Stairway to Heaven?

The sculpture, by Spanish artist Eugenio Merino (Madrid, 1975), represents a Muslim worshipper, a Catholic priest and a Rabbi. The three of them are immortalized in the act of praying, each one in his own fashion: the Muslim bending, the Catholic kneeling and the Jew standing. The piece comes with the controversial title “Stairway to Heaven”. To a closer look, we see that the books of the three religions are inverted: the Jew prays with a Koran, the Christian with a Torah ( תורה ), and the Muslim with a Bible.

The artist obviously defends his work: “It is not a work of art meant to offend. My idea is the coexistence of the three religions, joint in a common effort to reach God, in a literally way. I think the message is positive.”

Is the sculpture anti-Semitic, because it suggests once again the stereotype of the Jewish people ruling the world, standing on top of the column, closer to God? Or should that be taken as a compliment?
Maybe the sculpture is anti-Islamic, since the Muslim is crushed at the end of the pile. Or should that be taken as a compliment, meaning that Islam is at the base of world religions?
And what about poor old Catholicism, squeezed in the middle, the eyes closed? Or maybe the column is not meant to suggest a hierarchy?

How should we read this piece?

Restoration and Salvation

Yesterday, I came across a post on my Twitter feed about Tiger Woods and I was intrigued. The reason I read the post is because they are a blog that focuses on “scandalous movement of radical grace in life and leadership”. I absolutely love this idea and subscribe to it wholeheartedly but I have one problem that I’m starting to observe… there is no Jesus. Let me explain with my comments on the blog.

“Mike, I had the chance to experience both you and Jud at Catalyst a few years back and I was amazed and intrigued by both of your wants for radical grace. I also know that we [as Christ followers] are called to be a people that [prayerfully] forgive and move forward towards restoring others to where they once were, I respectfully have a different take on the Tiger Woods scandal. Tiger is definitely not Saul, but not quite David either and I too am praying for a roaring redemption with him family and return to the game. The key, I think, is his Buddhist faith. Everything he said was consistent with his renewed devotion to that – it is basically “I have to work harder and be more disciplined to renounce the desires of the flesh and make myself a better person”. Admirable, and I personally believe he meant every word, but it was a bit empty because there is no room for forgiveness, atonement, redemption in that worldview. Ultimately, I am praying for Tiger to see the truth that Christ brings to ones life. While I appreciate those who were there to support him [in the front row] and weep for the pain brought on by him to his wife and kids, we as believers need to pray not just for restoration but salvation in [Jesus] Christ.

Tigers restoration without salvation [in Christ] is useless. What do you think?

Do you call you call yourself a Christian?

Every week I read multiple Blogs and Bloggers opinions and I can tell you that there are some very interesting ones out there. This week I ran across an old blog from man named named John Smulo. He wrote a post entitled “Five Reasons I Hate Telling People I’m Christian”. As I read this simple post I was struck with this thought, I usually agree with most of his post this one I did not. So I wanted to spend some time giving my “Six Reasons I Love Telling People I’m Christian”.

It is conversation stopper, instead of a conversation starter.	When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not shouting “I’ve been saved!” I’m whispering, “I was lost. That’s why I chose this way”
It communicates something other than what I mean.	When I say, “I am a Christian,” I don’t speak with human pride I’m confessing that I stumble, and need Christ to be my guide.
I’ll lose out on potential friendships because of the stereotypes this word conveys.	When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not bragging of success I’m admitting that I’ve failed and cannot ever pay the debt.
‘Christian’ is associated with a lot of things, but almost none of them have anything to do with Jesus Christ.	When I say, “I am a Christian,” I don’t think I know it all I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught.
It provokes hurt, anger, and angst for people who’ve had painful experiences with Christians.	When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not claiming to be perfect My flaws are far too visible.
	When I say, “I am a Christian,” I still feel the sting of pain I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name.

Despite the all of the preconceived notions that coincide with the word “Christian” I truly believe that it is my job to represent the one who saved us. The first known usage of the term can be found in the New Testament, in Acts 11:26: “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” The term was thus first used to denote those known or perceived to be disciples of Jesus Christ. In the two other New Testament uses of the word (Acts 26:28 and 1 Peter 4:16) it refers to the public identity of those who follow Jesus. I think that the word should be redefined and fought for by those of us who follow Christ. Because of my skin color many people have presuppositions on who I am and what I do/ sound like. It may not be fair but I refuse to accept those false assumptions as true, neither should we do that with Christ name. This is just my opinion I could be wrong!

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? With whom? Please comment below…..

