, scapegoated by those who put these self-destructive-for-their-profit policies in place will be deported. Muslims will be targeted, all people of color treated shamefully along with women and our LGBT sisters and brothers, anyone not practicing white, fundamentalist "christianity" will not be tolerated and our environment will be wasted, destroyed and polluted, all for the profit of the few.
The free press is being threatened. The prophets are being silenced. Opposition is being rendered powerless. Policies are being put into place to assure that this will continue for decades by those who have controlled the Congress for six years and now have all three branches of government.
The hatefulness that lay under the surface with some, that others in the nation have learned to grow beyond, has already been emboldened and enlivened by this campaign and candidate, and will be the norm in our nation.
And who will be there to help us out of this, when all branches of government represent this hateful greed? And Europe is seeing a rise of hateful ideologies and intolerance with stupid economic decisions as well.
So, what must we do?
Nothing.
The time for doing was before November 8, 2016.
The time for doing was ON November 8, 2016.
Now, we live with it.
"You put down your money, you make your choice, and then you live with it."
The people who voted in the primary and election, and the people who did not vote have spoken.
I lament the pain that people I love and so many strangers who God loves will suffer.
I lament what this will do to the future, and for my grandchildren.
I lament what this will mean for the most vulnerable among us, who will be most hurt, as always.
I lament what has become of Christianity - the twisted, American Civil Religion, ignoring of Jesus' teachings, limited vision of me and Jesus, personal salvation theology, the self-promotion instead of practicing Jesus' mission of Agape Love in the world, and the juvenile level of faith and practice, the prosperity and church growth self-serving, and the silence of those in most mainline denominations.
The damage has been done and we will all feel the consequences of this.
We can write, demonstrate, call, speak and complain. At least four of those things we SHOULD do. Most among us are most likely only to do the last.
But with all three branches of government handed over to the Reprobates by this nation, we have no one to turn to for help.
Democrats in Congress can and should say, "NO" to everything hateful, hurtful and greedy that will be put in front of them, but with a majority who are Reprobates in office, that is all they CAN do. The power is in their hands.
We can strategize and plan the next local, Mayoral, Judicial, Gubernatorial, Congressional and Presidential election cycles all we want, but with the norms of greed and hatred being established, with the gerrymandering and voter suppression being put in place now, and the clearly gullible, easily duped electorate we have, any rational, reasonable or even progressive hopes are slight at best.
All we can hope for is that it will get SO BAD under this debacle that people will finally wake up and see that Reprobate policies in economics and hateful ideologies in politics HARM ALL OF US... but those who pull the strings are VERY adept at obfuscating the real causes by misdirection of blame, and there is no reasonable way to hope that this time will be any different. AND, if it is as bad as I am afraid it will be, there will be nothing left to save or restore.
The hatred of our black President, the misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, rising white nationalism, racism, ethnocentrism, religious intolerance, classism and abject GREED that drove this campaign and election has been energized, emboldened and in the eyes of those who perpetrate hatred and greed, legitimized by the easily duped and gullible who put them into office and the complacent and apathetic who did not stop them. The 1% pulled the strings and the puppets danced. Putin was included among the puppeteers, toward their desired ends.
The very few will gain MUCH off the backs of the rest, still pitted against each other and convinced that the 1% have their best interests at heart while others beside or "below" them, those other-than-them but most like them are to blame for their plight.
The New Gilded Age of serfdom begins. And with it, the predictable natural consequence of economic depression, except for the 1%, who will enjoy more wealth at the expense of everyone else and our environment.
With it comes the New Jim Crow era, and the intolerance of and discrimination against anyone not white, fundie, straight, male or submissive to males and a born citizen. Normalized hatred that many had made such strides in moving beyond, will again have daily expression.
The only form of justice that will be experienced is that while so many innocents are being hurt by this for the next decade or so, we can rest assured knowing that many among those hurt will also be the hateful who put the Reprobates in office. Their jobs will be shipped off, their economy ruined, their futures jeopardized, their retirement eliminated, their healthcare coverage taken away, their safety compromised, their houses lost, their children unable to attend for-profit schools or relegated to deplorable conditions in the for-profit schools in their areas, their environment poisoned and their loved ones killed in wars for profit.
This one small, bitter consolation will be there for the rest of us who must share the same fate.
So, we move backward, but onward. We do NOT progress. We live, well, some of us. We survive hopefully.
Every empire in the past that got corrupted by its hubris, greed, intolerance and exploitation of others has fallen. It appears that now is our time.
My prayer is that God, who has been ignored until now (even or especially by the fundamentalist conservative "christians", and the silent denominations), will make some good of this during and after the suffering. It would be nice to see it in my lifetime, but I have little hope of that because of what I have seen of late. This, I fear will have implications on life in America for decades to come.
Onward through the swamp we have created, we must go.
Pastor Jamie
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
“If you are not outraged, you are either not paying attention or you are complicit.”
The President-elect, head of the NSA and
Secretary of State (an Oil Executive) have NO experience for the huge jobs they will do, but more
alarmingly are ALL friends of Putin, the autocrat of Russia.
We are in trouble because of the fact
that they have no experience, alone!We also have now a Government built on Hatred, Ignorance and Greed. This administration is a Coalition of the Hateful, Ignorant and Greedy.
