Dog Gone Dogma or is Religion a Scapegoat?

So part of the US anti muslim narrative is that the Qu’ran is a book full of hate that preaches jihad, war, intolerance, yada, yada. Another part says that Muslims are just barbaric like Christians were a few hundred years ago and they just need time to mature a bit. Muslim apologist say that radicals are a small part of the muslim world. Statistics say muslim extremist are less than 1% of all muslims.  According to a 2010 study and released January 2011, Islam has 1.5 billion adherents, making up over 22% of the world population.  If my math is correct, 15 million muslim fall in to the category radical or extremist, and therefore are potential terrorist. According to the Pew Research Center in 2015 there were 50 Muslim-majority countries. 

In June of 2015 Pastor Rick Scarborough threaten to go up in flames if Gay marriage was rendered legal in the US.

He later, recanted his statement saying it was a metaphor from an old spiritual. He said, “I made that comment to paraphrase a spiritual song, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in which the three were given a choice—to bow to the image of Nebuchadnezzar or burn in a furnace,” said Scarborough.”‘We will burn’ means that we will accept any sanction from the government for resisting [Friday's] Supreme Court decision. We do not support any violence or physical harm.” Maybe some of you see an easy parallel but it is over my head, extremely premature at the very least. I guess he is anticipating a law that makes it illegal for churches against Gay marriage to opt out of performing them.

In a debate between ex British prime minister Tony Blair and atheist and journalist Christopher Hitchens, Hitchens argues, “Religion forces nice people to do unkind things, and also makes intelligent people say stupid things” your thoughts? Sadly, June 23 retired pastor Charles Moore sets himself on fire in protest of racism. The Tyler Morning Telegraph obtained a copy of the suicide note from Grand Saline police. In it, Moore lamented past racism in Grand Saline and beyond. He called on the community to repent and said he was “giving my body to be burned, with love in my heart” for those who were lynched in his hometown as well as for those who did the lynching, hoping to address lingering racism. “Giving my body to be burned with love in my heart,” is straight out of the new testament, 1 Corinthians 13 King James Version (KJV) 13.... 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. I doubt pastor Moore can be called a radical, fundamentalist Christian but I know little about him. 

I’m more inclined to think that there was unfinished business in his life, sometime when, in his own mind, he should have acted and didn’t and it got to him. He could have been a religious person like he was or an atheist or agnostic and had the same end. Timothy McVeigh was raised Catholic but hadn’t practiced for a long time and at the time of his execution considered himself agnostic. http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/texas-pastor-denies-plan-to-set-self-on-fire-if-gay-marriage-was-legalized-was-only-quoting-a-song/

 Is Hitchens correct that religion makes good people do bad things? Does the good that comes out of religion, any religion, eclipse or even balance out the wrong doing? We’ve had the Inquisition, witch hunts, sex scandal cover up in the catholic church, the Ku Klux Klan, a religious organization vs., the Salvation Army, Abolitions, ecstatic, spiritual experiences in all religions and pissing matches: My God is the real thing, yours is fake and it says so right in the book. Is religion the culprit or the scapegoat? Less than one percent doesn’t sound too bad does it? If one percent of Islam is radical, fringe, and a potential hotbed of terrorism that is 16 million people. If one percent of Christianity worldwide is radical, fringe, and a potential hotbed of terrorism that is 22.3 million people.

 The way it’s painted there is a line in the sand and never the twain shall meet, terrorist on one side and people who frown on terrorism on the other side. However after watching terrorism in the US just since the turn of the 20th century through today it seems to me there are a lot of terrorist sympathizers who systemically support terrorism against People of Color, our LGBT brothers and sisters, filling the gap between terrorists on one side of the line and their antithesis. They have posh jobs in the media. Six churches have been set on fire since Dylan Roof, I think they are terrorist attacks because of the number and the timing to the 9 South Carolina deaths and because they are black churches, but the media is showing an unusual amount of restraint calling this arson,: “The Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch blog reports that as of Friday, "a string of nighttime fires have damaged or destroyed at least six predominately black churches in four southern states in the past week." Investigators have determined at least three of the fires were set by arsonists.” “ One Tweet Nails The Hypocrisy of Media Coverage as Black Churches Burn Across the South” http://mic.com/articles/121461/one-tweet-nails-the-silence-of-media-as-black-churches-burn-across-the-south

Dan Cathy of Chick-Fil-A How About Lunch?

