Dispossessed

Jesus Loves Thugs!

Thursday, May 08, 2008 7:25 PM

NewsMax magazine published an article "blasting" Otis Moss, the young associate pastor and future Senior Pastor at Trinity UCC in Chicago. The humor to their assault is that EVERYTHING Reverend Moss says in the sermon is correct. Here is their list of offensive lies that Rev. Moss is perpetuating.

“Jesus has a soft spot for thugs.”
“God is always using thugs to do God’s work.”
“Everyone has a little bit of thug in them.”
Noah was a “thug” who “was drinking much gin and juice and got drunk on the eve of reconstruction.”
Abraham “pimped his own wife.”
Jacob was a “hustler” who “stole his own brother’s birthright.”
Moses was a “thug” and “if he got mad would give you a royal beatdown.”
Sampson was a “thug” and a “player.”
David was a “thug,” a “shot caller,” and a “player,” and a man after God’s own heart.
“Jesus is on the cross being lynched between two thugs. The moment of execution, the moment of murder, Jesus, the son of God, is hanging out with thugs.”

The problem with their accusation is that ALL of these statements are Biblically true. Jesus affirms his soft spot for thugs in Luke 5:31 in fact the entire Bible story affirms Jesus' passion to take the unlikely failures of this world, and empower them to be key instruments in his kingdom. These Newsmax writers do not get that highlighting the failures of the Bible's Heroes is not controversial, it is included in the text of the word by God himself, to demonstrate the very point that Mr. Moss is making,, "Your condition does not dictate your conclusion." God's Lost n Found is filled with those people he would later use to revolutionize the world. It seems the author of this article is so trapped in the power methodologies of the fallen kingdom that he can not see the beauty of God's kingdom that uses the foolish & failures of this world to shame the wise & winners.

Here Is their Excerpt From The Sermon: Seems Right On To Me!

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Can A Balloon Change The World

Thursday, May 08, 2008 10:21 AM

I ordered 3 bags worth of balloons today for our Memorial Day retreat programs. They are Fair Trade balloons! Seriously! You might laugh at me, being naive enough to believe that a balloon can change the world. Yet the truth is, I DO believe a balloon can change the world. In order for them to change the world, we have to change the minds of people, the heart of Christians, and even the connotation of certain words.

Let's start be redefining the connotative implications of a word. Sacramental. Classically, this words pertains to any object created by the church to aid in devotion. Items meant to assist the user in preparing their heart and mind to receive the sacraments. Catholics would place holy water, the rosary, and saint cards in this category. Evangelical churches have sacramentals as well, they just do not refer to them as such. In our church we use music and a meditative thought, and even some iconography occasionally. In both of these cases this word sacramental is disconnected from everyday life. I "GO TO CHURCH" and use an object or an activity to prepare my mind and heart for the Communion meal.

This is the idea that needs to be changed. Recently the phrase a "sacramental lifestyle" has been used in many missional and emergent conversations. This idea, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is that we are called to live in such a way that our LIFESTYLE is constantly engaged with God in his redemptive work. The sacramental lifestyle understands that we do not prepare to participate in a sacrament of atonement bust instead we are perpetually participatory as the incarnation of God's atonement.

Buying a balloon is a sacramental decision! The decision of where I spent my fiscals resources is FUNDAMENTALLY SACRAMENTAL! I can not be honoring with God in my heart as a eat a piece of cracker and take a shot of grape juice, if I am not honoring to God in the places where I buy my food, my clothing, and all my purchasing. When Christ states that the love of money is the root of all evil, he challenges the distribution of all our resources! Am I searching for the "Best Deal Available" at the expense of ignoring the slave labor in it's manufacturing, or am I purchasing responsibly to participate with God who "hears the cries of the oppressed."

There is SO MUCH available now that one can buy responsibly. Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, Fruit, T-Shirts, Socks, Flowers, and more I am forgetting. Yet, this is only the beginning! For love to change the world EVERY PURCHASE must be God honoring! The more products we the people of God insist on buying only when they are life affirming rather than life destroying, the more products that will be available.

I recently heard Rob Bell point out that Solomon's great mistake was to use forced labor to build the temple to the God of the slave and the oppressed. Once Solomon lost sight of the identity of his God, and his identity in God's Kingdom, his own kingdom was on a ripcord toward collapse.

Our hearts and minds must be changed. We must understand that our God is not a god like the corporate demigods of comfort, convenience, and consumption! He is the God of the bruised reed and the smoldering wick. He is the God who hears the cries of the slave, who feels the pain of the orphan, who longs for the release from bondage to the sex addict, the alcoholic, and the crack whore. He is the God who proclaim Jubilee, the redemption of all that needs to be restored.

A sacramental life can change the world because it is in that lifestyle that we align with God in his redemptive work, even in a purchase as simple as a pack of balloons, or maybe your mother's day flowers.

SOME FAIR TRADE LINKS:

Trade As One
Bright Hope

Labels: Fair Trade, Redemption, Sacrements

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Come Alongside Me!!!

Monday, May 05, 2008 12:05 PM

I say this prayer, "God, get us to Swazi so I can come alongside you in your work with the fatherless." God replies, "Come alongside me here!"
I say this prayer, "God, the house needs to be sold, the support needs to be raised; so I can come alongside your love for these orphans." God replies, "Come alongside me now!"
I say this prayer, "God, download your wisdom into my mind so I am qualified to be a teacher alongside you in raising these forgotten babies." God replies, "Come alongside me today!"
I say this prayer, "God, make me a boundless wellspring of love and service so I can come alongside you to these abandoned." God replies, "Come alongside me! Come alongside me! Come alongside me!"

I really must tell you the truth, I'd like to already be in Swaziland, working at the orphan village, pastoring and discipling these precious fatherless children. Since God has confirmed this calling in our lives, the path from here to there can seem discouraging and irrelevant.

Yet I know that is NOT God's way. To God no step along the path is irrelevant. I feel more than ever before I need to curl up close in the Father's side, and use my hands to join his work Here, Now, Today!

A Prayer: Holy God, I am so thankful for my precious second child and her love to work alongside me in our kitchen. I need to get my step stool out and join my daddy in his work. Thank you Lord for showing me that if I am alongside you, I am right where I need to be. Your Kingdom Come - On Earth As It Is In Heaven - In My Hands as they are guided by you!