The Attorney General is a known racist. He was refused a judgeship because of it.
The President’s chief advisor is a White Supremacist.
His other advisors share his desire to deport millions of resident aliens, namely Mexican immigrants.
The head of the NSA hates Muslims, denies them as a Faith and sees them all as political extremists.
The President-elect and other advisors are misogynists.
The Vice President-elect hates LGBT folk and actively discriminated against them as a Governor.
The Labor Secretary opposes raising the minimum wage and disparages the poor.
The Speaker of the House wants to eliminate affordable healthcare, Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.
The head of the EPA denies climate change and wants to dismantle the EPA in order for a few to make profit through the waste, pollution and destruction of our environment.
The Secretary of Education hates public schools.
The HUD Secretary has no experience in housing or urban life.
The UN delegate has no foreign relations experience.
And so far, BEFORE taking office…
Instead of “draining the swamp”, they have loaded the cabinet with
Goldman-Sachs execs who were at the center of our Great Recession because of
their dubious business practices, aided by the de-regulation of big investors.
The energized white nationalists and fascists have perpetrated record
levels of hate crimes.A few hundred jobs were saved in Indiana, but many more sent to Mexico at the cost of millions to that state.
The President-elect met with Argentinian delegates and later announced that he is building a hotel in Buenos Aires.
He met with Japanese delegates and later announced huge banking investments by one of their riches citizens.
He is using government as his own negotiation platform for personal business, while postponing any announcement on how he plans to avoid conflicts of interest in his presidency.
We have seen all of this before. The 1933 rise of fascist sentiment in Germany led to World War. The Gilded Age led to the Great Depression from which FDR had to bail us out. Reaganomics led to a Recession from which Clinton had to bail us out, and the GWB de-regulations led us into the Great Recession from which Obama had to bail us out. Must we repeat these unlearned lessons yet again?
Where is the outrage by the "Christian" right?
Where is the outrage by folks who claim to be Patriots?
They are getting what they wanted... the intolerance of some they consistently hate.
Where is the outrage by the denominations? Bishops? They are just going along...
Where is the outrage by those who did not vote? They are still sitting in their temper tantrum or in their apathy.
Only the HATEFUL, IGNORANT and GREADY will benefit from this political disaster-in-the-making.
If you are not outraged by what you already see and hear, you are either not paying attention or you are among them.
NOW is the time to demand recounts, electoral college interventions and investigative results...
BEFORE they take office and irreparably destroy our Democracy, Economy and Society...
After will be too late.
Then, your voice will mean next to nothing, after they have hurt those you love and destroyed your life.
NOW is the time to speak, write, call, demonstrate and ACT.
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, December 11, 2016
"Happy Holidays"
There is a LOT of vehement fury over folk saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas".
I cannot speak for anyone else, but...
When I say "Happy Holidays", I am wishing people I love (and many I don't know but respect) - Happy Holy Days.
This year, Hanukkah starts on December 24, the 12 days of Christ-Mass start on December 25 and Kwanzaa begins on December 26. I have loved ones who celebrate all of these.
I am a Person of the Way of Jesus. I do not apologize for that. I love my faith and the Lord of my faith, the Good News of that Lord and the mission to live the Agape Love and Grace of that Good News in the world. I celebrate God coming to us in human form, and how God identifies with us by being born in poverty, becoming a political refugee in a foreign land immediately after birth, living our hunger, poverty, even homelessness, suffering insults, false arrest, beatings, mocking and an unjust execution. I celebrate such unconditional love.
I also celebrate with others who practice other faiths, because they find meaning in them, and encounter God in them. I celebrate their RIGHT to celebrate as Americans, as I truly value Democracy and Liberty. I am troubled when I hear people who are intolerant of others' rights to worship and learn of their faiths, particularly among those who claim to love Democracy and Liberty. It calls into question, not only their true political leanings to me, but also what god they actually worship. It cannot be the Christ who they worship, who reached out to gentiles, the poor, resident aliens, the sick, sinners and Samaritans and others who worshiped differently from Him.
I have some advice for you, if you believe that faithfulness to Jesus means intolerance of other faiths:
read the Words of Jesus - what Jesus taught and commanded and see what Jesus modeled regarding the inclusion of others "not of His (this) flock".
Oh yes, and one other thing -
Before you freak out over the color of your coffee cup or what design is or is not on it...
IF YOU WANT TO KEEP "CHRIST" IN CHRIST-MASS,
BE CHRIST TO SOMEONE - ANYONE - AND NOT JUST DURING THIS SEASON
FOLLOW THE CHRIST
LIVE WHAT JESUS COMMANDED -
feed the hungry,
clothe the naked,
welcome the stranger,
care for the sick and imprisoned,
sell all you have and give to the poor,
forgive,
do not judge,
Love God and Love Neighbor (even stranger and enemy - Luke 10:25-37)
After all... "JESUS IS THE REASON for the SEASON" for you, right?
Pastor Jamie
I cannot speak for anyone else, but...
When I say "Happy Holidays", I am wishing people I love (and many I don't know but respect) - Happy Holy Days.
This year, Hanukkah starts on December 24, the 12 days of Christ-Mass start on December 25 and Kwanzaa begins on December 26. I have loved ones who celebrate all of these.