Outsiders View: Evan

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I was surprised and flattered when you wanted to hear my opinions. Thanks 🙂

My name is Evan Michael Nelson. I was born in Houston, Texas December 31, 1989. I have lived in or around Kansas City since I was three. I have two brothers and three sisters of which I am the second oldest. My parents raised us in a Traditional Catholic home until their divorce in 2004. Despite the conservative upbringing I like to think of myself as an open-minded individual, especially since I am openly gay which honestly takes a very open mind once you get down nitty gritty of what we do. In my spare time I like to draw cartoons in my sketchbook or watch Quentin Tarantino movies (DeathProof is my favorite). My career aspiration is to work in medicine and has been since I was young. Currently I attend Johnson County Community College because at KU I partied my freshman year away. I work at the New Theater Restaurant which is where I met Jon (and you are very funny and I quite enjoy you). I am in a relationship of a little over a year with Samuel (and despite my nagging him to shave his back) we are still very happy and drama free. Knock on wood.
To me, religion is very important and Christianity just so happens to be my religion. Even though I have all the mounting evidence, logic, and reasons to happily put faith behind me I have decided that I want to remain Catholic and even raise my children in the same manner. Christianity, despite all its apparent flaws, is essentially good and faith is part of the human condition, which is why you never meet an atheist at the hospital and I can vouch for that. I have found in my experiences that people who have some sort of faith at all tend to be happier with their lives. But on the flip side of the coin I have observed those who are “too” faithful to have a small locus of control which I can not respect in anyway. I see Christianity as a great “rough draft” of a moral person and in my opinion that’s all one should really need. I for one do not follow certain doctrines of my faith (obviously) but I still feel as though I have a place in Heaven. In my opinion God made us to live the life he made for us and being self sufficient and living to the fullest is a good use of your soul. Certain Christians allow their faith to cloud their judgment. They become so wrapped up in their scriptures that it hinders their potential. People too obsessed with God allow themselves to fail and attribute it to be a part of his “plan”. Perhaps it’s the archaic view of Catholicism grained into me but I feel like God is simply a judge who is going to evaluate my time on Earth, he isn’t my dad and he isn’t my guiding light. I do not mean to sound overly critical but these are my beliefs (different strokes for different strokes I reckon) and I am one who likes to put the majority of my faith in myself that way I can survive this real world with minimal time wasted. Christianity as a religion (and especially certain Protestant divisions) is much too cushy, it’s all love love love and pray pray pray. I’m not into “Buddy Jesus” and those sort of perceptions. I feel that they weaken a person’s attachment to real life where God isn’t going to part the Red Sea and hand you your next meal or rent check. God does not talk to anyone (expect for maybe the Pope) and he doesn’t have an advice column so people looking for answers to their life problems ought to put down the Bible and go out and fix them. For some people faith may be helpful and they feel that it gives them strength, but it’s only a crutch. True strength comes from inside oneself and making religion one’s central thesis is hollow. I respect those people who can find strength in religion, but I do not envy them. I would much rather depend on myself and that’s what I think God really wants. Also I take comfort in the idea of an afterlife. The thought that all I’ll do when I die is rot is much too nihilistic for me to embrace.

“You have never met a mere mortal: You have either known an immortal horror or an eternal splendor”

~ C.S. Lewis “The Weight of Glory”

If you have 10 minutes please..

If you have 10 minutes today please take a minute and look at this video. While doing it ask yourself this question…

What would you do if you were sailing over the place where your four daughters had drowned?

Horatio Spafford wrote this song…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esUu2C6kLu8]

Please use this video and our media content to help raise awareness and resources for those who are suffering. One of the many things that I learned at my time at WFC is that those indigenous to the country are usually best suited and most knowledgeable of the pressing needs. We all know that the local Church is the hope of the world because through us Jesus is shared. For more information on what to do please go to Ch urches Helping Churches.com.

Actually Help Haiti!

Haiti just suffered the worst earthquake they’ve seen in the last 200 years. This is a tremendous opportunity for the Church (you guys) to share from our abundant resources to help bring comfort to the Haitians in the midst of such acute suffering.

Here are a few organizations that are mobilizing to help Haiti, any of them would be great to partner with:

The Courageous Church is trying to fill a immediate (as in yesterday) need of high power, military-grade laptop computers. They also will helping to facilitate new adoptions (not already in progress) of Haitian orphans. Do you feel CALLED to ADOPT Haitian orphans? Donate by clicking HERE! or send a check or money order please consider overnighting it via FedEx, etc. and send it to:

Courageous Church
190 Centennial Way
Atlanta, GA 30313

Compassion International has 65,000 sponsored children in Haiti.

World Vision has sponsored children in Haiti & is doing disaster relief work. They also have a program for churches to get involved, “Promise Packs.”

Samaritan’s Purse is providing disaster relief supplies. They hope to have 6,000 temporary shelters up in a couple weeks & by the end of next week will be providing 500,000 gallons of clean water daily.

