Question of the Day? “How much do you have to hate somebody, to NOT proselytize [share your faith]?  How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible, and not tell them that?” – Penn Jillette

Since becoming a believer in Christ I have always been intrigued by views that are opposed to mine.  I am constantly listening to sermons, debates, and searching some honest and well thought out arguments for and against my beliefs.  This all correlates with my passion for sharing my faith and doing the work of Christ.  This is what led me to this video, please watch and then ask yourself the questions that he asked.  They are great questions.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM]

Penn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, comedian, illusionist, juggler, musician and writer known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller as the vocal half of the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, andscientific skepticism.

Recently, I have been truly contemplating what I should say as I start this new blog and eventually our ministry.  I want to go back and finish a thought that was started back last week.  It was called “Statement of Intent Part 1:  Here is a part of it you can also click here to read that rest.

Over my lifetime I have heard or even made many statements of intent, but recently I heard that Jesus made a statement that started and drove His intent. A pastor friend of mine (Mark Van Steenwyk) is writing a book called “The Jesus Manifesto”. “The Jesus Manifesto” refers to Luke 4:18-19, Jesus, after getting tested in the wilderness, gives his first sermon in his hometown. He opens the scroll of Isaiah and read what is to be His manifesto………

Luke 4:18 – 19 has all the earmarks of a political manifesto.  To the 1st century Jew, it evoked images of Messiah, of Jubilee, of reversal of the oppression that they were under.  The passage sets a trajectory for the rest of Luke, as well as the book of Acts, and I believe that the Jesus Manifesto should be our manifesto as well. I believe that the Kingdom of God is real, not an abstraction, that Jesus is our king, not our figurehead, and if we are to follow him as our king, we must embrace the way of life that he sets out for us in the gospels.  This is a radical ideal and could lead towards an even more radical way of life.  Imagine your life being lead just like those in the first century, giving everything to anyone who needed, bringing hope to those who had none.  This is what gained us our name, Christian, to be like Christ.

For those who read this blog I would like to present ideas that are meant to frustrate and disrupt quaint notions of Jesus and the even quainter notions of the religion he founded. You see, I am convinced that what passes for Christianity in our culture has very little resemblance to the radical and indeed political (not Democrat/ Republican) movement Jesus started on the fringes of the Empire roughly two thousand years ago. Most of the ways in which we’ve been taught to think about our faith get in the way of following Jesus.  I don’t just want to disrupt and subvert our preconceived notions of Christ I want to proclaim something much deeper…hope.  Hope that we can still achieve what we are called to do, to bring hope to those that have none, to embody hope that is attainable here and now.  You can only challenge things for so long before you need to help create the alternative, ultimately, this is what this blog is all about, I want to captivate you with a kingdom vision and explore what it would look like to make that a tangible reality.  Let me know what you think!

Over my lifetime I have heard or even made many statements of intent, but recently I heard that Jesus made a statement that started and drove His intent. A pastor friend of mine (Mark Van Steenwyk) is writing a book called “The Jesus Manifesto”. “The Jesus Manifesto” refers to Luke 4:18-19, Jesus, after getting tested in the wilderness, gives his first sermon in his hometown. He opens the scroll of Isaiah and read what is to be His manifesto:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

By reading from Isaiah 61, Jesus not only proclaims himself to be the Messiah (the political ruler who would rescue Israel from its enemies), but also that his Messianic reign would defy the peoples’ expectations. Jesus quotes the beginning of Isaiah 61, but leaves out the proclamation of vengeance. Jesus’ hometown gets the point: this proclamation of the “Lord’s favor” (Jubilee) is being extended to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. And in response, they try to kill him. With this manifesto, Jesus sets the course for His ministry of subversive love. The rest of Luke-Acts is the fleshing out of this manifesto–first for Christ and then for His Church. Luke, perhaps more than any other Gospel writer, understands the subversive implications of Jesus’ life and ministry. Luke tends to write from the aspect that Jesus is a man and that helps us to understand why he writes the way he does. Jesus turns everything upside down; He challenges the majority of economic, religious, and political assumptions of the time. As the Church, we have been sent by Christ into the world just as He was sent by his Father (John 20:21). Jesus’ manifesto is our manifesto.

Have you joined Him?