I am a Person of the Way of Jesus. I do not apologize for that. I love my faith and the Lord of my faith, the Good News of that Lord and the mission to live the Agape Love and Grace of that Good News in the world. I celebrate God coming to us in human form, and how God identifies with us by being born in poverty, becoming a political refugee in a foreign land immediately after birth, living our hunger, poverty, even homelessness, suffering insults, false arrest, beatings, mocking and an unjust execution. I celebrate such unconditional love.
I also celebrate with others who practice other faiths, because they find meaning in them, and encounter God in them. I celebrate their RIGHT to celebrate as Americans, as I truly value Democracy and Liberty. I am troubled when I hear people who are intolerant of others' rights to worship and learn of their faiths, particularly among those who claim to love Democracy and Liberty. It calls into question, not only their true political leanings to me, but also what god they actually worship. It cannot be the Christ who they worship, who reached out to gentiles, the poor, resident aliens, the sick, sinners and Samaritans and others who worshiped differently from Him.
I have some advice for you, if you believe that faithfulness to Jesus means intolerance of other faiths:
read the Words of Jesus - what Jesus taught and commanded and see what Jesus modeled regarding the inclusion of others "not of His (this) flock".
Oh yes, and one other thing -
Before you freak out over the color of your coffee cup or what design is or is not on it...
IF YOU WANT TO KEEP "CHRIST" IN CHRIST-MASS,
BE CHRIST TO SOMEONE - ANYONE - AND NOT JUST DURING THIS SEASON
FOLLOW THE CHRIST
LIVE WHAT JESUS COMMANDED -
feed the hungry,
clothe the naked,
welcome the stranger,
care for the sick and imprisoned,
sell all you have and give to the poor,
forgive,
do not judge,
Love God and Love Neighbor (even stranger and enemy - Luke 10:25-37)
After all... "JESUS IS THE REASON for the SEASON" for you, right?
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, December 4, 2016
my conversion
I was "born from above" (John 3:3) in 1996. That was my conversion and the beginning of my transformation as a person and pastor, by the Grace of God and around the Good News of Jesus' Agape Love.
It came after being baptized as an infant, being raised on an Island in a church of Protestant women. It came after being raised Lutheran, then from age 10 on, saying that I was going to be a pastor in the 7th grade, going through confirmation classes and being at church multiple days of the week, singing in every choir I could, loving sacred (even church folk) music, being fascinated with sermons, having a rather fundamentalist faith, then attending Lutheran colleges as a Theology major and learning about the Historical-Critical method of understanding scripture, textual criticism and the like, having my eyes opened to how a person of faith uses his/her mind as well as heart in matters of the Spirit of God, attending seminary, being ordained and serving as a Lutheran pastor for 10 years, most of which was spent in inner-city Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio.
It came gradually. There had been a growing sense within me that lectionary preaching and teaching Bible Study, doing discipleship classes and adult Sunday School (all with curriculums I was writing or had written) was my love - it was the Word that I loved. My fundamentalist faith gave way to a deepened understanding through study and that inspired me. It was through study of the Word that the Holy Spirit most worked, on my heart AND mind, touching my spirit and heart in Worship with the Music, the Sacraments of Grace and the Word. What I was doing as a pastor beyond being in the Word seemed to be disconnected with the message of the Gospel in many ways. The way the church was structured, acted in society and behaved seemed incongruous with what Jesus said. This weighed on me more and more. It ate at me. It consumed me.
It came with some tension. The congregation I served was growing with folk from the neighborhood, but the people already there - the white, middle-class, straight, conservative people - did not like what they saw. As quickly as folk were coming in because a few of us were showing them love, they were being pushed out by the intolerance of others in the church. My growing sense of Jesus' Agape Love being at the center of the Gospel and that it should be at the center of how we as the church lived in the world, compelled me to preach and teach more fervently on what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as the fulfiller of the Law and Prophets, Savior and Lord. Over time, as I became more at peace with my embrace of Jesus' Good News, I was more willing to risk suggesting as a pastor of that Good News that we as church more closely live that Good News in the world around us, and that put me more at odds with a core of members of my congregation.
It came with a cost. I remember suggesting some changes to our congregational President, changes that I thought would put us more in line with how the First Century believers followed Jesus. Besides the fact that the parish secretary pulled these written suggestions out of his mailbox and read them, feeling compelled to confront me on them, and in spite of the president's reticence to consider them publicly, I pursued them at a council meeting. I was told in no uncertain terms that the monthly congregational meeting and community meal that would bring people together to celebrate and make decisions together would not happen. "Those people" were not welcome, especially as equals in the congregation. I remember the day that I walked past the church, saw my name on the sign, and realized that I could no longer put my name on what it represented. I resigned at the November congregational meeting, not just from the congregation as its pastor, but from the denomination that I felt was not promoting the Gospel of Jesus in its congregations, effective January 1, 2000. After fourteen years in that denomination, I was without a job, income or pension, and I felt freed from a burden and empowered to be a pastor of the Gospel of Jesus.