Dan Cathy of Chick-Fil-A How About Lunch?

AN EVENING WITH SHANE CLAIBORNE

Author and Christian activist, Shane Claiborne, shares his journey and his mission. Claiborne is founding partner of The Simple Way, a faith community in Philadelphia that has helped to birth and connect radical faith communities around the world. He writes and travels extensively speaking about peacemaking, social justice and Jesus.
He will be with us Friday, April 27 at 7:00pm at Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Avenue.
So don't let the Christian angle keep you away.  Check out the video above.

I've been "walking out" my path in Christ for sometime and many times I am at odds with the official party line.  I think perhaps this is Shane's walk also.

 So many times we are quick to encounter and know the word of God without understanding that we need to know the God of the word so that his Word by revelation can come alive in us. These must go hand in hand.  We often use the word as superficial posi-think mantras allowing the depth and revelation of the Word to fall by the wayside; perhaps mantra and depth of revelation don't have to be mutually exclusive.

  The famed story of Solomon threatening to cut a child in half was inspired wisdom.  We take the uninspired framework and apply it to two guys fighting over a car; well the two are both just as soon see the car cut in half as let the other drive, right?  This is a case of lack of revelation to rightly divide the word of God. 

This is what many of us do, we misapply the word through our ignorance of the Word, through our lack of revelation.  We are quick to affirm, "I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me," when trying to accomplish some feat but not so quick to apply it to enduring circumstances when we are not in control; it is out of spiritual balance and superficial for many.

Much of today's church get's caught up in sin management and thought control, teaching that "we know what the word says and you must believe what we believe," or be in danger of being cast off into the netherworld of Hell.

Many including myself are often quick to quote without having revelation of the thing of which we speak. We can lend mental ascent to understanding that  we do not have revelation on so much but in practical terms it can be hard to determine.  So many of the do's and dont's of the church are not understood at the core, so much is handed down and accepted as "gospel" because of tradition not fresh revelation.

So what do we do with the Gay issue how do we apply the word?  Personally I'd rather deal with, "anyone that looks on a woman in lust has already committed adultery in his heart," and work out my own salvation in fear and trembling than look for what is wrong in others without God's revelatory light.  I know that it seems that there is a sin hierarchy but to the saints, believe the word when it says if you have broken the law in any one point you have broken the entire law.  Listen to Paul when he struggles and says, " the thing I don't want to do, that I do and the thing I want to do that I don't do," and take comfort in the question and answer, "who shall deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.  If you consider yourself in Christ and you haven't figured out there is a war going on you need to, "check yourself before you wreck yourself."

I was on facebook recently and a guy who always talks about "the Lord" and "Jesus" and the "power of God," was openly lusting after a woman whose boyfriend had posted some pic of her in lingerie.  He calls this woman holy and a saint and on and on and then pretty much says to her, "take it off baby!"  He knows she is away from her husband and having an affair with a married man but he is undisciplined in the things of God, lets is dick rule or his flesh rule him and control his mind never realizing the Rhema word of God walking in deference to only the Logos.  The fleshly mind is an enemy of God and can not obey the things of God. 

We all should know that the gate to life is narrow and few there be that find it and great and wide is the gate that leads to death and destruction.  Don't for one minute believe that because you said a prayer once upon a time, or can quote a lot of Christian mantras, wow folks with your prayers or even that because you know the truth that this will spare you from the coming destruction as you repeatedly spiritually shoot yourself in the foot, in the chest in the head.  You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!   How foolish!  Can't we see that faith without works is dead?  if we have living faith it will produce just like a living orange tree will naturally produce oranges.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, this is different than what many of us think this says; faith comes by hearing the word of God... not.

I was talking to a beautiful Greek woman one night who is not in Christ and I was talking about wanting a trial I am going through to end even though there is much growth because of it. The woman understood exactly where I was coming from and shared some of her own trials and growth and said, "the trials never stop," and went on to further associate trials with spiritual growth.  Christians do not corner the market on morality nor do they corner the market on spiritual wisdom.

