What if I told you, “I love you” every day for a full year?
And what if each day I also reminded you of your past and nagged you about all the things you need to change in your life?
What would you remember at the end of the year? What would you think about me?
I just finished reading Shane Claiborne’s book “The Irresistible Revolution – living as an ordinary radical.”
It was a great read. Inspiring and insightful and I would argue like Brandt Russo – its a must read for any and all who want to find new meaning in what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
Towards the end of the book, Shane begins to wrap up the text with a chapter entitled, “Crazy but not alone.”
I’ve been chewing on these thoughts today and laughing at some of the humor as well. And as I’ve chewed on the ideas, I can’t help but wonder if Bono’s a fan of Shane’s as well.
Continue reading Bono and the Irresistible Revolution
Shared this with our community 2.0 leaders today….
Hello community 2.0 peeps…
Last night at our community group the three of us (yeah it was a slow week :-)) sat and talked about a number of things from prayer, to leadership, to future community groups etc. etc. We each talked about how refreshing Sunday at encounter was this past week. How it was a change from the ordinary and really seemed to spark something new.
It made me think about how often we get set in a routine even in our weekly community groups.
This morning, Small Group Dynamics touched on that as well. If things are starting to get “stale” or “traditional” in your group maybe it’s time to change things up a bit. Here are some of the things they suggested…
I know some of the groups have had “coffee house night” and met at a local coffee house. Its not only given a change of pace for the group members, but also opened opportunities for discussions with others.
What other ideas have you and/or your group done to change things up and keep it fresh?
“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.†– Albert Einstein
Guys, if you’re in the Ellis County area and you’re not making it on Wednesday mornings you’re really missing out.
This week Brian shared 5 things missionaries never say:
It goes right along with everything I’m reading, hearing and discussing right now. It matches the encounter 9 discussion and the Inverted series Brian’s been bringing on Sunday mornings and I think it really goes along with The Ragamuffin Gospel and Everything Must Change.
I just have to keep reviewing the things in my life and say God > others > me.
It must be so much less me and so much more of others and God.
It (Christianity) has focused on “me†and “my soul†and “my spiritual life†and “my eternal destiny,†but it has failed to address the dominant societal and global realities of their lifetime: systemic injustice, systemic poverty, systemic ecological crisis, systemic dysfunctions of many kinds.
…those remaining in local churches and those outside of them share the same sense of doubt: a message purporting to be the best news in the world should be doing better than this. The religion’s results are not commensurate with the bold claims it makes. Truly good news, they feel, would confront systemic injustice, target significant global dysfunctions, and provide hope and resources for making a better world – along with helping individuals experience a full life.
(we find ourselves wishing for)… a vibrant form of Christian faith that is holistic, integral, and balanced – one that offers good news for both the living and the dying, that speaks of God’s grace at work both in this life and the life to come, that speaks to individuals and to societies and to the planet as a whole.
– Brian D. McLaren :: Everything Must Change
Ok. Just so you know, I finished reading the article and I can say I agree with most of what the author said. Although I don’t think homeschooling is the only way this “bottom-up” philosophy can take place – I think “bottom-up” is the way we should be making change in our world.
Calling it dominion is a huge turn off to me, but changing the world through our own personal actions and faith and not by legislation is what I’m totally about.
It’s impossible to expect that a culture that’s been in meltdown mode for over a century can be rescued by some kind of miraculous, overnight, 51% to 49%, “top-down,†legislative acts that might hopefully force the country move “our way. 
Our national mindset of “government as eternal safety-net†is too dead set against it. Besides, even though almost all legislation deals with matters of right and wrong, the kind of restored morality we’d like to see simply can’t be legislated. Laws alone can’t force people to “be good;†only Christ and adherence to His moral standards can do that.
AMEN! The author goes on to say that while some of these homeschooled, “Christian Soldier Repairmen” will become elected officials, they can still have an affect through their lives, regardless of what laws are in place.
…the bottom-up principle still retains a powerful place in the halls of government because the lives of young Christians seeking to become lawmakers are always under the critical magnifying glass and microscope of public opinion. So, whether in pre-candidate mode as a next door neighbor or ultimately as a respected regional representative, exemplary behavior will serve as a life-style model as to what truly good governors and governments (minimal, freedom oriented and Bible-based) are supposed to be about. This “bottom-up-ness†will be especially vivid as Christian officials make their Bible-based moral compass and biblical worldview principles explicit through the quality of their legislation and their public speeches and writings. They’ll also be making a difference by direct impact on the personal lives of their fellow office holders, and the same as it relates to ever-skeptical cynics in the humanist media.
I think he’s painting too broad of a paint stroke here with the “humanist media” but I understand his point. No matter where we are, as elected officials, as road workers, as bankers, as members of the main stream media, or even as bloggers or members of the non-so-main stream media, we should be having a positive influence on those around us.
This huge army of fully engaged adults will, daily, be influencing their fellow workers through winsome friendship evangelism as well as by bringing character, integrity, good example and product-advancing, employer-pleasing breakthroughs to their jobs.
YES! “Work not as unto man, but as unto the Lord.”
Sure, the bottom-up philosophy is a tall order, but, by thinking in terms of one voter, one new office holder, one new group of friends at work, one new child being taught at home by God’s people, it won’t be long before millions will have observed and become convinced, voluntarily, that the way of the Lord is the better way.
It takes one person standing up for Christ to make a difference. And that one person tells another one, who tells another one, who tells another one, until everyone is convinced, voluntarily, that the Lord is the better way.
And to answer my previous questions – Jesus didn’t call His disciples to take on political office, or mass protests, or fighting back against authority because His way was/is different. He called His disciples to make changes one on one and to change hearts, not laws.