It came with joy. Since leaving the institutional church, I have done a number of wonderful things in order to make a living, but the most wonderful thing has been working with individuals, small (and I mean SMALL) congregations, in my home and in my community at living the Good News of Jesus - what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as we have that in the Gospels. I believe that THAT is faithfulness to the Lord, the Redeemer, the Savior, fulfiller of the Law and Prophets and my authority on God's Will - Kingdom Values - how God wants us to live in THIS PART of God's Kingdom, here and now. I speak, preach, teach, write, blog and strive to live the Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and certainly "the least" among us) that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for me to live. I am touched, moved and inspired to do so more and more, as I see what transpires around me in the West end of Atlanta, this city, this state, the country and the world. I believe that the Good News of Jesus is what is needed in the world, and when the church starts living it as its central mission, THEN we will be faithful to Jesus, and individuals, the church and the world will be transformed by it.
It came with longevity. It has been twenty years since my conversion experience, when I was finally "born from above" because I stopped stubbornly thinking the same way and started applying my mind, heart and spirit to following Jesus' way of walking with God. Not everyone welcomes the message I have, especially those who embrace American Civil Religion or fundamentalist faith, those who disassociate communal love and responsibility to sisters and brothers in a "me and Jesus" theology, and those who pursue their own interests in prosperity or church growth theology. It has put me at odds with neighbors, family, friends and pastors. But I have met many wonderful people who are Christ to me, and I pray that others will see Christ in me as I walk in this world - not just through my words, but in my actions. With the challenges we now face in this nation and world, I will strive to faithfully shine the light of the Good News of Jesus' Agape and Grace on the darkness being cast (even sometimes by the church) in the world around me. This is a life-long transformational process by the Holy Spirit of God. I am thankful to be in it.
Pastor Jamie
It came after being baptized as an infant, being raised on an Island in a church of Protestant women. It came after being raised Lutheran, then from age 10 on, saying that I was going to be a pastor in the 7th grade, going through confirmation classes and being at church multiple days of the week, singing in every choir I could, loving sacred (even church folk) music, being fascinated with sermons, having a rather fundamentalist faith, then attending Lutheran colleges as a Theology major and learning about the Historical-Critical method of understanding scripture, textual criticism and the like, having my eyes opened to how a person of faith uses his/her mind as well as heart in matters of the Spirit of God, attending seminary, being ordained and serving as a Lutheran pastor for 10 years, most of which was spent in inner-city Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio.
It came gradually. There had been a growing sense within me that lectionary preaching and teaching Bible Study, doing discipleship classes and adult Sunday School (all with curriculums I was writing or had written) was my love - it was the Word that I loved. My fundamentalist faith gave way to a deepened understanding through study and that inspired me. It was through study of the Word that the Holy Spirit most worked, on my heart AND mind, touching my spirit and heart in Worship with the Music, the Sacraments of Grace and the Word. What I was doing as a pastor beyond being in the Word seemed to be disconnected with the message of the Gospel in many ways. The way the church was structured, acted in society and behaved seemed incongruous with what Jesus said. This weighed on me more and more. It ate at me. It consumed me.
It came with some tension. The congregation I served was growing with folk from the neighborhood, but the people already there - the white, middle-class, straight, conservative people - did not like what they saw. As quickly as folk were coming in because a few of us were showing them love, they were being pushed out by the intolerance of others in the church. My growing sense of Jesus' Agape Love being at the center of the Gospel and that it should be at the center of how we as the church lived in the world, compelled me to preach and teach more fervently on what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as the fulfiller of the Law and Prophets, Savior and Lord. Over time, as I became more at peace with my embrace of Jesus' Good News, I was more willing to risk suggesting as a pastor of that Good News that we as church more closely live that Good News in the world around us, and that put me more at odds with a core of members of my congregation.
It came with a cost. I remember suggesting some changes to our congregational President, changes that I thought would put us more in line with how the First Century believers followed Jesus. Besides the fact that the parish secretary pulled these written suggestions out of his mailbox and read them, feeling compelled to confront me on them, and in spite of the president's reticence to consider them publicly, I pursued them at a council meeting. I was told in no uncertain terms that the monthly congregational meeting and community meal that would bring people together to celebrate and make decisions together would not happen. "Those people" were not welcome, especially as equals in the congregation. I remember the day that I walked past the church, saw my name on the sign, and realized that I could no longer put my name on what it represented. I resigned at the November congregational meeting, not just from the congregation as its pastor, but from the denomination that I felt was not promoting the Gospel of Jesus in its congregations, effective January 1, 2000. After fourteen years in that denomination, I was without a job, income or pension, and I felt freed from a burden and empowered to be a pastor of the Gospel of Jesus.
It came with joy. Since leaving the institutional church, I have done a number of wonderful things in order to make a living, but the most wonderful thing has been working with individuals, small (and I mean SMALL) congregations, in my home and in my community at living the Good News of Jesus - what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us as we have that in the Gospels. I believe that THAT is faithfulness to the Lord, the Redeemer, the Savior, fulfiller of the Law and Prophets and my authority on God's Will - Kingdom Values - how God wants us to live in THIS PART of God's Kingdom, here and now. I speak, preach, teach, write, blog and strive to live the Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and certainly "the least" among us) that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for me to live. I am touched, moved and inspired to do so more and more, as I see what transpires around me in the West end of Atlanta, this city, this state, the country and the world. I believe that the Good News of Jesus is what is needed in the world, and when the church starts living it as its central mission, THEN we will be faithful to Jesus, and individuals, the church and the world will be transformed by it.
