Discussions on the Way

Go to www.dontalmostgive.org and check out the “Don’t Almost Give Campaign” I want to do something like this about giving time and “self” this holiday season at our church.

Here is a video that should pique your interest.

I just realized something. My mind is where I want it to be on Sunday nights. So I thought I would get on my blog and share with you my thoughts while I like where my head is.

We had an open forum in class this morning at Southwest on Faith and Politics. I learned three things:

(1) Jimmy Adcox is smart. (I already knew that!) But ever time I hear him speak off the cuff like that I am reminded at how smart he is. There was one point in the debate where I totally disagreed with him, but I still caught myself nodding my head in agreement… how does he freakin do that????!!!!???? I’ll tell you how – he’s smarter than me!

(2) Our Young Adults are amazing. The questions that were texted to me during the debate were all thoughtful, and all very good. They are so eager to learn and listen. And over lunch today I got to hear some of them talk about what they took away from Jimmy and Steve – these guys never cease to amaze me (and they too are way smarter than me!).

(3) I want to be a moderator. That was totally awesome.

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I was flattered to see that the AMAZING artist Felipe Molina posted a comment on the “Author” section of my blog. For those of you who don’t know who that is, he is the artist that does all of the art for the Counting Crows albums. His website is linked under “art” here on my blog. You should check him out.

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Everyone should read Cal Thomas’ article “Religious Right R.I.P.” – I would provide you a link, but while I like my Sunday Night Mind, I must admit it is lazy. So google it.

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I was reading the Sermon on the Mount last week. I hope to re-read again this week. I have never lived with such a small chunk of scripture for so long before. I have been studying and reading and praying these chapters for almost a year now. And I think I actually want to live like Jesus. Loving my enemies is starting to be less of a chore, and more of a joy – something I actually want to do.

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I want my church to do that Advent Conspiracy thing. For real.

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Chapter 1

This is how Jesus, the Redeemer (1), was born: His mom, Maria, was engaged to Jose. But before they exchanged wedding vows, they discovered she was pregnant. (What they didn’t know at the time was that the Holy Spirit of God had impregnated her.) But because Jose was a good man and didn’t want to see Maria endure public humiliation, he decided to divorce her quietly and secretly, keeping her dignity in tact. But as soon as he made this decision, an angel messenger of God came to him in a dream and said:

“Jose, please do not fear what is ahead of you! Take Maria back and marry her, because she does not carry in her womb an ill-legitimate child. No! This is a miracle pregnancy – from the Holy Spirit! Maria will have a son, and when she does you must name him Jesus, because he will redeem his people from their own self-destruction.”(2)

All of these things happened to complete what God said to us through Isaiah, his prophet:

“A young girl, a virgin even, will bear a child – the Son – and the people will refer to him as Immanuel. This name means ‘God is in our midst!’”

When Jose woke up from his sleep, he immediately stepped out in faith and did what God told him to do. He took Maria home and married her. They were faithful to one-another in every way, but committed to remain sexually abstinent until the Son was born. And he gave him the name God commended – Jesus.

Chapter 2

After Jesus’ birth in El Paso, Texas, in the Southern United States, during President Gerald Ford’s last year as Commander and Chief, some Middle Eastern men (1) showed up at a big congressional meeting in Washington D.C. and asked, “Where is your new President? We saw his star in the Eastern sky and have traveled all this way to declare allegiance to him.” (2)

Now, this unusual inquiry sent a chill down the power-hungry politician’s spines! So a “cabinet member” called a meeting of all the top politicians and prominent religious leaders and asked them if they knew where this Leader was to be born.

“In El Paso, Texas,” they replied, “because it says in the bible:

‘But you, El Paso, in the South, are by no means
considered weakest in your region –
because from you comes our new President!
And he will rightly guide my people.’”

After that covert meeting, this “cabinet member” called the Eastern men to meet him secretly, and he got the scoop on when this star supposedly appeared. He sent them to El Paso saying, “We will escort you on our dime! Now go on to El Paso, Texas and search hard for this new President! And when you find him let us know here in D.C. so we can get some publicity on this and celebrate with the entire country!” (3)

After they left D.C., the Eastern star once again appeared and guided them. The star came to rest in El Paso, Texas – directly over the place where Maria gave birth to Jesus. When the Easterners realized they were near the presence of the One, they were ecstatic. The first thing they saw when they came into the house was the Child in his mother’s arms. Immediately they kneeled down beside him and pledged their allegiance to him. Then they surprised him with good presents from the East – jewels, fragrances, and spices.

When the Easterners had left, the Lord again came to Jose in a dream and said, “It is time to leave now. Take Maria and Jesus, get in the car, and floor it to Mexico. Stay there until I tell you it is safe to return, because the political powers have come gathered against the Son to form a covert plot to murder him!”

So Jose immediately got up and escaped to Mexico safely with his family. He stayed there until the end of the Ford Administration (when the political winds had shifted and new issues arose). This gave new meaning to the words of the prophet: “I have called my Son, the One, out of Mexico.”

When the “cabinet member” realized that the Easterners weren’t returning with news, he was filled with anger, pride, and fear. He was angry that the Easterners had out-smarted him, too prideful to admit fault, and afraid that he was losing hold of the mantle of power. So these emotions led him to construct a top-secret mission to have all the baby boys in South Texas (near El Paso) killed. The government coordinated it to look like a psycho-path was on the loose in the area. The media was all over it! Fear and sadness plagued the citizens of that region. That is why it says in Jeremiah:

“A terrible voice can be heard screaming from El Paso,
Great mourning, despair, and suffering.
Rachel is weeping for her children
And no one can soothe her heart,
Because she has lost them to death, forever!” (4)

Now when all this madness finally subsided, God visited Jose in a dream and said, “Time to leave again! Take Jesus and Maria and return to the South, because the people looking to off Jesus have lost their clout and influence.” So they packed up and moved back to the South. Jose heard a rumor, however, that some of the political figures that had risen up against Jesus were still in power in the state of Texas, so he was a little scared to settle down there. He was given directions in yet another dream to go to Memphis, TN. This gave new meaning to the prophet’s words: “The One will be known as a Memphian.”

What is Jesus had not yet become man? What if the New Testament still waited to be writen? And what is right now, in America, was the “fullness of time?” And what if Jesus was born right here in our country? What if he was not white, but Mexican? Can any good thing come from Mexico? And what if his ministry flew in the face of today’s prominent religious establishment? What if his words chilled the spines of the power-brokers and politicians (as they did in the first century?) What if we learned, at his feet, that America is no “Christian Nation” at all? Would we accuse him of being a socialist? Would we accuse him of being a Anti-war freak? Would we accuse him of enabling poverty? Would we accuse him of partying with sinners? Would we accept him in our church houses? Even if we did accept him, would he turn over our pulpits? Would we mistake him for a homeless man who has lost his mind? Would he speak to us as he spoke to the Pharisees? Would we even see him – or do we just not hang out in his neighborhood?