Convoy of Hope has a warehouse there & feeds 7,000 children daily. They are providing food & disaster relief supplies. Here are some photos of their work so far.

World Hope is mobilizing their staff in Haiti & will be coordinating volunteers and volunteer groups from the U.S. (once emergency needs have been met).

May God test you!?!?

Recently, I was listening to the podcast from Cornerstone Church Simi Valley and Pastor Francis Chan asked a very intriguing question.

If Jesus stood up on stage and said:

Plan A: This year I will give you everything you want. You will prosper, your family will prosper, you will get whatever you want but by the end of this year you will not be any closer to me.

Plan B: This year will be the hardest year of your life. You may lose your marriage, job, and children. You will struggle in everything you do especially when it pertains to your relationship with God but by the end of the year you would be closer to me [Jesus] that you could ever imagine.

Which you would you choose?

I only ask this because I know that I’d want to choose Plan B but I’d most likely choose Plan A.

Why is that?

Why is it that when someone sneezes we ask God to bless him or her? Aren’t we already blessed? We:

Live in America
Make more money than most of the world
Won’t die or get sick by drinking dirty water
Have access to education
Relatively healthy
Etcetera

I’ve just noticed that we are very blessed and maybe need God to test us instead. Most of us could use God’s testing, including myself, and would not enjoy the testing but the outcome. The problem is that God gives us a choice on whether or not we want to submit to His will for our lives. So I wanted to wish you something that may cause you much harm but in the end will also bring you closer to the joy of the Father and His glory. May we choose Plan B and may He test us and do so deeply.

Really? Really? We can’t do better?

Some things I’ll never understand if I live to be a 100 and this is one of those things…Why do a cartoon that has absolutely nothing to do with religion or Christianity need a Jesus voice? And out of all the people in the world guess who the voice of Jesus will be? You got it! Lil’ Wayne, he will be providing the voice of Jesus in the new cartoon “Freaknik.”

In order to understand this you must understand what “Freaknik” was you should understand its origins. Freaknik was an annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, primarily of students from historically black colleges and universities, begun in 1982. Atlantans’ reception of the festival was mixed. In its heyday, the fest attracted upwards of 250,000 revelers to the city. Many residents attended and enjoyed Freaknik, and others complained about traffic congestion due to street parties. City leaders eventually took measures to curtail Freaknik’s accessibility, and hence its popularity. As a result, Freaknik moved to Memorial Drive in Dekalb County then Daytona Beach, Florida and was shut down soon after there arrival for spinning out of control.

The show, which is a 1-hour musical, will be airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in March and is said to feature many guest rapper’s, including Lil Wayne as the voice of Jesus Christ, who will be performing a music video for “Ghetto Commandments.”

The creative director of Adult Swim, tried to explain the shows concept and the rappers involvement. “Basically it was a Black Spring Break that went down in Atlanta and got shut down back in ‘98 or ‘99. So the show is going to resurrect that, and it’s going to be starring T-Pain and Lil’ Wayne and all these other artists like David Banner and some other dudes. It’s all drawn, and T-Pain plays the ghost of Spring Break, the Spirit of Freaknik. He brings this party back to Atlanta and the artists have done all this music for it, and it’s amazing.”

Outsiders View

“You have never met a mere mortal: You have either known an immortal horror or an eternal splendor”

~ C.S. Lewis “The Weight of Glory”

Now that I’m not in “full-time” professional ministry I’ve had the great opportunity to work directly with many people who are not Christians, don’t like Christians and sometimes hate us. I have asked some of them to share there story and there real view of Christians. Why you may ask? Given my testimony I have a passion for the outsider, though Christ seems to be drawing me to the “older b rother” (focus on vs. 25 – 32), and that passion leads me into some extremely interesting conversations. I’ve learned that each person has a story, a journey, and what many theologians call….. baggage. I honestly want you to hear there perspectives and join me in realizing how far we have to go. Honestly, most of you that read this probably feel that you are on mission and I’m not here to tell you otherwise but a constant reminder of why the message that we bring is so unpalatable to so many. I love those who will be sharing with us and I pray that you will join me in praying for them and our reactions to there perceptions (right of wrong) of those of us who follow Christ.

and how was your Christmas?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apWrS2uPBTg]

In perhaps one of the more spectacular YouTube performances of 2009, a child opens his Christmas present, an Xbox 360, and is transported to another dimension. Honestly, the only sane one in the room in the dog, no seriously watch and listen closely.

Honestly, I pray that your Christmas and New Year will be one that you remember. If you are in pain (spiritually, personally, physically, ect.) please remember that there is nothing that our God has allowed that won’t eventually lead to our joy and His glory.

I love you each, more than you’ll ever know.