It came with longevity. It has been twenty years since my conversion experience, when I was finally "born from above" because I stopped stubbornly thinking the same way and started applying my mind, heart and spirit to following Jesus' way of walking with God. Not everyone welcomes the message I have, especially those who embrace American Civil Religion or fundamentalist faith, those who disassociate communal love and responsibility to sisters and brothers in a "me and Jesus" theology, and those who pursue their own interests in prosperity or church growth theology. It has put me at odds with neighbors, family, friends and pastors. But I have met many wonderful people who are Christ to me, and I pray that others will see Christ in me as I walk in this world - not just through my words, but in my actions. With the challenges we now face in this nation and world, I will strive to faithfully shine the light of the Good News of Jesus' Agape and Grace on the darkness being cast (even sometimes by the church) in the world around me. This is a life-long transformational process by the Holy Spirit of God. I am thankful to be in it.
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, November 27, 2016
American Civil Religion
I offer this LONG blog like every other blog, not to be critical for its own sake, but to critically THINK as a follower of Jesus on what it means to faithfully follow Jesus. I pray that it will help you think about what it means to follow Jesus in your life, as a community of faith and as a nation.
You have heard folk talk about this being a "Christian nation", or a nation founded on "Christian" principles. At the time of the Revolutionary War, 17% of the nation identified with a church body and all but 13% of the founding fathers were deists, who believed that God exists but does not actively intervene in the world. Yet, since the year 2000, 62% of Americans identify as "Christian".
But what brand of "Christianity" do we see? In the face of our recent election and over the eight years prior to it, we have heard lots of claims of people being Christian and having their faith inform their politics, economics and life in society, but much of what we have seen has been ANYTHING but Christ-like in rhetoric and behavior. What is "American Christianity"? My fear is that for many in our nation, it has become AMERICAN CIVIL RELIGION.
American Civil Religion has its origins in the 15th Century Document of Discovery, initiated by the church, which sanctioned the discovery of new lands and the subjugation of the inhabitants of those lands "for King and the Kingdom of God." So, upon the "discovery" of this land inhabited by millions of original "Americans", it was the right of European explorers and then colonists to take from them what they wanted, according to the Church of Jesus Christ. And they did so, and the genocide of native residents extended into the mid- 19th Century guided by our sense of "Manifest Destiny" - that God wanted us to have all the lands West of the original colonies and territories, so we pushed out and killed the inhabitants and took what we wanted, much like the Hebrew slaves did when entering the land of Canaan. Then, in the early 1900's we squatted on and took lands from a sovereign nation named Mexico, bought Alaska and Hawaii, fought the Spanish and took Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. People resisted. The Filipinos resisted enough that we "gave them" their sovereignty back. Then we turned our attention to Panama, paid mercenaries to fight the Columbians for control and took it to build the canal that would now serve our economic imperialist desires. It was the belief that God had chosen these people to discover and subdue these places, to take what we wanted because we were chosen by God to have it all.
And the church not only sanctioned this, but praised God for the wonderful bounty that God was providing through our ruthless means. The church prayed to God for further increase and favor, evermore. Revivalists then modeled evangelism on free market economic principles being developed in the country. The shows were well received. Their product was finely honed and people bought what they were selling, and America the Conquerors became America the Profiteers, and God sanctioned it all. God was the God of America's Empire.
We fought a Civil War, mostly over the evils of slavery, and much of the fervor over it was that it was economically sound as a business principle, and people had no right to take away the right of others to enslave whoever they wanted, for profit. God sanctioned it. It was in the Bible, after all. Who were abolitionists to tell others that their interpretation of the Bible that justified this was dubious? It was their right, sanctioned by God to do so, as God's White, Protestant elect in America.
The industrial revolution once again showed us that God favored Americans as being "exceptional."
The barons of industry built their wealth on the subjugation of immigrants and cheap labor, making their millions on the backs of others, now paid badly and worked to death for the gain of a few. The achievements were astounding, however and much of the world marveled at the accomplishments of America. Now, the economic empire was building. The Gilded Age had begun.
Walter Rauschenbusch preached about the Social Gospel of Jesus, the need for love as the center of our Christianity, and the need to treat others with generosity, kindness, equal justice and equality for all. His words fell in relative obscurity, as the powerful and wealthy in the nation binged. Many preachers saw all the gain in power and wealth as a sign of God's continued favor, rather than see the ruthlessness of means by which we got it.
We were dragged into World War I, and out of necessity our Military Industrial Complex was born, manufacturing what was needed to supply a War Machine. God showed favor in our "Exceptionalism" again by allowing us to win the war along with other, smaller players. Our wealth as a nation was building also on the backs of poor laborers, so God was blessing us with economic growth as a nation of exceptional and chosen people.
The Roaring Twenties gave way to the Great Depression after the de-regulation of our economic system by the robber barons of industry and the dustbowl challenges across our land. The stock market crashed, and the nation suffered the hangover of the over-indulgence of those captains of industry who made millions. Many went to church during this time, because the idea of unlimited growth as God's nation of favored and blessed, exceptional people was thrown into question. FDR brought us out of it, calling the nation to move back to compassion and pull together as a people.
