Our Only Hope vs. One of Our Greatest Idols

"My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my disciples would have been fighting..." -Jesus

It is a well-known fact that many Jews a few thousand years ago were looking for the Messiah to be a political power-house that would set up an authoritative earthly government. Instead he laid down his life for his followers and made it clear that his authority was never going to take the form of earthly power.

So let me be clear right off the bat that i believe in churches and church members being "political" in a sense. We must care for the people in the places God has put us, and one way of doing that is through government. However, our government action must stem from a right view of God's Kingdom. As a favorite artist put it; "My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man... It's to a King and a Kingdom."

What really concerns me is that most of the church members i know talk and act as if more of our hope is in our earthly government rather than in our King and His Kingdom. Much of our action as a congregation is political activism and protesting. Often the "success" of the American church is judged by what appears to be a Christian influence over government more than by any other measure.

I just finished a huge paper on the history of this issue, and i know that there are a million different views to take on it, but my question for this week is simple-

What does it look like for a church to act as if our One True Hope is the Kingdom of God made manifest in Jesus Christ, rather than in a "savior on Capitol Hill?"

Have fun with this one!

I saw this the other day

How to Hate in Love (part 2)

Well, Ole promised me that our next post will be entirely silly. But first we want to follow up that last post with part 2. We showed a picture of Christians protecting a group of Muslims as they prayed and asked about the actions of those Christians. You can read the discussion below. I'd like to give you this interesting video of Penn from "Penn and Teller." He is an outspoken athiest talking about his meeting with a Christan evangelist.

How might we bring this into our discussion below? Here's another thought: This quote is from a missionary to Muslim people in Iran- "God's affectionate nature is denied in Islam and God's promise-keeping nature is denied in Islam. I do not mean to judge myself better than others, but as Daniel T. Niles says 'Christianity is just one beggar telling another where to find bread.'"

What do you think??? We have Muslim friends that we hope will chime in on this as well!

How to Hate in Love (Part 1)

We try to maintain a fair amount of tongue-in-cheek silliness here at Flannel Pilgrims on most days. However, sometimes a topic comes along that requires us to keep our tongue-in-check. This MIGHT be one of those times.

I was handed a picture, and a story a few days ago. The picture (above) is supposedly of Egyptian Christians during a Muslim prayer time in the midst of the protests happening in Egypt. The Christians (according to the story) protected the Muslims during their prayer. Popular opinion seems to be that this is a great illustration of unity and love, and that opinion seems to be shared by followers of Jesus and followers of "insert your god here" alike. 

So the question I asked was: Is it possible to love a person and still hate some of their thoughts/beliefs/practices?

I have some thoughts of my own (That may surprise some of you!). But, I would REALLY like to see the general response to the first question before opining. Can you hate something ABOUT a person and still love them? How does that work? Does it work? What does Jesus have to say about love and hate? What examples have you seen that have exemplified Jesus' teachings in this area? What examples were NOT GOOD? Talk amongst yourselves... I'll respond in a few days. (Please review the rules to the right before posting a comment)

IS THERE ROOM IN THIS POCKET FOR A LITTLE SPARE CHAN?

I was at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors this week (despite NOT being a Pastor) and I had the privilege of hearing Francis Chan speak on "Prayer as a Way of Walking in Love". I came into the conference with an unexplainable skepticism about Chan, despite listening to his talk on Humility at the DG Conference - which was great.

You should listen to Chan's message from the Pastor's Conference - it is yummy. His passion manifested itself in a 5 minute tiraid of wild hand gesticulations (and can I just add that that man's hands are disproportionately enormous?) and "crazy" gushing commendations of his God. I appreciated (and was thoroughly entertained by) his antics. His style stands in sharp contrast to the usual decorum represented among the DGPC speakers. During the panel Chan sat next to Beeke - President of Puritan Reformed Seminary - the photo-negative image of Chan. Beeke wore a suit and built his talks after the fashion of the Puritans - even including objections and their rebuttals. Chan was dressed comfortably and spoke colloquially - walking us through a series of his own life experiences - which are WAY more interesting than mine, go figure.

I was slain by Beeke's talks - particularly his talk on Family Worship. Good luck listening to that without curling up into the fetal position and crying. I appreciated Beeke and his words - he stands amid the throng of excellent speakers I've come to expect when I go to DGPC.

What surprised me was how much I enjoyed Francis Chan's message. He showed a GENUINE commitment to the Christian Hedonism which marks so many of the DGPC speakers. Francis Chan is the real deal. I don't know about you, but that excites me - because he is VERY DIFFERENT in context from the usual suspects at DG, but he still "gets it". I need go no further. That is the sum of my thoughts on Chan - who I think has secured his place among "The Big Guys". (Not at all to suggest that he was less than a big deal with his own ministry and his publication of "Crazy Love").

As you listen to these talks, or if you were there... Please comment on what YOU think. Talk amongst yourselves...

Crunch Time

I was listening to Christian radio the other day. I don't do this often, but I guess I was in one of those moods where I just wanted something that was going to be safe, uplifting, and encouraging- which is a motto of theirs. But that's another post for another day. The program I was listening to was making a big deal of a potential Super Bowl commercial in which the priests of a Catholic Church serve Doritos and Pepsi in an effort to increase church attendance.

Here is a link to a page with the video.

The program wasn't even Catholic. The thing that I really found interesting was that their concern was how the church was being portrayed to the world through this commercial, not the defilement of the sacrament of communion. Then they called for Christians everywhere to boycott Doritos and Pepsi in response. What do you think? Is this an appropriate response? Let's keep in mind that the video 1. Was not made by Doritos but by a consumer for a contest and 2. It did not make the finalist list and will not be aired during the Super Bowl.

Tolkien: A Practical Joke

So I am a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien - author of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy and wider Middle Earth mythology. I appreciate this man's mastery of the English language and have become a better student and thinker because of his work. But, he was NOT ALWAYS using his love of language for academic pursuits! I thought I would share a joke that Tolkien came up with as a student at Oxford around 1913. 

One day a friend of Tolkien's purchased a pair of silk gloves for his lady. He was foolish enough to send the gloves along with the following love letter with his friends (Tolkien and the gang). They switched the gloves with a pair of ladies underwear along the way. Imagine her surprise when receiving the "gift" with THIS letter...

 
Dear Velma:

This little token is to remind you that I haven't forgotten your birthday. I didn't choose it because I thought you needed them, or because you haven't been in the habit of wearing them, or because we go out evenings. Had it not been for my sister I would have gotten long ones but she says they are wearing the short ones-with one button. They are a very delicate color, I know, but the lady clerk showed me a pair she had worn for three weeks, and they were scarcely soiled at all. How I wish I might put them on you for the first time! No doubt many other gentlemen's hands will touch them before I get a chance to see you again, but I hope you will think of me every time you put them on. I had the lady clerk try them on and they looked very neat on her. I did not know the exact size, but I should be capable of judging nearer than anyone else. When you put them on for the first time put a little powder in them and they will slip on easier. When you remove them blow in them before laying them away as they will naturally be a little damp from wearing. Hoping that you will accept them in the same spirit in which they are given and that you will wear them to the dance Friday night, I remain

Lovingly yours:-
John

P.S. Note the number of times I will kiss the back of them in the coming year!