We also should understand that different rules apply to those in Christ and those not in Christ.  The only thing pertinent to those not in Christ is that they come to a saving knowledge of Christ, put another way, they come into a relationship with the Christ.  In America it doesn't matter what one does outside of the Christ mind except to our own comfort level as "the redeemed. " I believe we should all think, "to hell with my comfort level, how can I love this person toward Christ, draw her or him to Christ in me the hope of glory?"  Continually we turn our noses up at everyone that doesn't fit our moral code thereby condemning ourselves as hypocrites in most cases, because we compare our strengths to the weakness of others and may not even take account of our failings. Is it an inferiority complex or superiority complex that causes us to label people Not Our Kind if they see something different than we do in their walking out of the word of truth and love?   How can we be in community with the community.

Once in Christ, we need to forgive each other from the cross as Christ has forgiven us.  Forgiveness is not an easy proposition and it is an ongoing process.

I/we have so much to learn about Christ, so much relational ground to cover with Him but first we must acknowledge this fact and the fact we don't save our selves, even the very faith whereby we come to Christ who calls us, woos us, draws us is given to us.  We love Him because He first loved us and have nothing to be proud of and nothing about which to brag.

Well I would love for someone to takes shots at what I've just pronounce or agree with it.

Honest Talk with Yourself

I've been having a very interesting discussion with my brother Jeff over at, Have Coffee Will Write.  He is one of the more well read folks you will ever meet, sincere, an excellent writer.
 We have been soul searching as we deal with the death of Trayvon Martin and uncovering some interesting tidbits.  Love and respect imbued  and I might add received rebuke flow both ways.  I appreciate the different point of view as I think we perhaps both allow our opinions to be jostled around.  


Can our society, as opposed to our nation, move forward without soul searching, true dialogue and even confession?  I don't see how we can.  Can we improve others before we have improved ourselves?  How can we improve ourselves if we have refused to see ourselves as we truly are?  How can we see ourselves as we truly are without coming to terms with the warts and all?  Can we come to terms with that when all we recognize is the euphemism, "warts and all," the truisms like, "oh everybody does that, nobody's perfect," our whatever we tell ourselves to excuse our lack of love our neighborism.  Our "warts" cause us to consign folks to death and poverty as we say, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled; but give not to them the needful things for the body."(James 2:16)

So often I hear things like, "My parents came to America looking for a good life with only $2 between them; they made it, I don't see why those people can lift themselves up."  The bottom line falsehood is I "raised myself up by my own bootstraps" or I built the house I was born in, I got mine now you get yours, ignoring the uneven terrain.

  In the past I've just given up on such ubiquitous ignorance.  I am not even surprised any more that it still exists.  This basic lack of understanding and in my opinion lack of  basic decency, because it is so ignorant... choosing to ignore it is not relegated to "race," or class, or religion or gender but we all identify with our special interest groups and point at the shortfalls in all of the other groups thus making ourselves just like them.  So sadly much of the time I have to name myself among the careless.

I now realize that in life, in living and navigating through this world that the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it and narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leads unto life, and few are they that find it.  There are few who find it because there are few who seek it out.  Being comfortable at the expense of others is so easy, so easy.  I check myself more and more to make sure I am on the right path going through the right gate. I cannot answer for you nor can I judge your heart but I can proffer the question; are you?

Juan "Enoch" James of Cross Movement dead at 35

Enoch of Cross Movement Died Yesterday
Timothy BliSs Jones
Oct 18, 2009





On Saturday morning, October 17, 2009, Juan "Enock" James was pronounced dead.  While at his job in Houston, TX, he collapsed from what is most likely a severe heart attack.  The autopsy results are not in yet to confirm the final cause of death.  This was an unexpected occurrence and a complete shock to his family, friends and fans.  All that is known of his condition is that he had hypertension and was on medication to stabilize his blood pressure, but nothing indicated he would suffer a heart attack.

Born on July 12, 1974 in Philadelphia, PA, Enoch lived his life for the Lord until his death.  Juan James was one of the founding members of The Cross Movement and is heard on Heaven's Mentality, House of Representatives and Human Emergency. Earlier this year, Enoch along made a guest appearance on the song "Da Body" from The Tonic's The Dash album.

He is survived by his wife Natalie James who gave birth to Jana James in 2005.  He is also survived by Genesis James (9yrs), Juan James Jr. (11yrs.), and Chavonna James (17yrs).


Juan James will be deeply missed and we will forever remember him for his great music and ministry.

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Ironically Enoch's death comes on the same day a song in rememberance to our deceased loved ones was released yesteray. Hear it here: www.blissent.net/LetGodBeTheBoss.zip