We stayed out of World War II as long as we could. We had too much to lose. For years we ignored the plight of many who were being exterminated, the taking of nations by a European Autocrat and the threat to allies we swore to protect, until we were attacked. Once again, the military industrial complex geared up for action and we sent our young men and women overseas. Once again, American "exceptionalism" was seen worldwide, this time on the grandest scale. Nazi Storm Troopers, who had "Gott Mitt Uns" on their belt buckles, were defeated by the TRULY chosen of God. Once again, it was God who proved that we were the chosen, the blessed and highly favored, the nation of God.
Our economy blossomed. The threat of the Soviet Union loomed large, along with the threat of utter annihilation through atomic war. Billy Graham, "America's Preacher", preached about the evils in America at his revivals. He did not address our corporate sins of greed that drove us to exploit many for cheap labor or abuses of power and injustice regarding our own citizens of color. He preached about individual salvation and sin - mostly sexual sins, use of drugs and alcohol and entertainment not fitting wholesomeness. People ate it up. Communism, an economic system, was addressed as evil and godless, while "Western culture" was God's culture. Capitalism was of God. Jesus loved Democracy and Capitalism and hated Socialism and Communism, clearly. Jesus loved the upper, middle-class, straight, white, Protestant, male dominated, Capitalist American Way of Life. Anything else was ungodly, un-American or uncivilized. He called for prayerful repentance to THAT vision of America in the face of the threat of destruction. Those things marked our morality.
This view of morality, that ignored greed, abuses of power and self-promotion but embraced all sexual "sins" was perfected during the period of the 80's that I call "The Desolating Sacrilege". This was marked by the Religious "Right"/"Moral" Majority of Jerry Falwell getting in bed with the Political "Right"/Laissez-Faire Capitalists of Ronald Reagan. They were a force to be reckoned with. The legislation of sexual morality became an issue, and the de-regulation of greedy business practices became mainstream. Greed was good. Sex was evil. God sanctioned it by providing a fine, upstanding "moral" man of God to work with America's Grandpa in the White House. The economic and political corruption that followed took the nation years to recover from, but still some harken back to those years and the 50's as "the good ole days". The middle class was gutted, the environment destroyed and wasted, the poor blamed for their victimization at the hands of the new robber barons, government was bought by corporations, liberals were vilified and everyone was blamed for the nation's decline except those who orchestrated it for their own profit, at the expense of the rest of the nation. But we finally beat the Russians, and people believed that God was pleased by all of this. 1981 to 1992, the "Desolating Sacrilege" was the duping of America into believing that laissez-faire Capitalism was Democracy, America's military might was God's tool and we were a "Christian" nation. Jesus is a Capitalist and favors Oligarchy. It was in this period that the church largely abandoned the plight of those living in the cities economically, and developed more fully a Theology of Prosperity and Church Growth that would go along with the Capitalistic American "Exceptionalism" of the day. Ignoring what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled in the Gospels,
our American Civil Religion came into its fullest expression. Anyone who was not a true believer in this was un-American, un-Christian and unacceptable.
The 2016 Campaigns have shown us the underlying racism, classism, homophobia, misogyny and religious intolerance of those who have fully embraced American Civil Religion. Their belief in white supremacy and God's favor on laissez-faire Capitalism and Oligarchy, the evangelical and fundamentalist Protestant faith, the superiority of men and the inherent morality of being straight have shown themselves time and time again. Those at the top of the economic ladder, mostly white and Protestant, have exploited the masses by pitting them against each other along these lines. The "Make American Great Again" crowds see themselves as trying to regain their dominance in a culture that has been moving toward ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, religious and economic justice and equality. The New Gilded Age has begun, with the new Robber Barons at the helm, gutting the power of organized labor and fighting the raising of wages for workers. The New Jim Crow has begun regarding our black and brown sisters and brothers, women of all ethnicities, our LGBT sisters and brothers and people of other faiths who have been gaining rights and safeguards from discrimination. Greed, abuses of Power and self-centeredness are no longer seen as immoral, but normal and sanctioned by God. Love outside of marriage, abortion, homosexuality, liberalism and the practice of other faiths are the only "moral" concerns of those blinded by this renewed faith in the God of America.
MY FEAR is that we are headed for another Great Depression. That is also MY HOPE.
It is not until these beliefs in God's blessing and favor of ruthlessness, intolerance and exploitation
out of our Greed, Lust for Power and Self-Indulgence are challenged that we will finally embrace a faith in Jesus' Good News of Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other) in Grace as Americans. Until we understand that God is the God of ALL PEOPLE and not just Americans or the wealthy or powerful, we will continue down this path of a people who "will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will accumulate for (our)selves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away into myths." II Timothy 4:3,4
It will be a GREAT PRICE to pay. I believe it is our only hope, along with people of sound faith and mind standing up and speaking up against words and actions that are anti-Christ. People are NOW being hurt in our own nation and across the world by our American Civil Religion, that had its origins 500+ years ago and has grown and been perfected over that time to benefit a few at the cost of the many. It is time, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, to stop this false belief and idolatry. Every Civil Religion practiced in world history has fallen. Israel fell. Rome fell AFTER making Christianity the religion of the Empire and adapting it to be an institution. The Holy Roman Empire fell. The 3rd Reich fell. Their versions of "the true faith" were false. American Civil Religion that elides a false vision of God, Country, Capitalism and Democracy that is more Oligarchy, white, straight, male dominated, Evangelical Fundamentalist Protestant as blessing and sanction to exclude, exploit, discriminate against, enslave, exterminate, hurt and marginalize all others in the world must go. It is time to recognize that it was not God who gave us this, but our ruthlessness in Greed, lust for Power and self-promotion through the subjugation of others that got us this. It is time to find a more loving, just, peaceful, gracious and inclusive way. It is time to follow Jesus' Way.
Toward that end... LIVE what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in the Good News.
Pastor Jamie
You have heard folk talk about this being a "Christian nation", or a nation founded on "Christian" principles. At the time of the Revolutionary War, 17% of the nation identified with a church body and all but 13% of the founding fathers were deists, who believed that God exists but does not actively intervene in the world. Yet, since the year 2000, 62% of Americans identify as "Christian".
But what brand of "Christianity" do we see? In the face of our recent election and over the eight years prior to it, we have heard lots of claims of people being Christian and having their faith inform their politics, economics and life in society, but much of what we have seen has been ANYTHING but Christ-like in rhetoric and behavior. What is "American Christianity"? My fear is that for many in our nation, it has become AMERICAN CIVIL RELIGION.
American Civil Religion has its origins in the 15th Century Document of Discovery, initiated by the church, which sanctioned the discovery of new lands and the subjugation of the inhabitants of those lands "for King and the Kingdom of God." So, upon the "discovery" of this land inhabited by millions of original "Americans", it was the right of European explorers and then colonists to take from them what they wanted, according to the Church of Jesus Christ. And they did so, and the genocide of native residents extended into the mid- 19th Century guided by our sense of "Manifest Destiny" - that God wanted us to have all the lands West of the original colonies and territories, so we pushed out and killed the inhabitants and took what we wanted, much like the Hebrew slaves did when entering the land of Canaan. Then, in the early 1900's we squatted on and took lands from a sovereign nation named Mexico, bought Alaska and Hawaii, fought the Spanish and took Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. People resisted. The Filipinos resisted enough that we "gave them" their sovereignty back. Then we turned our attention to Panama, paid mercenaries to fight the Columbians for control and took it to build the canal that would now serve our economic imperialist desires. It was the belief that God had chosen these people to discover and subdue these places, to take what we wanted because we were chosen by God to have it all.
And the church not only sanctioned this, but praised God for the wonderful bounty that God was providing through our ruthless means. The church prayed to God for further increase and favor, evermore. Revivalists then modeled evangelism on free market economic principles being developed in the country. The shows were well received. Their product was finely honed and people bought what they were selling, and America the Conquerors became America the Profiteers, and God sanctioned it all. God was the God of America's Empire.
We fought a Civil War, mostly over the evils of slavery, and much of the fervor over it was that it was economically sound as a business principle, and people had no right to take away the right of others to enslave whoever they wanted, for profit. God sanctioned it. It was in the Bible, after all. Who were abolitionists to tell others that their interpretation of the Bible that justified this was dubious? It was their right, sanctioned by God to do so, as God's White, Protestant elect in America.
The industrial revolution once again showed us that God favored Americans as being "exceptional."
The barons of industry built their wealth on the subjugation of immigrants and cheap labor, making their millions on the backs of others, now paid badly and worked to death for the gain of a few. The achievements were astounding, however and much of the world marveled at the accomplishments of America. Now, the economic empire was building. The Gilded Age had begun.
Walter Rauschenbusch preached about the Social Gospel of Jesus, the need for love as the center of our Christianity, and the need to treat others with generosity, kindness, equal justice and equality for all. His words fell in relative obscurity, as the powerful and wealthy in the nation binged. Many preachers saw all the gain in power and wealth as a sign of God's continued favor, rather than see the ruthlessness of means by which we got it.
We were dragged into World War I, and out of necessity our Military Industrial Complex was born, manufacturing what was needed to supply a War Machine. God showed favor in our "Exceptionalism" again by allowing us to win the war along with other, smaller players. Our wealth as a nation was building also on the backs of poor laborers, so God was blessing us with economic growth as a nation of exceptional and chosen people.
The Roaring Twenties gave way to the Great Depression after the de-regulation of our economic system by the robber barons of industry and the dustbowl challenges across our land. The stock market crashed, and the nation suffered the hangover of the over-indulgence of those captains of industry who made millions. Many went to church during this time, because the idea of unlimited growth as God's nation of favored and blessed, exceptional people was thrown into question. FDR brought us out of it, calling the nation to move back to compassion and pull together as a people.
We stayed out of World War II as long as we could. We had too much to lose. For years we ignored the plight of many who were being exterminated, the taking of nations by a European Autocrat and the threat to allies we swore to protect, until we were attacked. Once again, the military industrial complex geared up for action and we sent our young men and women overseas. Once again, American "exceptionalism" was seen worldwide, this time on the grandest scale. Nazi Storm Troopers, who had "Gott Mitt Uns" on their belt buckles, were defeated by the TRULY chosen of God. Once again, it was God who proved that we were the chosen, the blessed and highly favored, the nation of God.
Our economy blossomed. The threat of the Soviet Union loomed large, along with the threat of utter annihilation through atomic war. Billy Graham, "America's Preacher", preached about the evils in America at his revivals. He did not address our corporate sins of greed that drove us to exploit many for cheap labor or abuses of power and injustice regarding our own citizens of color. He preached about individual salvation and sin - mostly sexual sins, use of drugs and alcohol and entertainment not fitting wholesomeness. People ate it up. Communism, an economic system, was addressed as evil and godless, while "Western culture" was God's culture. Capitalism was of God. Jesus loved Democracy and Capitalism and hated Socialism and Communism, clearly. Jesus loved the upper, middle-class, straight, white, Protestant, male dominated, Capitalist American Way of Life. Anything else was ungodly, un-American or uncivilized. He called for prayerful repentance to THAT vision of America in the face of the threat of destruction. Those things marked our morality.
This view of morality, that ignored greed, abuses of power and self-promotion but embraced all sexual "sins" was perfected during the period of the 80's that I call "The Desolating Sacrilege". This was marked by the Religious "Right"/"Moral" Majority of Jerry Falwell getting in bed with the Political "Right"/Laissez-Faire Capitalists of Ronald Reagan. They were a force to be reckoned with. The legislation of sexual morality became an issue, and the de-regulation of greedy business practices became mainstream. Greed was good. Sex was evil. God sanctioned it by providing a fine, upstanding "moral" man of God to work with America's Grandpa in the White House. The economic and political corruption that followed took the nation years to recover from, but still some harken back to those years and the 50's as "the good ole days". The middle class was gutted, the environment destroyed and wasted, the poor blamed for their victimization at the hands of the new robber barons, government was bought by corporations, liberals were vilified and everyone was blamed for the nation's decline except those who orchestrated it for their own profit, at the expense of the rest of the nation. But we finally beat the Russians, and people believed that God was pleased by all of this. 1981 to 1992, the "Desolating Sacrilege" was the duping of America into believing that laissez-faire Capitalism was Democracy, America's military might was God's tool and we were a "Christian" nation. Jesus is a Capitalist and favors Oligarchy. It was in this period that the church largely abandoned the plight of those living in the cities economically, and developed more fully a Theology of Prosperity and Church Growth that would go along with the Capitalistic American "Exceptionalism" of the day. Ignoring what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled in the Gospels,
our American Civil Religion came into its fullest expression. Anyone who was not a true believer in this was un-American, un-Christian and unacceptable.
The 2016 Campaigns have shown us the underlying racism, classism, homophobia, misogyny and religious intolerance of those who have fully embraced American Civil Religion. Their belief in white supremacy and God's favor on laissez-faire Capitalism and Oligarchy, the evangelical and fundamentalist Protestant faith, the superiority of men and the inherent morality of being straight have shown themselves time and time again. Those at the top of the economic ladder, mostly white and Protestant, have exploited the masses by pitting them against each other along these lines. The "Make American Great Again" crowds see themselves as trying to regain their dominance in a culture that has been moving toward ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, religious and economic justice and equality. The New Gilded Age has begun, with the new Robber Barons at the helm, gutting the power of organized labor and fighting the raising of wages for workers. The New Jim Crow has begun regarding our black and brown sisters and brothers, women of all ethnicities, our LGBT sisters and brothers and people of other faiths who have been gaining rights and safeguards from discrimination. Greed, abuses of Power and self-centeredness are no longer seen as immoral, but normal and sanctioned by God. Love outside of marriage, abortion, homosexuality, liberalism and the practice of other faiths are the only "moral" concerns of those blinded by this renewed faith in the God of America.
MY FEAR is that we are headed for another Great Depression. That is also MY HOPE.
It is not until these beliefs in God's blessing and favor of ruthlessness, intolerance and exploitation
out of our Greed, Lust for Power and Self-Indulgence are challenged that we will finally embrace a faith in Jesus' Good News of Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other) in Grace as Americans. Until we understand that God is the God of ALL PEOPLE and not just Americans or the wealthy or powerful, we will continue down this path of a people who "will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will accumulate for (our)selves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away into myths." II Timothy 4:3,4
It will be a GREAT PRICE to pay. I believe it is our only hope, along with people of sound faith and mind standing up and speaking up against words and actions that are anti-Christ. People are NOW being hurt in our own nation and across the world by our American Civil Religion, that had its origins 500+ years ago and has grown and been perfected over that time to benefit a few at the cost of the many. It is time, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, to stop this false belief and idolatry. Every Civil Religion practiced in world history has fallen. Israel fell. Rome fell AFTER making Christianity the religion of the Empire and adapting it to be an institution. The Holy Roman Empire fell. The 3rd Reich fell. Their versions of "the true faith" were false. American Civil Religion that elides a false vision of God, Country, Capitalism and Democracy that is more Oligarchy, white, straight, male dominated, Evangelical Fundamentalist Protestant as blessing and sanction to exclude, exploit, discriminate against, enslave, exterminate, hurt and marginalize all others in the world must go. It is time to recognize that it was not God who gave us this, but our ruthlessness in Greed, lust for Power and self-promotion through the subjugation of others that got us this. It is time to find a more loving, just, peaceful, gracious and inclusive way. It is time to follow Jesus' Way.
Toward that end... LIVE what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in the Good News.
Pastor Jamie
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